B.C. regulators accuse Hong Kong based analyst, sister of insider trading

VANCOUVER – The British Columbia Securities Commission has accused a financial analyst for a global institutional investor of illegal trading by tipping his sister to important insider information.

The regulator has accused Hon Seng Lum, also known as Victor Lum, of instructing his sister, May Lee Chan Lum, to sell half their holdings, or 182,000 shares, in Baja Mining Corp. (TSX:BJA) in 2012 based on cost overrun information not available to the public.

As a result, the two avoided a loss of about $8,500 on their shares in the Vancouver-based company, the B.C. regulator alleges.

Hon Seng Lum, who has since been terminated for cause by his employer, a Hong Kong based subsidiary of Mount Kellett Capital Management LP, also allegedly sent text messages to his sister in Singapore to trade securities of other companies in MK Capital’s portfolio of investments.

A condition of Hon Seng Lum’s employment was that he not trade companies he was evaluating.

The allegations have not been proven.

Hon Seng Lum and his sister are both citizens of Singapore.