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Missing Chinese Banker Bao Fan ‘Assisting Authorities in Probe’

This is the first time China Renaissance Holdings has given a reason for the disappearance of its founder and star dealmaker


Bao Fan, chairman and CEO of China Renaissance Bank
Bao Fan, chairman and CEO of China Renaissance Bank was reported missing 10 days ago. Photo: Reuters

 

Missing top Chinese banker Bao Fan is currently cooperating with relevant Chinese authorities conducting an investigation, his bank said.

This is the first time China Renaissance Holdings has given a reason for the disappearance of its founder who was reported missing 10 days ago. The news led to a 50% fall in the bank’s shares.

The mainland China-based boutique bank, which shared the information in an exchange filing on Sunday, gave no details about the investigation.

 

Also on AF: Missing China Banker Wanted to Move Wealth to Singapore

 

“The Board would like to reiterate that the business and operations of the Group are continuing normally,” the bank said in the exchange filing.

Reuters previously reported, citing sources, that authorities took Bao away earlier this month to assist in an investigation into a former colleague, Cong Lin, the company’s former president.

The star dealmaker’s disappearance is the latest in a series of cases of high-profile Chinese executives going missing with little explanation during a sweeping anti-corruption campaign spearheaded by President Xi Jinping.

In 2015 alone, at least five executives became unreachable without prior notice to their companies. One of them was Fosun Group Chairman Guo Guangchang, who Fosun later said was assisting with investigations regarding a personal matter.

Bao’s disappearance also comes against the backdrop of more than two years of sweeping regulatory crackdown on technology companies.

Bao, also China Renaissance’s controlling shareholder, started the firm in 2005 as a two-person team, seeking to match capital-hungry startups with venture capitalist and private equity investors.

The firm later expanded into services including underwriting, sales and trading.

Known to be well connected in the corporate world, Bao was involved with tech mergers including the tie-up of ride-hailing firms Didi and Kuaidi, food delivery giants Meituan and Dianping, as well as travel platforms Ctrip and Qunar.

 

  • Reuters, with additional editing by Vishakha Saxena

 

Also read:

Top China Dealmaker Bao Fan Disappears, Bank Stock Plunges

China Bank Reassures Staff Over Star CEO’s Disappearance

China Says Crackdowns Essential to Protect Markets, Tame ‘Barbaric’ Tech Growth

Jaded Chinese Millionaires Flocking to Singapore – SCMP

 

 

Vishakha Saxena

Vishakha Saxena is the Multimedia and Social Media Editor at Asia Financial. She has worked as a digital journalist since 2013, and is an experienced writer and multimedia producer. As a trader and investor, she is keenly interested in new economy, emerging markets and the intersections of finance and society. You can write to her at [email protected]