In March, about 18 intruders tried to force their way into a shareholder meeting held by brokerage Convoy Global Holdings Ltd.
Anthony Neoh, a former chairman of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, called the use of force at shareholder events “the tip of the iceberg” in a long-standing struggle against bad behavior in the markets.
The SFC has spent years going after what it has called “nefarious networks,” which combine practices such as stock manipulation, shareholder vote-rigging and other actions seen as tools for market misconduct.
While it isn’t clear who was behind the Convoy disruption, a former management team was allegedly involved in one of these networks, according to lawsuits filed by the company against its ex-directors and related parties.
Disturbances in recent years include a May 2018 shareholder meeting of V1 Group Ltd., a Chinese mobile-games maker, where police were called after men wearing T-shirts and gold chains surrounded and shouted down a speaker, according to a lawyer who witnessed the incident but asked not to be identified discussing client matters.
A fight broke out, and the firm’s chairman at the time was among three people arrested, a police spokesman said.
Officers were later summoned to Aeso’s office, and those of its financial adviser, after groups of men threatened staff and tried to gain entry.
Officers from Hong Kong’s anti-triad unit are investigating the Convoy disruption, a police spokesperson said.
One group representing the owners of Chinese property developer Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd., which is trying to wrest control of Convoy, was pushed out of the room after telling participants a judge had issued an injunction ordering that the meeting be postponed, lawmaker and Kaisa ally Paul Tse said.
Kwok Hiu Kwan, a son of Kaisa’s CEO who holds about 29% of Convoy shares, declined to comment.
Convoy shares will be delisted as of May 4, the Hong Kong exchange announced Friday, six weeks after the altercation.