A senior executive from Bank of East Asia has reportedly been detained in Beijing over an investigation linked to bank loans and suspected bribery.
Chen Zhiren, assistant president at BEA (China), has been detained in Beijing, according to a report by Chinese media firm «Cailian» (Mandarin only). Chen was detained over an investigation related to bank loans and suspicions of accepting bribes.
In response, a BEA statement said that the matter «pertains solely to the personal actions of an individual employee», adding that the bank has «stringent internal control mechanisms and protocols in place».
«This matter has no impact on BEA China’s lending business and doesn’t involve East Asia Qianhai Securities,» it said.
Financial Crackdown
Since last year, Beijing has been cracking down on corruption in the financial sector with more than 40 officials and executives across banks and regulatory bodies probed or penalized. The most notable example was ex-Huarong Asset Management chairman Lai Xiaomin who was sentenced to death in January last year over multiple corruption-related charges including the acceptance of 1.79 billion yuan ($260 million) in bribes.
Hong Kong-based BEA has 3,000 staff in mainland China, as of end-June, with outlets in around 40 cities.
