[The Epoch Times, June 20, 2022](The Epoch Times reporters Winnie and Wang Jiayi interviewed and reported) Everbright Group, a central enterprise of the Communist Party of China, has been in constant turmoil, and its subsidiary Everbright Securities (Hong Kong) was punished by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission for 380 yuan for violating anti-money laundering regulations. 10,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$484,000), and executives of its subsidiary Everbright Financial Holdings were investigated for suspected violations of discipline and law. As of June 16, 4 executives of the Everbright Department had been investigated in just 8 days.
Everbright Group is a large-scale state-owned comprehensive financial holding group established by the Ministry of Finance of the Communist Party of China and Huijin Corporation. Founded in Hong Kong in August 1983, the group owns companies including China Everbright Bank, China Everbright Securities, China Everbright Holdings, China Everbright International, China Everbright Financial Holdings Assets, Everbright Sun Life Insurance, China Everbright Jinou Asset Management, and CYTS Holdings.
On June 16, the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission issued an announcement that China Everbright Securities (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. (Everbright Securities) was fined HK$3.8 million (US$484,000) for violating regulatory requirements on combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
The announcement stated that from January 2015 to February 2017, Everbright Securities did not implement sufficient and effective systems and control measures to prevent and reduce the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing related to third-party deposits. The CSRC found in a random inspection that Everbright Securities failed to identify 178 third-party deposits of more than 250 million yuan ($31.85 million) made through multiple sub-accounts it opened with a local bank.
The SFC believes that Everbright Securities’ actions violated the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Regulations, the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Guidelines and the Code of Conduct, and therefore corrected it and imposed a fine of HK$3.8 million .
After the news came out, the stock price of Everbright Securities A shares began to fall in the afternoon, and plunged even more in late trading, and finally closed down 7.23% at 18.49 yuan per share ($2.36). The intraday amplitude was 17.36%, and the intraday turnover rate was 15.61%. Everbright Securities Hong Kong stocks also fell sharply in the afternoon, and finally closed down 14.02% at HK$5.64 per share (US$0.72).
4 executives of “Everbright Department” were investigated within 8 days
On June 16, on the same day that Everbright Securities was fined, the website of the Heilongjiang Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision of the Communist Party of China announced that Lu Xing, general manager of the risk management department and general manager of the audit department of Everbright Financial Holdings Asset Management Co., Ltd., was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law. Accepted the disciplinary review of the Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision Team of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission of the China Everbright Group and the investigation of the Supervision Commission of Jiamusi City.
Lu Xing is the fourth executive of the “Everbright Department” subsidiary to be investigated within 8 days. Three executives have been investigated before:
On June 13, the Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision Team of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Supervision Commission of the Yunnan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that the former Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of China Youth Travel Group Co., Ltd. Xiangyu Xiangyu was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, and is accepting Disciplinary review by the Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision Team of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission of the China Everbright Group and the supervision and investigation of the Yunnan Provincial Supervision Commission.
On June 12, the website of the Heilongjiang Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision announced that Li Shaoping, the former chairman and general manager of Zhongguang Holdings Co., Ltd., was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, and was undergoing disciplinary inspection by the Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision Team of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission of China Everbright Group and Jiamusi City. The committee monitors the investigation.
On June 9, the Everbright Qingfeng WeChat public account issued an announcement that Long Jin, the former director of the Conference Management Department of CYTS Logan (Tianjin) International Business Exhibition Co., Ltd., was suspected of serious violations of the law and was under supervision and investigation by the Tianjin Heping District Supervisory Committee.
The “Everbright Department” is deeply involved in the financial purge
In addition to the above four executives, nearly 10 other executives from the “Everbright Department” have been sacked since last year:
In May 2022, Su Shude, former Secretary of the Party Committee and President of China Everbright Bank Nanning Branch, was investigated for serious violations of discipline and law.
On January 4, 2022, Zhang Huayu, former deputy secretary of the party committee and vice president of China Everbright Bank, was investigated on suspicion of serious violations of the law.
In November 2021, Xia Wei, general manager of the transaction banking department of China Everbright Bank, was investigated for serious violations of discipline and law, and was later double-opened in April 2022.
In November 2021, Du Xiongfei, general manager of the debt financing headquarters of Everbright Securities and general manager of the investment banking headquarters, was investigated for serious violations of laws and regulations.
In November 2021, Zhou Jiangtao, the former Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the Nanning Branch of China Everbright Bank, was investigated for serious violations of discipline and law.
In November 2021, Chen Peng, the former general manager of Everbright Urban and Rural Environmental Protection Co., Ltd., was double-opened. Chen Peng will be investigated in November 2021.
In July 2021, Chen Yuhe, business manager of the Information Technology Department of China Everbright Bank, was investigated on suspicion of serious violations of the law.
In March 2021, Zhu Huimin, the former secretary of the party committee and chairman of Everbright Industrial (Group) Co., Ltd., and Huang Zhiyang, the former member of the party committee and deputy general manager, were both expelled from the party and from public office. Zhu Huimin and Huang Zhiyang were investigated in September and December 2020.
Li Yanming, an expert on China issues and a commentator on current affairs, told The Epoch Times that many executives of Everbright Group have been investigated one after another, and the changes in high-level personnel are an important part of Xi Jinping’s government’s financial purge storm. Whether the Everbright Group faces further cleaning is worthy of attention.
Everbright Group’s lock-up by the Beijing authorities can be traced back to the stock market crash in 2015, which was widely discussed as a “financial coup”. Since then, Xi Jinping began to purge the Everbright Group.
On April 10, 2012, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China officially announced that Bo Xilai would be suspended from his positions as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and a member of the Politburo, and he would be subject to an internal party investigation. On the 25th of that month, Bo Xilai’s brother, Bo Xiyong, who goes by the pseudonym Li Xueming, resigned from his position as vice chairman of Everbright International.
Everbright Group had not responded to The Epoch Times‘ request for comment as of press time.
Responsible editor: Lian Shuhua #