Citi Sued by More Ex-Sales Traders Over 2019 Hong Kong Firing

(Bloomberg) — Three former Citigroup Inc. equity sales traders filed wrongful termination claims against the US bank in Hong Kong this month, after a court in the city ruled that one of their ex-colleagues shouldn’t have been summarily dismissed in 2019.

Christopher So and Alrick Lee, who used to be directors in Citigroup’s Asia Sales Trading division, and Kenny Cheung, a former vice-president, are seeking at least compensation for unpaid pension benefits and notice-period payments, according to a Hong Kong judiciary notice and people familiar with the matter.

The trio were among employees fired by the bank in 2019, after securities regulators identified problematic trading practices in Citigroup’s Asia markets division that had occurred over more than a decade. 

In late 2024, Cindy Lui, an ex-sales trader on the same team, won a favorable ruling from Hong Kong’s Labour Tribunal after she filed an unfair dismissal claim against the bank. That prompted others to file similar claims, said the people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. 

Hong Kong’s Employment ordinance requires claims on labor disputes to be lodged within six years of an event such as a job termination. Most of the ex-Citigroup traders were fired in March 2019, and had to file their cases by this month. 

A Citigroup spokesman in Hong Kong declined to comment, as did Lee, So and Cheung.

Citigroup disbanded its Asia high-touch equities sales trading desk in 2019, after accusing multiple staffers of misconduct and firing them without advance notice. The Hong Kong-based employees who were terminated also lost the retirement benefits they had accrued at the firm, Bloomberg News reported earlier.  

Regulators subsequently fined Citigroup about $45 million for misrepresenting its own financial interest in stock trades as client interest to attract business, and said the “pervasive dishonest behavior” occurred from 2008 to 2018. The Securities and Futures Commission also reprimanded the bank for regulatory failures, internal control deficiencies and poor management oversight. 

Prior to this year, three ex-Citigroup sales traders in London, Tokyo and Hong Kong had filed wrongful dismissal suits against the bank, accusing it of conducting unfair and hostile internal investigations and scapegoating them. Citigroup has disputed those characterizations and maintains that its investigations were conducted in accordance with its policies. Employment tribunals in all three cities ruled that Citigroup had to compensate the former employees. 

In December 2024, the Hong Kong Labour Tribunal said Citigroup had failed to justify its summary dismissal of Lui in March 2019. It said the bank had a valid reason to dismiss her after she misrepresented the nature of a trading position to a client, but that it should have given Lui proper notice before taking action. 

Lui, who worked at Citigroup for 12 years, was awarded her earned pension benefits and contractual pay equivalent to what she would have received with notice. The court denied her request to be compensated for loss of job opportunities. Neither party was awarded costs. Citigroup appealed the decision. Lui has sought a review and a hearing is scheduled on April 2, according to a court diary. 

Last October, the US bank separately agreed to settle a case with Ian Weir, an ex-sales trader for Asia Pacific markets based in London, after employment judges in 2023 ruled that Weir was unfairly and wrongfully dismissed by the bank. 

In Tokyo, a court ruled in July that Citigroup has to compensate a trader it fired in 2020 with pay he would have earned under his employment contract until the time of the judgment. The bank has filed an appeal with the High Court. 

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