Hong Kong’s stock exchange has censured businessman Andrew Lo Kai Bong, declaring him unsuitable to serve as a director after he pushed ahead with a controversial plan to sell a Russian casino business that triggered regulatory concerns and board resignations.
Lo, who served as executive director and chairman of LET Group Holdings and its subsidiary Summit Ascent Holdings, ignored repeated warnings from regulators and legal advisers when he pursued the $116 million sale of the Tigre de Cristal casino project near Vladivostok, according to a disciplinary statement issued Monday.
The exchange said Lo’s actions breached core director duties to act honestly and in the interests of shareholders, and disregarded objections from other board members—who all resigned in protest in January 2024—leaving both companies unable to meet corporate governance requirements.
The sale, proposed amid heavy losses caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and sanctions, was never completed after the buyer terminated the deal in February 2024. But the Hong Kong bourse said Lo’s conduct amounted to ‘blatant or reckless disregard’ of listing rules.
Trading in both companies’ shares had already been suspended, and in September 2025 the firms were delisted after failing to meet resumption conditions.
The sanctions mean Lo is barred from holding senior management roles at either LET, Summit Ascent, or their subsidiaries. The exchange stressed the ruling applies only to Lo, and not to other current or former directors.
Both LET and Summit Ascent had been heavily dependent on the Russian casino business, which accounted for virtually all of their revenues in recent years.
The company announced surprising results for the first half of the year, stating that total revenue was up by 65 percent, to HK$312.85 million ($40.13 million).
