Yung family finds there is life after Citic

With his eldest son resigning from Citic as its non-executive director late last month, the last link of princeling Larry Yung Chi-kin's dynasty to the mainland's largest state-backed conglomerate seems to have been severed.

This is not the end for the Yung's legendary dynasty as 46-year-old Carl Yung Ming-jie may well join his 72-year-old father in a family venture he started in 2009 in which his two younger children and former Citic alumni came aboard to invest in mainland property and other investments.

Carl Yung and three other Citic directors resigned on September 26 while four new directors were appointed the same day. Citic said the reshuffle would "ensure effective and rigorous leadership, oversight and governance" after it bought 227 billion yuan (HK$286.6 billion) worth of assets from its parent to become the largest mainland conglomerate with interests from mining to real estate to financial services.

"Carl Yung may join his father's company. His father always wanted him to rejoin the family business," a source familiar with the situation told the South China Morning Post.

Many brokers had similar reactions as they pointed out Larry Yung loves working with his children, whether it was in Citic or in his new venture Yung's Enterprise Holdings.

Larry Yung set up the new outfit after he stepped down as chairman of Citic in April 2009. His term was marred by news the Securities and Futures Commission filed a HK$1.9 billion lawsuit to seek claims on behalf of 4,500 investors against Larry Yung and four former Citic directors and the company for alleged delays in disclosing HK$15.5 billion in foreign exchange losses in 2008.