New | China crackdown nets ex-Ping An Securities chief
Xue Rongnian arrested for inside trading and market manipulation as Beijing steps up clampdown
Chinese police have caught Xue Rongnian, a renowned investment banker, for inside trading and market manipulation, the latest scandal exposed after the central government stepped up the crackdown on market irregularities that it blamed for a boom-to-bust cycle earlier this year.
Xue, a former chief executive of Ping An Securities, was apprehended by police in Bengbu, Anhui province, on November 20 as he was alleged to have conducted inside trading involving Anhui Chaodong Cement and Anhui Conch Cement, according to Caixin.
The detention of Xue followed a series of investigations into senior officials and brokerage executives after a stock market rout wiped out as much as US$5 trillion in market value between mid-June and late August despite the government’s rescue efforts that cost more than one trillion yuan of stabilising fund.
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Caixin reported that the case involving Xue was serious, in which he could have made illicit income to the tune of hundreds of millions of yuan.
Xue was at the helm of Ping An Securities between 2008 and 2011 before serving as chairman at Chinalin Securities.
The Wanfu scandal marked a watershed for his career development
In 2013, he was banned from the stock market by the China Securities Regulatory Commission after Wanfu Biotechnology (Hunan) Agricultural Development was found to have falsified earnings for 2008-10 to secure an initial public offering.