CITIC and CSRC officials among eight detained in trading malpractice probe

August 27, 2015

BEIJING – Chinese State media announced on Tuesday night that eight people had been taken away for questioning over alleged market malpractice, and further reporting on Wednesday concluded that the detained included Xu Gang, managing director of one of China’s biggest securities firms Citic Securities, Ouyang Jiansheng, a former department director at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), Liu Shufan, a CSRC division head, and Caijing magazine reporter Wang Xiaolu.

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post says insiders have told media that the investigation, which “started quietly weeks ago”, was not directly linked to current market turbulence, but does reflect the leadership’s determination to weed out rampant irregularities in the financial market.

A former CSRC official was reported as saying: “The investigation is not only about the current market correction. It was triggered by something bigger. It is more complicated than people think.”

China’s official Xinhua newsagency posted a commentary calling for greater efforts to “purify” China’s capital markets, warning that more people would be implicated as the investigation went deeper. www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).