High-profile Chinese tech banker Bao Fan has vanished, raising alarms throughout the nation’s financial sector. According to the news service Bloomberg, Bao’s company China Renaissance Holdings Ltd announced on Thursday (February 16) that it had lost contact with him. According to a source with knowledge of the situation, Bao Fan lost communication with the business for two days and his family was informed that he was helping with an investigation.
China Renaissance’s shares dropped by 50% in early Hong Kong trading on Friday
The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, claimed that officials had been looking into Cong Lin since September of last year. Cong Lin was the previous president of China Renaissance. Cong left China Renaissance last year after holding a number of positions at the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.
According to a report by the news agency Reuters, China Renaissance’s shares dropped by 50% in early Hong Kong trading on Friday (February 17), reaching a low of $0.64 (about HK$5) and losing $356.7 million (HK$2.8 billion) in market value. It gained momentum and is now 28% off. The report also stated that 19.04 million China Renaissance shares had been traded thus far, which is a record high.
Bao Fan, has vanished, fueling rumors that the financial sector will once again be under scrutiny
When they are a part of any official inquiry, senior leaders in China frequently vanish. Chinese President Xi Jinping began a massive anti-corruption inquiry into the $60 trillion banking industry of his nation in late 2021. According to Bloomberg, the investigation has implicated the investment banking industry, entangling bankers from brokerages like Everbright Securities Co. and Guotai Junan Securities Co.
One of China’s most well-connected bankers, Bao Fan, has vanished, fueling rumors that the financial sector will once again be under scrutiny. Fan, a former banker at Credit Suisse Group AG and Morgan Stanley, rose to fame for his ability to broker complex mergers and acquisitions, including those that resulted in the development of Didi Global Inc. and Meituan.
Prior to Fan, the real estate firm Seazen Group Ltd reported that it was unable to get in touch with Qu Dejun
In 2005, he founded China Renaissance Holdings Ltd., and after financing $346 million, it was listed in Hong Kong in 2018. The business is an aggressive investor, having backed numerous IT heavyweights like NIO Inc. and WuXi AppTec Co. The company had $7.1 billion (48.6 billion yuan) under its investment manager at the end of June of last year, according to China Renaissance’s most recent interim report.
Prior to Fan, the real estate firm Seazen Group Ltd reported that it was unable to get in touch with Qu Dejun, its vice-chairman. Mingtiandi said on Monday (February 13) that Dejun was assisting law enforcement with a probe into the Dalian Wanda Group, where he had formerly worked.