On July 3, 2025, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) reprimanded and fined Freeman Commodities Limited, now known as Arta Global Futures Limited, $3.4 million for regulatory breaches related to anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) from June 2017 to December 2018. The SFC also suspended Mr. Li Chun Kei, a former responsible officer and managing director, for four months due to his role in the firm’s failures. The investigation revealed that Freeman did not conduct due diligence on customer-supplied systems used by clients, leading to inadequate risk assessments of money laundering and terrorist financing. Additionally, the firm failed to maintain effective monitoring systems to detect suspicious trading patterns, as evidenced by unusual trading activities in client accounts. The SFC emphasized that these failures could undermine public confidence in the market and highlighted the importance of strong deterrent measures.
Resources: https://apps.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/news-and-announcements/news/doc?refNo=25PR103