HONG KONG, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Shareholders in CITIC Pacific on Friday approved a $1.5 billion plan to help the Beijing-backed steel-to-property conglomerate recover from massive losses on unauthorised foreign exchange bets.
About 99.9 percent of the independent shareholders' votes were in favour of the package, the company said in a statement.
The results came after a majority of shareholders' voted down an attempt by an activist investor to postpone Friday's EGM for 14 days.
CITIC Pacific's state-owned parent, CITIC Group, agreed in November to buy $1.5 billion worth of convertible bonds from the firm and assume most of its liabilities from the wrong way bets on the Australian dollar it revealed in October.
Chairman Larry Yung said the rescue plan was fair and reasonable despite some minority investors saying the exercise price of the convertible bond at HK$8 each was too low.
"We believe under the current difficult market situation, this is the best plan in sight," he told reporters after the EGM.
Both Yung and managing director Henry Fan are facing pressure to step down as some minority shareholders said they have lost confidence in the two after the scandal came to light.
"The case is still under investigation and if you think we are not suitable for the job you have to go through legal procedures, including a vote in a shareholders' meeting," Yung said in the EGM.
Both the city's securities watchdog, the Securities and Futures Commission, and its bourse operator, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, have launched formal investigations into the firm after it shocked the market in October by announcing a potential $2 billion in forex trading losses.
Shares of the company ended up 4.2 percent at HK$8.6 on Friday but have lost more than 40 percent since the losses were unveiled in late October. ($1=HK$7.8) (Reporting by Ruth Wong; Writing by Nerilyn Tenorio and Alison Leung)