The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong made an appeal against the court's approval of local telecom firm PCCW's privatization plan on Monday evening.

The move was accepted by the Court of Appeal a few hours after the High Court gave green light to the 15.9 billion HK dollars ( about 2.02 billion US dollars) buyout deal, which was likely to be further delayed.

The deal was earlier brought forward by PCCW and had been overshadowed by allegations of impropriety after claims of vote- rigging at a shareholders' meeting in February that secured the go- ahead for the proposal.

The commission then bid a role in the court hearing of the deal.

High Court Judge Susan Kwan Monday afternoon rejected allegations made by the securities watchdog that some share transfers were illegal.

PCCW shares resumed trading Tuesday morning after being suspended since April 1, when they last traded at 3.98 HK dollars (about 0.5 U.S. dollars).

(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2009)