A top Nomura investment banker in mainland China and has reportedly been prohibited by authorities from leaving its borders.
Nomura’s Charles Wang Zhonghe has been banned from leaving mainland China, according to a «Financial Times» report citing unnamed sources. A spokesperson for the Japanese lender declined to comment.
Wang is Nomura International's Hong Kong-based chairman of investment banking for China. He joined the bank in 2018 after working for state-owned ICBC International between 2011 and 2016, including as its deputy CEO. He started on Wall Street in the 1990s before moving to Hong Kong in 1996 where he worked for Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Beijing at Zhong De Securities.
The report noted two sources that said that Wang’s exit ban is linked to the long-running investigation of China Renaissance's founder Bao Fan, as well as senior executive Cong Lin. Bao – a major Chinese tech dealmaker as well as former Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse banker – has not been seen in public since February and authorities say he is cooperating in their probe.
Cong Lin
The ban is specifically related to Wang’s time at ICBC when it overlapped with Cong, according to the report, who left to join China Renaissance in 2017 after playing an important role in a strategic partnership between the two banks. The tie-up included a $200 million credit line from ICBC to China Renaissance, which pledged its own shares as backing.
One year ago, Cong was summoned by Chinese regulators for a «supervisory discussion». He would step down from senior positions at China Renaissance’s securities unit afterward and be detained by authorities.
«On the starting date of my birth, and the turning point of my life, I started my journey to the northwestern side of the mother country. [I shall] always be on the road, always have bottom lines and always cherish truth, kindness and love,» according to a social media post on September 13 by Wang, who said he was on a trip to China’s Qinghai province.
