Explainer: Who’s who in the tangled web of the Convoy enigma

Here’s the cast of characters in the tangled web of Convoy Global Holdings, one of Hong Kong’s largest financial advisory firms, with 100,000 customers including the city’s Mandatory Provident Fund.

The company, listed in 2010, is now the subject of the city’s largest financial investigation in decades, a joint operation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Securities and Future Commission (SFC).

*Richard Tsai Ming-hsing and his family, who control Taiwan’s second-largest financial conglomerate Fubon Financial Holding, are the biggest shareholders in Convoy. They paid HK$4.04 billion (US$516.9 million) for a 29.89 per cent stake through a placement of new shares in September 2015. The proceeds from the placement were intended to develop Convoy’s operations in money lending, margin financing for subscribing to initial public offerings and asset management, but may have been siphoned off by company insiders, according to lawsuits filed in Hong Kong.

*Kwok Hiu-kwan is Convoy’s second-biggest shareholder, with a 29.91 per cent stake. His father Kwok Ying-shing is chairman of Shenzhen-based developer Kaisa Group.

The younger Kwok raised his stake in Convoy from 9 per cent on July 14 to 29.91 per cent by August 15, paying between 18.84 HK cents and 23.43 HK cents per share, according to exchange filings. The stock fell 7.2 per cent to 16.7 HK cents on December 7 before trading was halted.