China former securities regulator investigated for suspected corruption, watchdog says

By James Pomfret

Sept 6 (Reuters) - A former top Chinese securities regulator, Yi Huiman, has been put under investigation over suspected violations of law, China's anti-corruption watchdog said on Saturday.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a brief statement on its website that Yi, who once led the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), was being investigated and "suspected of serious violations of discipline and law".

The statement gave no further details.

Authorities took Yi, 60, for investigation last week, Reuters reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

He could not be reached for comment.

Chinese authorities have intensified efforts to crack down on corruption in recent years with probes of several high-ranking officials, including senior admiral Miao Hua.

The CSRC said in a statement on its website that this move against Yi showed the Chinese Communist Party's "zero tolerance against corruption", and sent a strong signal that the "anti-corruption struggle will be carried out to the end."

It added that it would "strengthen supervision in accordance with the law to effectively prevent risks," while promoting high-quality development of capital markets to better serve the overall situation of sustained economic recovery.

Yi, a veteran of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) <601398.SS> , which he joined as a junior loan officer in 1985, helmed the CSRC, which is under the administration of China's State Council, from January 2019 to February 2024.

He was unexpectedly ousted last year as a selloff in domestic stock markets pushed the benchmark index to a five-year low. He was replaced by the current head, Wu Qing. Since then, Yi has been a deputy director of the economic committee of China's top political advisory body.

Before joining ICBC, he spent six months working at the Hangzhou city bureau of the Chinese central bank.

Yi attended two meetings of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on July 29, according to the conference's website, his last known public appearances.

He is not the first former senior regulatory commission official to face investigation in recent years. In April, authorities launched a corruption probe into former Vice Chairman Wang Jianjun, who was removed from the post the following month.

Last November, another senior official, Wu Guofang, was also placed under investigation on similar suspicions.