Scandali bancari:effetti della liberalizzazione dei mercati dei capitali :)

[FaGal]

Posto una serie di interventi su uno scandalo che ha fatto molto clamore in Cina, un po' in USA, 0 da noi perchè da noi i mass media sono indaffarati con altro

[FaGal]

Chinese bank official vanishes with nearly USD 120 million
news.newkerala.com - January 26, 2005


Beijing - In one of the biggest cases of bank fraud in China, a senior Bank of China official vanished along with nearly USD 120 million worth of deposits in Harbin, capital of north-east China's Heilongjiang province.

Gao Shan, director of a division of Bank of China (BOC) in Harbin, reportedly vanished following the disappearance of USD 34.9 million.

The money was deposited by the Shanghai-listed North-east Expressway Co Ltd. Deposits by other companies, amounting to as much as USD 84.3 million also vanished, the 'China Daily' reported.

A BOC official said the concerned departments were investigating the case.

Economists said the scandal was bad news for BOC, the country's largest foreign exchange bank, which plans to go public this year.

[FaGal]

Subject: Fugitive at centre of $150-million Chinese bank fraud is ...
Posted By: The Money Board - Senior Director, Research and Information Sourcing
Posted At: (1/26/05 9:23)
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Fugitive at centre of $150-million Chinese bank fraud is linked to Canada
www.theglobeandmail.com - By GEOFFREY YORK - With a report from Michael Den Tandt in Ottawa - January 26, 2005


BEIJING - A massive Chinese bank fraud has been linked to a fugitive who reportedly found haven in Canada, provoking new questions about Canada's role in sheltering some of China's biggest crime suspects.

The suspect, a manager of a Bank of China branch in northeastern China, reportedly fled last month with as much as $150-million in embezzled funds. It is the second time in three years that a huge Chinese bank theft has been traced to fugitives taking shelter in Canada.

In the earlier case, two bank employees fled to Vancouver in 2001 after allegedly stealing $570-million from a Bank of China branch in southern China. It was the biggest theft of public assets in the Communist era. One of their associates was later arrested in the United States and extradited to China last year after pleading guilty to fraud, but the two who escaped to Canada have not been caught.

About 4,000 Chinese officials have fled abroad after stealing billions from governments and state-owned banks, according to the Chinese government. Canada, Australia and the United States are said to be favourite destinations, with dozens, perhaps hundreds, believed to have chosen Canada as their refuge.

In the latest case, as much as one billion yuan (about $150-million) disappeared from customer accounts at the Bank of China branch in the northeastern city of Harbin, according to several media reports in China and Singapore yesterday.

The scandal broke when a corporate customer went to the bank on Jan. 4 to withdraw money and found almost 300 million yuan (about $45,000) missing from his account. Other customers soon discovered funds were also missing from their deposits.

Reports identify a bank manager named Gao Shan, who disappeared shortly before the thefts were discovered, as a potential culprit. The 40-year-old asked for a leave Dec. 29 to see a doctor in Beijing, but is thought to have fled to Canada, where he sent his wife and daughter a year ago.

Canadian officials said last night Beijing has not been in contact about the case.

"We are aware [of the situation] from media reports, but not from official channels," said a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew.

The cases have sparked concerns about a lack of internal controls at the Bank of China, the country's second-largest bank. Beijing has acknowledged the need for sweeping banking reforms to improve governance and reduce bad debts.

But the corruption cases have gone far beyond banking. Over the past six years, China has arrested 230 officials who had fled to foreign countries with more than $10-billion, a Hong Kong newspaper reported last year.

In the 2001 case, three senior managers of a Bank of China branch in Guangdong province fled to Canada and the U.S. on fake travel documents after stealing about $570-million.

The scheme had been carefully prepared for years.

Some family members had already moved to Canada, where they allegedly helped set up accounts used to spirit the stolen funds out of China.

Canada, which does not have an extradition treaty with China, has been reluctant to return fugitives there because of concerns that they could be executed.

China has complained for years that Ottawa is not doing enough to send back alleged criminals.

In the most famous case, China has demanded the return of Lai Changxing, the alleged mastermind of a multibillion-dollar smuggling ring, who fled to Canada in 1999. He has been fighting deportation in the Canadian legal system for years.

