(Yicai Global) Sept. 5 -- A Hong Kong court has barred Li Hejun, a major shareholder of Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd. (Hanergy) [HK:0566], from serving as the company's director for eight years.

The court yesterday imposed similar bans on Hanergy's four independent non-executive directors, with Zhao Lan and Wang Tongbo receiving a four-year ban and Xu Zheng and Wang Wenjing barred for three years.

The case in which the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong sought the disqualification of Li, Zhao, Wang, Xu and Wang was heard at Hong Kong's High Court on August 29. The Hanergy case involves billions of yuan that has flowed into a company Li controls, and he should thus be barred from serving as a director on the board of any company in Hong Kong, the lawyer representing the SFC argued to the court.

Hanergy's H-shares, which once rose 1,800 percent in two years, slumped nearly 47 percent in 30 minutes on May 20, 2015, wiping off over USD15 million (CNY100 billion) from the company's market capitalization and more than CNY90 billion from the fortune of its actual controller, Li. Hanergy suspended trading in its shares that same day. The SFC announced eight days later that it was investigating Hanergy and on July 15 last year ordered the company to extend the suspension. Trading in its shares has yet to resume.

Hanergy announced May 20 last year -- one year after Hanergy's share price halved -- that to help strengthen corporate governance, Li has stepped down as its chairman and executive director, but remained its major shareholder and chairman, and chief executive of Hanergy Holding Group Ltd.

Hanergy is the listed branch of Hanergy Holding Group and mainly engages in the research, development and design of thin film solar power generation lines and in the development, operation and distribution of downstream thin-film solar power generation projects and application products.