PERSONAL DETAILS
SUEN, STEPHEN MAN TAK 孫文德大律師
T: (+852) 2457 9996
F: (+852) 2457 9997
M: (+852) 9756 5317 / 5173 3888
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Professional qualifications
Call 2013 (Hong Kong)
Member Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Member Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute
Education
PCLL, City University of Hong Kong
JD, City University of Hong Kong
Master of Accountancy, Charles Sturt University of Hong Kong
BSc (Hons) in Economics, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Practice profile
Stephen specializes in regulatory and white collar crime matters, particularly those in relation to the Securities and Futures Ordinance Cap 571 (“SFO”), Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”), Commercial Crimes Bureau (“CCB”), and Independent Commission Against Corruption (“ICAC”).
Pre-qualification experiences
Before joining the bar, Stephen has three rewarding yet exciting professional careers in both public and private sectors. Stephen started his first career as a Police Inspector with Royal Hong Kong Police in 1983. During the seven years with the Police (the last three years with CCB, Stephen participated in a number of high profile and complex commercial crime cases. These cases earned him commendations from the Police and High Court Judge.
In 1989, Stephen joined the newly set up SFC to enforce securities and futures laws. In 1999 Stephen was promoted to Director of Enforcement. During the 18 years from 1989 to 2007, Stephen was responsible mainly for leading and supervising teams of accountants and lawyers in the investigation and prosecution of insider dealing, market manipulation, intermediaries' misconduct, and referral of fraud and corruption cases to CCB and ICAC respectively.
In year 2000 Stephen was appointed by the then Acting Financial Secretary of HKSAR (“FS”) as an Inspector to investigate and report on the ownership of shares in Oxford Properties & Finance Limited, a listed company on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (“SEHK”). After meticulous investigation work and overseas enquiries, an Inspection Report setting out the findings of the Inspection and recommendations was submitted by the Inspector to the FS who approved publication of the Inspection Report. The Inspection Report can be accessed via the website of the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau (“FSTB”) of the Government of HKSAR. https://www.fstb.gov.hk/fsb/ppr/report/oxford.htm
In 2007 Stephen joined a Hong Kong listed company as its executive director and deputy managing director. Stephen was also a Responsible Officer (“RO”) of four licensed corporations in the listed company. He was responsible for the supervision of seven different types of regulated activities (“RA”). These RAs include dealing and advising in both securities and futures contracts, margin financing, corporate finance and assets management.
Stephen has accumulated more than 34 years of solid and practical experience and knowledge in the enforcement of SFO and commercial crime investigations. Stephen now specializes in advising on investigation and prosecution vis-à-vis insider dealing, market manipulation, intermediaries' disciplinary proceedings, Code of Conduct, Listing Rules, Takeovers Code and commercial crimes.
Post-qualification experience
Stephen’s litigation experiences relevant to the securities and futures industry
• Acted as the junior counsel of Mr Peter Duncan, Senior Counsel, in the defence for the 1st specified person in an insider dealing case before the Market Misconduct Tribunal (“MMT”). The Report of MMT on the case can be accessed while the website of MMT:
http://www.mmt.gov.hk/eng/reports/Warderly.International.Holdings.Limited.pdf
http://www.mmt.gov.hk/eng/reports/Warderly.International.Holdings.Limitet_partII.pdf
• Acted as the defence counsel for a licensed corporation in a criminal prosecution of section 384 of the SFO
• Acted as the counsel for an appellant to lodge appeal to the Securities and Futures Appeal Tribunal
Stephen’s other litigation experiences
• Acted as the prosecutor on fiat for the Department of Justice in a number of prosecutions at the Magistrates’ Courts
• Acted as the defence counsel for the defendants at the Magistrates’ Courts under the Duty Lawyer Scheme
Provision of professional advice and/or legal opinion on the following areas relevant to the securities and futures industry
• Rights and obligations of person under investigation (PUI) during SFC statutory compulsory investigation and/or interview
• Specific powers of investigations under the SFO
• Unlicensed activities and requirements of Part V of SFO i.e. licensing and registration
• Disclosure of false or misleading information inducing transactions under the SFO
• Suspected market manipulation activities
• Interpretation and application of “collective investment scheme” (CIS) under the SFO
• Interpretation of the definition of “hold” under Schedule 1 of the SFO
• Re-domicile proposal of a corporation listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong
• Drafting client futures agreement and incorporation of new requirements of suitability clauses into the agreement
Stephen is a frequent speaker delivering presentations to lawyers, responsible officers and senior management and compliance officers on the following topics
• Scrutiny of major SFC cases in the past 25 years (1989 to 2014)
• Review of Hong Kong major market misconduct cases
• SFC case studies preventing the risk of market misconduct effectively
• Duties and liabilities of responsible officers under the SFO
• 公司治理 對上市銀行的重要性
• Duties and liabilities of responsible officers (RO) and manager-in-charge (MIC) under the SFC ‘New’ regulatory regime
• How to best protect one’s legal rights during an SFC statutory investigation – a practical approach
Languages
English, Cantonese and Mandarin