[FaGal]

Subject: China Bank Urged to Step Up Risk Controls
Posted By: The Money Board - Senior Director, Research and Information Sourcing
Posted At: (1/31/05 7:43)
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China Bank Urged to Step Up Risk Controls
www.forbes.com - January 31, 2005


China's banking regulators on Monday ordered the Bank of China to improve its risk controls and thoroughly investigate a case of suspected fraud that state media reports said may involve funds worth more than 1 billion yuan (US$120 million; euro100 million).

The China Banking Regulatory Commission said it was cooperating with police in investigating the suspected embezzlement at a sub-branch of the bank in Harbin, capital of northeastern China's Heilongjiang province.

"The Bank of China must thoroughly investigate the incident as soon as possible and severely punish those caught violating laws and regulations without mercy," the banking watchdog said in a statement posted on its Web site.

It said the case had caused serious losses and affected several companies, including a local highway company, Northeast Expressway Co., which has filed a lawsuit against Bank of China's Harbin sub-branch seeking to recover deposits and interest held by the bank.

Northeast Expressway, meanwhile, issued a public notice saying that its chairman, Zhang Xiaoguang, had been detained on suspicion of embezzlement.

The Bank of China is one of China's four big state-run commercial banks. Its Hong Kong subsidiary's shares are traded in Hong Kong and New York and the parent bank is preparing to list its own shares overseas.

But the bank has been plagued by several major fraud scandals that have highlighted apparent weaknesses in its management and risk controls.

In one such case, the former chief executive officer of BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd., Liu Jinbao, was removed after approving a loan to a Chinese tycoon who since has been convicted of fraud and stock manipulation.

Bank of China acknowledged earlier this month that investigators had uncovered irregularities and a suspected fraud at its Harbin sub-branch.

The case involves Northeast Expressway's funds as well as social security funds, the official Xinhua News Agency said in a report carried in Monday newspapers.

It said the head of the Bank of China's Harbin sub-branch, Gao Shan, had disappeared and that some former executives of Northeast Expressway were missing or had been detained. The amount of funds involved were thought to total more than 1 billion yuan (US$120 million; euro100 million), it said.

The banking regulator ordered Bank of China to review its entire operation to prevent similar problems.

"The amounts of funds involved are huge, the losses severe, and the case has exposed rather many weaknesses in Bank of China's management of its branches," it said.

A slew of cases have surfaced as China's big banks undergo intensive audits intended to tighten controls before they try to raise capital by selling shares on foreign stock exchanges.

Last week, state media reported that authorities had arrested dozens of government officials and others accused in a scheme to steal 7.4 billion yuan ($900 million, euro740 million) from another big state bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, through fraudulent loans.

Prosecutors planned to file charges against 69 people in connection with that case. Eighty officials were dismissed from government posts for allegedly colluding in the scheme.

[FaGal]

Subject: Report: Jail over China bank loans
Posted By: The Money Board - Senior Director, Research and Information Sourcing
Posted At: (2/1/05 4:36)
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Report: Jail over China bank loans
edition.cnn.com - February 1, 2005


BEIJING, China - A Chinese bank official was sentenced to six years in prison for granting illegal loans and a second is on trial for accepting bribes, state media reported, as China struggles to clean up its banks ahead of planned share sales.

The new cases follow a scandal at Bank of China, the country's largest foreign exchange bank, in which a manager fled the country after 300 million yuan ($36.25 million) disappeared.

The scandals underscore the fragile state of China's banks, which are trying to improve corporate governance and risk controls ahead of up to $4 billion in planned share sales by the "Big Four" -- Bank of China, China Construction Bank, ICBC and Agricultural Bank of China.

Zhang Senmiao, the head of a sub-branch of Construction Bank of China in southern Guangdong province, was sentenced to six years and fined 50,000 yuan for the illegal loans, the official Xinhua news agency reported late on Monday

Four other bank staff involved with granting the loans worth nearly 38 million yuan were given jail terms of three to five years, Xinhua said.

In the other case, Lin Junjiang, the former head of a Guangdong branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), faced a fraud trial on charges of taking bribes worth 8 million yuan from a businessman, Xinhua said.

Another 29 government and bank officials involved in the loan scandal had been removed from their posts and would also face criminal charges, Xinhua said.

