Lai See | Who is watching the Securities and Futures Commission?

The Securities and Futures Commission needs to take a long hard look at itself following the recent conclusion of the Andy Mantel fiasco which we wrote about on Tuesday. Its behaviour and the manner of its investigation were nothing short of disgraceful and its bully-boy approach to dealing with minor issues needs to be rectified.

Our article recounted the SFC's efforts to nail Mantel, the founder and chief executive of Sun Pacific Advisors for advertising a fund which did not expressly state it was for professional investors only.

The SFC's case was thrown out by the magistrate's court. The SFC then hired one of Hong Kong's best senior counsel in Gary Plowman, and probably one of the most expensive, to appeal the case in the High Court and won.

Mantel, showing considerable testicular fortitude, went to the Court of Final Appeal and won. All this took about three-and-a-half years.

The SFC - as is its usual practice - took away documents and computers, and just about trashed Mantel's business as it followed up clients on his email list. This sort of thing has happened too often before. Most people would not have taken this to the Court of Final Appeal.

There are other examples where the SFC investigates someone, and it drags on for years, ruining the individual's business and blighting his life. But there is never any recourse for innocent individuals for the damage done to their business.