美國做空者擬對香港禁令上訴

Short-seller Andrew Left plans to appeal against a Hong Kong ruling that bans him from trading in the city for five years and would cost him at least $700,000.

做空者安德魯.萊福特(Andrew Left)計劃針對香港當局禁止他5年內進入香港市場的裁定進行上訴，該裁定將讓他損失至少70萬美元。

The ruling, handed down by Hong Kong’s Market Misconduct Tribunal on Wednesday, followed the tribunal’s finding in August that California-based Mr Left was culpable of misconduct in relation to the 2012 publication of a research report on Hong Kong-listed Chinese property developer China Evergrande.

香港市場失當行爲審裁處(Market Misconduct Tribunal)週三作出了上述裁定，此前，審裁處8月時曾認定，居住在美國加州的萊福特在2012年發佈的在港上市中國房地產開發商恆大地產(Evergrande)的一份研究報告中存在失當行爲。

“The decision was not appropriate, and I’m going to appeal it,” he said yesterday. “I think it’s a real step backwards for markets in Hong Kong.”

“這個裁決不合理，我要提起上訴，”萊福特昨天表示，“我認爲這實際上是香港市場的倒退。”

The case was the first instance of the city’s regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission, pursuing the author of unregulated published commentary.

此案是香港證監會(SFC)首次對隨意發佈評論的始作俑者進行追究。

In August the tribunal found that Mr Left, who runs Citron Research, used “sensationalist language” and made allegations that were “false and misleading”.

今年8月，審裁處裁定香櫞(Citron Research)負責人萊福特使用“誇張的言詞”作出了“虛假和具有誤導性”的指控。

Evergrande’s shares dropped as much as 20 per cent on the day the report was published, and closed down 11 per cent.

報告發布當天，恆大地產股價一度暴跌高達20%，收跌11%。

The tribunal noted that Mr Left did not seek comment from Evergrande before publishing — a step often taken by professional journalists but not widely by other commentators.

審裁處指出，萊福特在發佈報告前並未向恆大徵求意見——專業記者往往會這樣做，但其他評論人士一般不會。

In a ruling late on Wednesday, the tribunal issued a five-year “cold shoulder” order — the maximum it can impose — that bars Mr Left from trading in the Hong Kong market.

審裁處在週三晚些時候作出的裁決中，對萊福特發出了5年內禁入香港市場的禁令，這是該庭可以強制施加的最長期限。

It ordered Mr Left to disgorge his profits from trading in Evergrande and pay costs. His profits were HK$1.6m ($206,000) while the costs from the SFC, which brought the case, totalled HK$3.96m.

審裁處還勒令萊福特交出做空恆大所得的利潤，並承擔此案的法律費用。萊福特獲利160萬港元（合20.6萬美元），而香港證監會爲提起本案共花費396萬港元。

The government’s costs have not yet been calculated.

香港政府的花費還未計算在內。

The tribunal granted a “cease and desist” order against Mr Left. This means a future breach could be dealt with in criminal court rather than as a civil case.

審裁處對萊福特發出了“禁止令”。這意味着，未來再違規的話可能遭遇刑事官司，而不再是民事案件。

The case has been closely watched by commentators and hedge funds which feared that a finding against Mr Left could have put a chill on their freedom of expression, what one described as the right to “honestly held but incorrect opinion”.

此案受到了評論人士和對衝基金的密切關注，他們擔心對萊福特不利的裁定可能對他們的言論自由造成寒蟬效應，有人將此形容爲“誠實持有的不正確觀點”的權利。

The Citron case followed a victory by the SFC against Moody’s, the rating agency, earlier this year over a report that looked at “red flags” in Chinese company accounts.

在香櫞案之前，香港證監會今年早些時候在對評級機構穆迪(Moody’s)一份報告提起的訴訟中獲得了勝利。報告分析了一些中國企業賬目中的“紅旗”警示信號。

The report was presented as market commentary, not ratings work, but the regulator considered it to be the latter, which is regulated in Hong Kong.

該報告以市場評論（而非評級工作）的形式發佈，但監管機構認定它是後者，因而要受到監管。

The SFC has maintained that its case against Mr Left was based on market manipulation.

香港證監會堅稱，對萊福特的裁定是基於他的市場操縱行爲作出的。