An internal audit committee from CITIC Pacific pinned the blame for the staggering losses on the financial director and financial controller。
By intern reporter Wang Duan
On October 20, CITIC Pacific (HKSE: 00267) said it expected staggering losses of about HK$ 14.7 billion stemming from a number of leveraged foreign exchange contracts. Of that amount, HK$ 8 million will go on this year’s balance sheet.
The company suspended trading of its shares on October 20 and promised investors that its major shareholder, state-owned CITIC Group, will coordinate a standby loan of US$ 1.5 billion.
Chairman of CITIC Pacific Larry Yung said he was not aware of the leverage foreign exchange contracts until September 7. Some of the foreign exchange contracts were terminated at that time, but the losses accrued from the remaining contracts reached HK$ 14.7 billion in market capital.
In a letter to the public, Yung said these leveraged contracts were done “without proper authorization” and the potential exposure was “not evaluated correctly.”
Some critics question whether fraud played a role. However, an internal audit committee has denied this accusation, saying there is “no reason to believe fraud or other illegal activities were involved.”
Instead, the committee blamed the finance director, Leslie Chang Li Hsien, for his neglect the company’s hedging policy, as well as his failure to obtain the approval of the finance chairman before conducting the foreign exchange transactions.
The financial controller, Chau Chi Yin, has also been cited for a failure of oversight. “In particular, he failed to bring to the attention of the chairman of the company to any unusual hedging transactions,” said the audit committee.
Both Li and Yin have turned in their resignations.
CITIC Pacific’s debacle has caused J.P. Morgan Securities to lower is estimate for the company’s tier-1 earnings by 11 percent for 2008, and by 44 percent for 2009. CITIC Pacific's investment rating was also changed from “buy” to “sell.”
“The CITIC Pacific event is tip of the iceberg,” said a senior executive from the foreign exchange department of a major Hong Kong bank. In the last two years, many companies speculated on AUD and NZD. Now, because of high leverage, their losses are multiplying in the volatile market. More companies will send out bad news, said the banker