Ex-China Merchants Bank president Tian Huiyu is being investigated by top anti-corruption watchdog for suspected breach of ‘party’s discipline and law’

Tian undergoing ‘disciplinary review, monitoring and investigations’, according to online notice

Analysts confident bank’s performance and outlook will not be affected by the incident and change in management

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A branch of China Merchants Bank in Beijing. The Shenzhen-based lender is viewed as one of the most successful retail banks in China. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:40pm, 22 Apr 2022Updated: 9:50pm, 22 Apr 2022

China’s top anti-corruption watchdog said on Friday that it was investigating Tian Huiyu, the former president of China Merchants Bank (CMB) who was removed from his post this week, for a suspected “serious violation of the party’s discipline and law”.

A brief notice was posted on the website of the National Supervisory Commission, the country’s highest anti-corruption agency that oversees party members and civil servants. Created in 2018 as part of Beijing’s efforts to bring the governance system closer to the Communist Party, the commission ranks alongside the central government and above the judiciary.

“Tian is currently undergoing the commission’s disciplinary review, monitoring and investigations,” it said, without giving further details.

Friday’s revelation comes just four days after members of the board of Shenzhen-based CMB – viewed as one of the most successful retail banks in China – voted in favour of his removal on Monday with immediate effect. The bank, which has not revealed the reasons behind his removal, said earlier that Tian would be assigned to another post.

Tian Huiyu, the former president of China Merchants Bank. Photo: Weibo

Wang Liang, 56, an economist who is the bank’s chief financial officer as well as its first executive vice-president, will takeover as interim CEO.

The unexpected news led to the worst sell-off in CMB shares in over a decade, on both the Hong Kong and Shanghai bourses, where its shares are traded, shaving US$35 billion in market capitalisation over two trading days this week.

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