Here is an extract from a media article in todays SMH:The...

Here is an extract from a media article in todays SMH:

The billionaire founder of the Sichuan Hanlong conglomerate, Liu Han, and his right-hand man Kang Huan Jun have told the corporate regulator they may sue two former executives, being investigated for alleged insider trading, over the alleged misuse of company moneys in the suspect trading.

Mr Liu and group vice-president Mr Kang were interviewed last Friday by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, which is investigating alleged insider trading in Sundance and Bannerman resources, both takeover targets of Hanlong Mining, a subsidiary of Sichuan Hanlong.

Hanlong yesterday refused to comment on court disclosures that ASIC had expanded its insider trading probe to include two more of its executives - director Nelson Feng Chen, and Simon Yang, the CFO of Hanlong Mining Investment Ltd.

Advertisement: Story continues below In September, Hanlong stood down its managing director, Steven Xiao, vice-president Calvin Zhu and trading manager Fan Zhang when news of the ASIC investigation broke. Mr Kang was sent to Australia immediately to rescue takeover negotiations with Sundance - which has agreed to a $1.65 billion deal.

Appearing in the New South Wales Supreme Court to try to prevent Mr Zhu from travelling to China, counsel for ASIC David Stack said Mr Xiao and Mr Zhu have claimed they were nominee trading - which does not fall under the umbrella of the Corporations Act's insider trading laws. But he said Mr Liu and Mr Kang had told ASIC they had not authorised nominee trading.

The hearing resumes today.