Caixin said Yang Jingyao emerged as the third defendant in the U.S. options insider-trading case tied to Futu and Tiger, as the SEC probes trading ahead of China’s May 22 crackdown on cross-border brokers.
A July 23 U.S. court filing identified the third defendant seeking to unfreeze assets as Yang Jingyao. Caixin reported that he surfaced in the U.S. insider-trading case involving options in Futu Holdings and Tiger Brokers. The SEC is investigating allegations by Susquehanna International Group that unknown traders bought put options before China’s May 22 crackdown on cross-border brokers, spending about $12 million and generating at least $100 million in profit. Earlier reporting in the case said Yang has been a Hong Kong resident since 2020 and that Caixin described him as the 32-year-old son of a wealthy mainland Chinese individual. A New York federal court had frozen accounts that bought large short-term put positions in FUTU and TIGR through Interactive Brokers, Futu and Tiger during May 7-21, 2026. Separate HKEX filings show a person with the same name is the largest single shareholder and former mandatory general offeror of Hong Kong-listed Glory Sun International, though public evidence has not established a link between that failed offer and the restrained accounts or funds.