Mainland insurer PICC Property and Casualty has revealed that it has substantial government-bond and cash holdings with troubled Hantang Securities.
PICC yesterday said in an announcement that it had government bonds with an aggregate face value of 356.5 million yuan and cash of 56.85 million yuan in its account with the Shenzhen-based brokerage firm.
Hantang Securities was placed under the operational control of state-owned financial restructuring group China Cinda Asset Management on September 3 by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
The commission cited 'gross irregularities' as a reason for the move.
At this stage, it remains unclear how much of PICC's bond holdings and cash can be recovered, or when.
PICC said that it had taken measures to recover the bonds and cash from Hantang Securities - which has temporarily suspended payment of proceeds from securities trading to its institutional customers - but had so far been unsuccessful.
'[PICC] will continue to take necessary action, including legal action, to recover its assets,' it said.