China is struggling to repair the balance sheets of its state banks after they accumulated billions of dollars in bad loans during decades of government-directed lending to inefficient state firms.

As well as facing the scrutiny of investors in upcoming share sales, Chinese banks also face increased competition from foreign banks who will win access to the country under commitments made by China when it joined the World Trade Organization.

[FaGal]

Subject: Suicide link to China bank case
Posted By: The Money Board - Senior Director, Research and Information Sourcing
Posted At: (2/2/05 4:44)
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Suicide link to China bank case
edition.cnn.com - February 2, 2005


BEIJING, China - Two people linked to a $120 million fraud case at Bank of China have committed suicide, state media said on Wednesday, a grim turn in the latest scandal to hit the country's biggest foreign exchange lender.

Investigations into the case at a Bank of China branch in the northeastern city of Harbin had found more than 20 people were involved in embezzling up to 1 billion yuan ($121 million), the China Youth Daily said.

The case, which Bank of China said on Monday would not affect its plans for a highly anticipated, multi-billion dollar stock offering this year, came to light last week when reports said two bank officials had fled the country.

The officials were suspected of stealing at least 290 million yuan in deposits by Shanghai-listed Northeast Expressway Co. Ltd. Another 700 million yuan in other corporate deposits had been reported missing.

"More than 20 people have been found to be involved in the case," the newspaper quoted an unidentified source as saying.

Bank of China, one of two state-owned commercial banks to have each received $22.5 billion in state funds in late 2003 to help write off bad loans, is trying to sign up foreign strategic investors who analysts say could pay over $1 billion for a stake prior to an IPO.

The scandal underscores the still-fragile state of China's big banks, which have touted progress in corporate governance and risk controls since reform efforts were revitalised with the capital injections more than a year ago.

On Tuesday, state media reported a Chinese bank official was sentenced to six years in prison for granting illegal loans and a second is on trial for accepting bribes.

Zhang Senmiao, the head of a sub-branch of Construction Bank of China in southern Guangdong province, was sentenced to six years and fined 50,000 yuan for the illegal loans, the official Xinhua news agency reported late on Monday

Four other bank staff involved with granting the loans worth nearly 38 million yuan were given jail terms of three to five years, Xinhua said.

In the other case, Lin Junjiang, the former head of a Guangdong branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), faced a fraud trial on charges of taking bribes worth 8 million yuan from a businessman, Xinhua said.

[FaGal]

Subject: Watchdog urges Bank of China to step up risk control
Posted By: The Money Board - Senior Director, Research and Information Sourcing
Posted At: (2/2/05 5:05)
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Watchdog urges Bank of China to step up risk control
english.people.com.cn - February 2, 2005


China's banking watchdog has ordered the Bank of China (BOC) to step up its risk control and thoroughly investigate a fraud case that the bank said involve funds worth hundreds of millions of yuan (tens of millions of US dollars).

China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said on its website that it was working in cooperation with police in probing the suspected embezzlement at the bank's Hesongjie sub-branch in Harbin, capital of China's northernmost Heilongjiang province.

Director and other staff of the bank division reportedly disappeared. The CBRC said the case had caused grave losses and affected a couple of companies, including a local highway company,Northeast Expressway Co..

"The BOC must look into the incident thoroughly and as soon as possible and severely penalize those caught violating laws and regulations without any mercy," the CBRC said.

The banking watchdog ordered BOC to review its entire operationso as to prevent similar problems.

BOC Spokesman Wang Zhaowen said earlier that daily business wasrunning smoothly and orderly at the bank division.

The BOC will release relevant information in a timely manner, he said.

The BOC is one of China's Big Four state-owned commercial banks. Its Hong Kong subsidiary's shares are traded in Hong Kong and New York and the parent bank is also seeking a stock market debut.

Wang Zhaowen acknowledged that the Hesongjie sub-branch case isa "local" one -- not involving the operation of other BOC divisions. "It will not affect the BOC's reform as a whole," he said.

[FaGal]

Subject: China to blacklist gambling accounts
Posted By: The Money Board - Senior Director, Research and Information Sourcing
Posted At: (2/3/05 5:27)
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China to blacklist gambling accounts
news.xinhuanet.com - February 3, 2005


BEIJING - The China Banking Regulatory Commission has issued a special circular urging all banks and financial institutions to tighten supervision and management of fund exchanges in a fresh effort to support the current nationwide crackdown on gambling.

