The Securities & Futures Commission has reprimanded Peace Town Forex for assisting in unlicensed trading activities.

The commission has suspended the company's responsible officer Steven Chan's licence for three years. Another responsible officer Chou Si-kit's licence has been suspended for 10 weeks.

The firm used a dormant company to fund commission payments to people carrying on leveraged foreign exchange trading without a licence. Despite internal documents revealing the true nature of the payments, the company failed to stop or prevent the unlawful activity.

Investigations found that Chan knew about the payments and suggested how they could be made to avoid suspicion. Chou was presented with vouchers for the payments but failed to question why such payments were being made from a dormant company. The firm has paid compensation to a client who suffered losses through the unlicensed trading.

The commission's Executive Director of Enforcement Mark Steward said licence holders should know better than to assist those carrying out unlicensed activities.

"Chan's conduct was dangerous and damaging to PT Forex, its clients and ultimately the market. His three year suspension should warn others this is the least they can expect if caught."