Meet the veteran banker tasked with bringing order to mainland stock markets as new securities regulator chief
Former Agricultural Bank of China head, Liu Shiyu, has been named to replace Xiao Gang in the top post at nation’s securities watchdog
The chairman of one of the mainland’s biggest banks has been confirmed as the new head of the securities regulator following his predecessor’s removal from office after he failed to rein in months of massive volatility and turmoil in the nation’s stock markets.
A brief statement by Xinhua yesterday said Liu Shiyu, the head of the Agricultural Bank of China, would take over as head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Liu, 54, a professional banker who has previously worked as a deputy to central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, is expected to face huge pressure to restore confidence in mainland markets.
“The two major challenges facing the new chairman are to bolster investor confidence to stabilise the weak market and to smoothly launch the registration based IPO reform,” said Xu Lei, a strategist at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities. “The job at the CSRC will be difficult given the current situation and it will be some time before Liu’s own ideas about the market surface.”
Zhao Xijun, a professor at Renmin University in Beijing, agreed Liu faces a daunting task.
“On the one hand, he has to steer China’s stock market moving forwards to continue reform and opening up, and on the other hand he has to be extremely careful of risks.”
Gang was on his way out, with speculation about his possible successors ranging from Huang Qifan, Chongqing’s mayor, and Xiang Junbo, the chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.