What’s new: Mao Bihua, former party secretary and director of the Chongqing Supervision Bureau of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), came under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law, the country’s top graft buster said Friday.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China didn’t disclose details of the alleged violations, though it described the probe in terms that usually suggest corruption.
Mao, 52, joined the CSRC in 1996 and led the inspection team between 2012 and 2015 with responsibility for investigating allegations of insider transactions, fraud and stock market manipulation. He was later transferred to Chongqing Supervision Bureau.
Under Mao, the CSRC’s inspection office cracked down on a series of high-profile cases, such as several initial public offerings sponsored by Everbright Securities that were discovered to be financially fraudulent.
The background: Mao became the third fallen official of the CSRC’s inspection team. His predecessor, Ouyang Jiansheng, was recently sentenced to seven years in prison. Xi Longsheng, former vice director of the inspection team, was also sentenced to prison.
Xi’s investigation was related to Yao Gang, former vice chairman of the CSRC, who was sentenced in 2018 to 18 years in prison for taking bribes worth 69.61 million yuan ($9.9 million) and illegally making 2.1 million yuan of gains from insider trading.
Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com).
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