Chinese authorities have arrested the former chief of one of the country’s largest financial asset management firms, as cracks appear in the risk-laden investment banking empire he helped construct.
Lai Xiaomin, previously chairman of China Huarong Asset Management, the powerful asset manager and bad debt investor, was arrested on the order of a local court, state media reported on Wednesday.
No details were given about the case but Mr Lai has been under investigation by China’s anti-graft agency since early this year. He was expelled from the Communist party on accusations of taking bribes and for “blindly” and in a “disorderly” manner shifting Huarong’s Rmb1.87tn ($270bn) business away from its core of distressed debt investing.