HK Bourse Says No Manipulation Found

By Chia-Peck Wong  |   2008-6-11  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

HONG Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd, which operates Asia's third-biggest stock market, hasn't found evidence of manipulation in the closing auction on May 30.

"We still do not have evidence of manipulation; we are still investigating," Gerald Greiner, chief operating officer of the exchange, told the Legislative Council yesterday.

On May 30, companies including CLP Holdings Ltd and Mongolia Energy Ltd surged prior to their inclusion on MSCI Inc's benchmark indexes. As the price rises occurred during a closing auction period introduced in the preceding week, some legislators questioned if the volatility was caused by market manipulation, Bloomberg News said.

The Securities and Futures Commission, Hong Kong's regulator, would have to conduct a probe before concluding if the volatility was caused by market manipulation, Keith Lui, an executive director, told the council.