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Regulators cast long shadow over Ping An share placement

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Reading the fiasco of Ping An Insurance (Group)'s share placement scheme, I can't help but wonder why a proven manager like Ma Mingzhe, who has built the insurance empire from scratch, would get himself into it.

With its proposal to raise up to 160 billion yuan (HK$175.36 billion) - the largest placement proposal by a mainland company - Ping An has been named the culprit for the recent collapse of the A-share market. Mr Ma is called 'the greedy chief executive officer' and the securities regulator has been forced to issue a statement warning against 'malicious fund raising'.

Is Mr Ma that stupid in ignoring the market appetite and the potential repercussion?

I know no insiders in this case. But after local bankers and corporate executives briefed me on the mainland's secondary fund-raising system, the answer has become crystal-clear.

'The market response has rarely been the primary concern of any mainland corporation in raising money in the domestic market,' one banker put it neatly.

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