Mainland Firm Fined 5.5bn Yuan For Share Fraud

The mainland securities regulator said on Wednesday that it has fined a company a record 5.5 billion yuan for manipulating share prices in the latest scandal to roil the country's turbulent markets.

Xiamen Beibadao Group made a 945 million yuan profit by using 300 trading accounts to manipulate share prices of two banks and an aluminium maker, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said. It gave no details of possible criminal charges against employees.

Beibadao Group is the mainland's largest privately owned operator of railway cargo cars, according to news reports.

Its traders took advantage of a reduction in the number of shares available for trading following the 2015 crash due to government-ordered buying by big investors, according to business news website Tencent Finance. It said that allowed Beibadao to boost prices while buying fewer shares.

The central government announced plans on Tuesday to combine banking and insurance regulators in an effort to improve supervision of those industries amid a campaign by the ruling Communist Party to control financial risks and surging debt levels. (AP)