In Depth: Secretive hedge fund at centre of Hong Kong insider-trading probe

A late-winter chill hung over Hong Kong on the afternoon of Mar 11, but in the city’s financial circles the mood was turning feverish. Rumours spread quickly: A Chinese investment bank was in trouble.

The speculation followed a rare move by Hong Kong regulators. Over two days, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) carried out surprise joint raids on the offices of at least two Chinese brokerages, sending a jolt through the industry.

Guotai Junan International, the Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of Guotai Junan Securities, confirmed early on Mar 12 that authorities had searched its office. In a statement, the firm said one employee had been detained by the ICAC and suspended from his duties.

Later that evening, Citic Securities, a unit of state-owned conglomerate Citic Group, said officials from the two agencies had visited its Hong Kong operation on Mar 10, seizing documents and questioning an employee.

Caixin has learned that Samuel Pan, head of equity capital markets at Guotai Junan International, was detained by the ICAC. No employees from Citic Securities’ Hong Kong arm are known to have been taken away.

People familiar with the matter said the probe centres on individuals suspected of insider trading and that the brokerages’ business operations remain normal. But the investigation has cast an unwelcome spotlight on a secretive hedge fund that has rapidly expanded its presence in Hong Kong’s equity market.

‘Operation Fuse’

The investigation extends well beyond the two brokerages initially identified.

On Mar 12, the ICAC and the SFC said they had searched 14 locations across Hong Kong, including the offices of the two brokerages and a hedge fund, in a coordinated crackdown on suspected corruption and insider trading.

The raids, code-named “Operation Fuse,” led to the arrest of eight people — six men and two women between the ages of 35 and 60, the regulators said.

Without identifying the firms or individuals involved, the agencies said those arrested included senior executives from the two brokerages and a hedge fund, as well as an intermediary. Investigators suspect senior brokerage executives accepted more than HK$4 million (S$654,770) in bribes from the hedge fund firm’s owner in exchange for confidential information on planned share placements by Hong Kong-listed companies before the details were publicly announced.

Armed with the advance knowledge, the hedge fund allegedly shorted the stocks — or used derivatives such as swaps to build short positions — before the placements were announced. After the announcements triggered declines in share prices, the fund closed the trades for profit. Regulators estimate the scheme generated nearly HK$315 million in illicit gains.

Authorities have not identified the hedge fund. But multiple people familiar with the matter said the description points to Infini Capital Management, a Hong Kong-based firm founded in 2015 by Tony Chin.

Infini Capital has gained prominence in recent years through aggressive trading in Hong Kong-listed stocks. The firm is estimated to have deployed roughly HK$20 billion in the market while maintaining a notably low public profile. Its website lists an address at Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong Center but provides little information about its ownership or partners.

In 2025, Infini Capital received approval from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of the Abu Dhabi Global Market, obtaining a financial licence in the emirate. Some media reports said the firm had secured backing from wealthy Middle Eastern investors. But several investment institutions in the United Arab Emirates told Caixin they had never heard of the firm.

The man behind Infini Capital

Little is publicly known about Tony Chin, the founder of Infini Capital.

According to multiple people familiar with him, Chin is a reserved, soft-spoken man in his 40s who keeps a low profile in Hong Kong’s financial circles. In a previous interview, Chin said he was born in Shanghai and moved to Hong Kong at age three. He later earned dual bachelor’s degrees in economics and mathematics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Early in his career, Chin worked in the investment-banking consumer group at HSBC before joining the bank’s China team, according to a person who previously worked with him.

“Tony rarely talked about his family background — he was quite mysterious,” the person said.

Chin later moved to Morgan Stanley, sources said. At one point he unsuccessfully sought a job at Citic Securities, according to people familiar with the matter. More than a decade later, his own firm would develop extensive dealings with the Chinese brokerage.

Outside finance, Chin has also invested in professional basketball. He is the founder and chairman of the Hong Kong Bulls, a team that has won two consecutive championships in China’s National Basketball League. He previously invested in a professional team in Kaohsiung, Taiwan — a move that drew scrutiny from local communities over the source of the funding.

Records from the SFC show that as of Dec 5, 2025, Chin was no longer listed as a responsible officer at Infini Capital. While several executives and staff were reportedly taken away from the firm’s office during the recent raid, people familiar with the situation said Chin was not among them.

“He was only passively involved and should be fine personally,” a person close to Chin said.

An aggressive ascent

“The pace of a basketball game is fast,” Tony Chin once said in an interview. “Like the market, it’s instantaneous and unpredictable.” Infini Capital Management’s rise has been nearly as rapid.

According to its website, the firm began as a proprietary trading shop focused on Asian markets, operating from dual bases in Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi.

After it began raising external capital in late 2023, Infini Capital quickly emerged as a prominent player in Hong Kong’s equity market. Since October 2024, Caixin has identified at least 15 transactions in which the firm appeared as a cornerstone investor, placement participant or strategic financing provider for Hong Kong-listed companies, particularly in sectors such as artificial intelligence, robotics and fintech.

In 2025 alone, Infini Capital participated as a cornerstone investor in seven Hong Kong initial public offerings, including the HK$2.51 billion listing of ride-hailing firm Cao Cao Mobility. The fund also joined secondary share placements totaling more than HK$15 billion for companies including SenseTime Group and GCL Technology.

Its largest disclosed investment came in September 2025, when Infini Capital subscribed to HK$5.45 billion of shares in a placement by GCL Technology.

Several of the transactions involved the same brokerages now under investigation. Guotai Junan International acted as sponsor or placing agent in at least seven deals linked to Infini Capital, including transactions involving Cao Cao Mobility and SenseTime. Citic Securities also served as placing agent in several other placements involving the hedge fund.

“Infini Capital has collaborated with Citic Securities on many deals,” said a person familiar with Hong Kong’s capital markets. “Its trading style is extremely aggressive, and that may be what ultimately drew regulatory scrutiny.” CAIXIN GLOBAL