"Chinese banking bodies should not install operational branches at gambling sites abroad or offer Internet-based services for any form of gambling activities," said Li Wei, vice director of the banking watchdog, quoted by Thursday's Beijing Daily Messgener.

According to him, the commission will set up special mechanisms to blacklist abnormal accounts suspected of being involved in gambling and monitor information related to abnormal fund transactions.

"In the past year, China's banking institutions have cooperated well with other authorities in investigating suspected websites, accounts, banking cards and fund exchanges to find gambling evidence," Li said.

Fund transfer for gambling, especially Internet-based gambling, is generally done through bank accounts.

In Beijing, the local police has found 22 accounts at five banks involved in eight newly-unearthed Internet gambling cases, in which 36 suspects and 30 computers were seized.

[FaGal]

Subject: BOC to set Up new dept against fraud
Posted By: The Money Board - Senior Director, Research and Information Sourcing
Posted At: (2/4/05 4:14)
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BOC to set Up new dept against fraud
news.xinhuanet.com - February 4, 2005


BEIJING - The Bank of China has decided to merge its existing supervision and audit departments into one to reinforce the internal supervision efficiency and prevent fraud.

The Bank of China (BOC) Wednesday decided to merge its existing supervision and audit departments into one, in a bid to reinforce the internal supervision efficiency and prevent problems similar to a recent fraud case at the bank's Hesongjie branch in northeast Heilongjiang Province.

The bank also planned to expand the staff of the original two departments from 20 to 90 for the new one, said BOC spokesman Wang Zhaowen.

The combination and expansion will help enhance the independence of internal supervision, while the original supervision and audit departments took charge of case investigation and business auditing separately, Wang said.

The new department is expected to oversee the bank's overall business operations, risk control, institutional construction and performance of its managers at various levels, he said.

Empowered to investigate malpractice and to propose penalties, the new department will supervise all divisions of the Beijing-based headquarters, first-level sub-branches throughout the country and the bank's overseas organs.

The move is seen as a response to the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), which had ordered the bank to step up its risk control after a fraud case exposed at the bank's Hesongjie sub-branch in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province.

The case reportedly involved funds worth hundreds of millions of yuan (tens of millions of US dollars). Director and other staffof the bank division suspected of embezzlement all disappeared.

The bank has promised to release information about the case in time.

The BOC is one of China's four state-owned commercial banks. Its Hong Kong subsidiary's shares are traded in Hong Kong and New York and the parent bank is also seeking a stock market debut.

[FaGal]

Subject: Bank of China Probe May Make Overseas Investors Wary
Posted By: The Money Board - Senior Director, Research and Information Sourcing
Posted At: (2/5/05 8:58)
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Bank of China Probe May Make Overseas Investors Wary, Zhou Says
www.bloomberg.com - February 5, 2005


A fraud investigation at a branch of the Bank of China, which plans to sell shares overseas for the first time this year, may make foreign investors wary about buying shares in the country's lenders, Chinese central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said.

``After all, something bad has happened,'' Zhou said in an interview in London. ``It's impossible to say there won't be repercussions.''

Police were called to investigate after Shanghai-listed Northeast Expressway Co. filed suit against Bank of China's Harbin branch on Jan. 19 over a missing deposit of 293.3 million yuan ($35 million). Twelve days later, Bank of China said its preliminary investigation implicated the branch manager, Gao Shan, and other unidentified internal and external parties.

The bank, China's second-largest lender, and China Construction Bank, are expected to be the first of the nation's biggest four-biggest state lenders to sell shares in an industry saddled with more than $500 billion in bad loans.

While Bank of China spokesman Wang Zhaowen said on Jan. 31 that the Harbin branch fraud won't affect the lender's restructuring and listing plans, the China Banking Regulatory Commission has said the case ``exposed many weak links affecting the management and control of its branches.''

``China is a large country,'' said Zhou, during the Group of Seven meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors. ``It's difficult to avoid things like this at regional levels. People will get over it.''

Bank of China President Li Lihui said on Dec. 28 that the lender will choose a foreign strategic partner in the first quarter. Zhou said today the bank is ``working hard'' on that.

He declined to say after meeting with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan yesterday whether they discussed sale of stakes in Chinese banks.