Chinese bankers are going missing. According to a NowThis video, the reason for their disappearances is that Chinese authorities have simply apprehended them- either because they were suspected of financial malfeasance or able to aid authorities with their investigations.
The disappearances come in the wake of China’s stock-market nose-dive last summer, an event which triggered widespread anti-graft, anti-insider-trading and anti-corruption investigations.
NowThis suggests that the bankers are in fact scapegoats for larger criminals in the communist party itself.
The following is a list of the detained, disappeared or unnaturally deceased bankers compiled by Quartz:
Lei Jie, chairman, Founder Securities
Wang Yaoting, vice president, Hua Xia Bank
Li Yifei, chairwoman, Man Group’s China business
Citic Securities president Cheng Boming and other top executives
Zhao Dajian, honorary chairman, Minzu Securities
Chen Hongqiao, president, Guosen Securities
Xu Xiang, general manager, Zexi Investment
Yim Fung, chairman, Guotai Junan International
Zhang Yun, president, Agricultural Bank of China
Guo Guangzhang, chairman of the Fosun Group
In prticular, Guo Guangzhang (China’s 17th richest man) was known as the Warren Buffett of China and had transformed a small firm into a multi-billion dollar enterprise.
Citic Securities, a top Chinese securities company, has received quite a bit of extra attention from the authorities; Chen Jun and Yan Jianlin were recently disappeared- the two were the top investment bankers in the company.
In August 8 Citic employees were investigated for illegal stock trading, and in September Citic executives including its general manager Chen Boming were suspected of insider trading and leaking sensitive information.
While some would argue that the disappearance of bankers isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is worrisome that a country is able to simply disappear groups of people without legal recourse.
This disappearing act appears to have afflicted human rights lawyers and activists as well; some 280 were summoned, detained or disappeared according to the BBC.
Sources: The Guardian, Quartz, NowThis, BBC
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