The Government announced today (October 23) that the Chief Executive has appointed Mr Mohan Tarachand Bharwaney, a former Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, as a Chairman of the Market Misconduct Tribunal (MMT) and the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal (SFAT) for a term of three years, starting from December 1, 2026, and January 1, 2027, respectively.
A Government spokesman said, "Mr Bharwaney has over 40 years of experience in the legal profession. He joined the Judiciary in 2010 and retired from the Court of First Instance of the High Court in 2021. We are confident that with his sterling experience and knowledge in adjudication and legal matters, Mr Bharwaney will lead the Tribunals to operate effectively."
The Government also expressed gratitude to the outgoing Chairman of the Tribunals, Mr Michael John Hartmann, for his valuable contributions and dedicated service. As authorised by the Chief Executive, Mr Hartmann will complete any cases that he has commenced before the expiry of his term of appointment.
Both the MMT and the SFAT are established under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) (SFO).
The MMT deals with six types of market misconduct, namely insider dealing, false trading, price rigging, disclosure of information about prohibited transactions, disclosure of false or misleading information inducing transactions, and stock market manipulation. The MMT is also empowered to deal with the breaches of disclosure requirements on price sensitive information of listed corporations.
The SFAT has jurisdiction to review specified decisions made under the SFO by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and an investor compensation company recognised by the SFC. It serves as an effective safeguard to ensure that the relevant regulatory decisions are reasonable and fair.
Mr Michael Victor Lunn, a former Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, and Mr Ian Charles McWalters, a former Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, are the other serving Chairmen of the MMT and the SFAT.