US short seller fights Hong Kong regulator over free speech

Activist trader accused of profiting after allegedly publishing false information

20190214 Short Seller Left.jpg

Andrew Left, seen here in November 2018, remains locked in a battle with Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission.

TAKESHI KIHARA, Nikkei staff writer

HONG KONG -- A legal battle in Hong Kong between a U.S. short seller and the local securities regulator is shaping up to be a fight over freedom of expression in financial reporting.

The lines were drawn in 2012 when the online investment newsletter Citron Research stated in a report that China Evergrande Group, a major Chinese property company, was near collapse and suspected of accounting fraud.

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