Former UBS associate director banned for life by SFC over $134 million laundering

The Securities and Futures Commission has banned Suen Kin-wing, a former associate director of UBS, from re-entering the industry for life due to his criminal convictions for money laundering and contempt of court.

The case stemmed from Suen’s role as client advisor to two Chinese clients with a joint UBS account. To help them transfer the yuan from the mainland, Suen arranged for the funds to first be sent to bank accounts he designated. Between November 2016 and February 2018, the clients transferred over 132 million yuan (HK$144 million), but later discovered large sums were missing.

Investigations showed over HK$134 million had been diverted into Suen’s personal Hong Kong accounts. The court ruled the deposits were crime proceeds used to fund his lavish lifestyle, including luxury cars and properties in the UK and China. Suen pleaded guilty to two counts of dealing with criminal proceeds and was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in June 2024.

Separately, the clients secured a worldwide freezing injunction in 2018. Suen breached it by assigning UK properties to a BVI company he controlled, leading to a six-month contempt sentence in December 2023.