What’s new: China’s top graft buster has placed a former banking regulatory official under investigation, as the country continues its crackdown on corruption among financial overseers.
Zhang Jinsong, an ex-deputy director of the now-defunct China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission’s (CBIRC) law and regulation department, is being investigated for suspected severe violations of law and Communist Party discipline, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced Friday.
Zhang worked at the central bank before joining the top banking regulator at the time, where he was promoted to deputy director of its law and regulation department around 2015, sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin. He remained deputy director of law and regulation for the CBIRC after it was formed in 2018 through the merger of China’s top banking and insurance regulators.
Sources with ties to Zhang said he had left the agency around four years ago.
While at the CBIRC, Zhang helped mediate negotiations over a bond extension by issuer Jiangsu Hongtu High Technology Co. Ltd. After a round of negotiations in November 2018, the company announced it had reached a deal with investors to extend repayment on a maturing bond. Investors claimed otherwise, insisting the talks ended in a deadlock. They said that during the negotiations, Zhang expressed his hopes for investors to sign the extension agreement.
The background: The investigation into Zhang came as China has stepped up its crackdown on corruption in the financial regulatory system.
In recent years, multiple current and former officials at different financial regulatory agencies have fallen under graft probes.
Contact reporter Zhang Yukun (yukunzhang@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
