HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
18 January 1989
香港立法局
———————一九八九年一月十八日
56
By sub-clause 20(8), decisions of the Board of Appeal will be final and unappealable. The new provisions do not, however, attempt to preclude judicial review.
Part IV of the Bill deals with additional registration requirements for intermediaries. It is proposed that the existing requirement for annual renewal be removed and be replaced by a system of continuous registration. Clauses 21 and 22 make changes to the existing registration procedures to enable the commission to undertake a more thorough examination of applicants for registration and to require the applicant to satisfy the commission that he is a "fit and proper" person to conduct the relevant business.
By clause 23, any person registered by the Office of the Commissioner before the establishment of the commission will continue to be so registered, unless and until the registration is suspended or revoked by the new commission. It is however intended that, as recommended by the Securities Review Committee, the commission will institute a positive vetting policy to ensure that every person who is registered is fit and proper.
Clauses 28 to 34 in Part V of the Bill contain new provisions which permit the commission to conduct spot checks of registered persons' businesses in order to ensure compliance. There is also provision for investigations into possible breaches of the relevant Ordinances. Experience of the existing Office of the Commissioner in undertaking investigations has demonstrated that there are serious gaps in the existing statutory powers in the Securities Ordinance and Commodities Trading Ordinance, specifically in the powers to obtain information and to inspect, preserve or remove books and other records. These provisions in the Bill will close such gaps.
Registered persons will be under obligation to give access to their records to officers of the commission. These officers will have the right to enter the business premises notified to the commission as places where records are to be kept. I must emphasize that this right of access will not extend to any premises other than those notified to the commission, and that there will be no powers of forcible entry or seizure of documents. If access is refused, and the circumstances appear to justify it, the commission could apply for a magistrate's warrant in the ordinary way.
The commission can appoint either its own officers or, with the Financial Secretary's consent, other competent persons to conduct an investigation, and to report. The expenses of the investigators, other than officers of the commission, will be paid for out of public funds.