raids announced
China’s top bankers must tremble
By Jan Ganger
4/4/2023 12:22 p.m
China’s financial industry is the target of regulators and anti-corruption hunters. A number of managers have been arrested in recent weeks, and there is no sign of life from a top banker. The authorities have announced that they will expand the investigation.
China’s authorities are increasing pressure on the country’s top bankers. The banking regulator CBIRC and the Communist Party’s disciplinary commission, CCDI, have summoned top managers in the industry to a meeting and announced that the investigations and raids in the financial industry are far from over. This is reported by the Bloomberg agency, which specializes in business news, citing people who are familiar with the matter.
According to this, the supervisors invited top managers from at least six state-controlled banks to an interview at the end of last week. Meanwhile, the feared corruption hunters from the CCDI publicly announced that the investigation into a high-ranking banker would be expanded. This is Liu Liange, a former Bank of China executive.
In February, Liu was suddenly removed from his post at China’s fourth-largest bank. He is suspected of “serious” violations of the law and discipline. What exactly Liu is accused of is not known.
According to Bloomberg, while it is not uncommon in China for authorities to subpoena industry leaders when a senior colleague is under investigation. The latest warning is a further indication that the investigations in the financial industry are gaining momentum. According to the information, since February at least 20 top managers have been investigated or sentenced.
XI wants absolute control
The background: President Xi Jinping announced when he took office in 2013 that he would take action against corruption, indiscipline and disloyalty to the Communist Party. Since then, tens of thousands of officials, managers and functionaries have been brought to justice. At first, the measures focused on China’s state-owned companies, administration and the army. The financial sector and tech companies later came into focus. Xi is concerned with asserting the absolute claim to power of the Communist Party he leads. He implemented a series of measures to bring the private sector under the control of the CP.
Several billionaires and business leaders have disappeared in China in recent years. For some of them it is still unclear what became of them. However, most of them reappear. Some of them are tried – mostly because of corruption. Others return to their companies.
Chinese billionaire Bao Fan was reported missing six weeks ago. With his investment company China Renaissance Holding, he is one of the most important financiers of the Chinese tech industry. Two weeks later, the company he runs said Bao was “cooperating” with the authorities. There is still no official information on his whereabouts.
Last Monday, the CCDI said that Huang Xianhui, a top executive at the Huarong financial holding company, was being investigated for alleged violations of the law. Her former boss was sentenced to death and executed in 2021 for taking bribes worth the equivalent of more than 200 million euros and embezzling public funds.