Hong Kong regulator censures Bank of America units for takeover code breaches (updated)
29/06/2016 11:32
* Says bank units failed to disclose equity swaps in both
deals
* Says Bank of America has probed breaches, took remedial
measurs
(Adds details, background on regulator action)
HONG KONG, June 29 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's Securities and
Futures Commission (SFC) has publicly censured two units of Bank
of America BAC.N for breaches of the city's takeover codes in
two deals last year, the regulator said on Wednesday.
The SFC said the censures were linked to the role of the
units in a partial offer for China Resources Beer (CRB)
0291.HK and the privatisation of Power Assets Holdings Ltd
0006.HK .
The regulator said the Bank of America units failed to
disclose their dealings in equity swaps in both the CRB partial
offer and the Power Assets privatisation, despite taking the
role of adviser on both transactions.
A Bank of America spokesman declined to comment.
The city's takeover codes require parties to an offer and
their associates to disclose dealings in relevant securities,
whether for themselves or clients, during an equity swap period,
the SFC said in a statement.
"BofAML Group should have taken reasonable care to establish
and maintain procedures and systems to guard against
non-compliance with the Takeovers Code," it added.
Bank of America accepted the "oversight of the disclosure
obligations" in both transactions, the regulator said, and had
investigated the issue and taken remedial measures.
In February, the SFC censured Goldman Sachs GS.N for
infringing parts of the takeover code while acting as financial
adviser to Wing Hang Bank Ltd in a $5-billion offer for the Hong
Kong lender in 2014. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N15H37M
(Reporting by Denny Thomas and Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by
Clarence Fernandez)
((denny.thomas@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6358; Reuters
Messaging: denny.thomas.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: BANKOFAMERICA SFC/