Chinese authorities have replaced the head of the Securities Regulatory Commission Yi with Wu

Yi Huiman steps down as chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), reports Xinhua. His place will be taken by Wu Qing, who will replace Mr. Yi as the party head of the financial regulator.

Mr. Wu was already in charge of the SEC. That Mr. Wu will replace Mr. Yi in this post, Bloomberg reported a year ago. Wu Qing is known for his tough management style, zero tolerance for corruption and earned a reputation as a “broker butcher” for shutting down 31 companies for trading violations when he was head of the SEC in the mid-2000s. After leaving the SEC in 2010, he became the head of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, where he worked for two years. After that, he took the position of vice mayor of Shanghai, where he remained until his current appointment.

The appointment of a tougher head of the regulator comes against the backdrop of attempts by Chinese authorities to stop the decline of the Chinese stock market and the outflow of capital from the country. So, at the end of January, the Chinese authorities limited access for retail investors to funds investing in foreign securities. And in October 2023, the Securities Regulatory Authority issued prescription, which prohibits local brokerage firms and their overseas affiliates from opening new accounts for mainland Chinese clients through which they can trade offshore securities and other assets. This decision was made after in August, according to Bloomberg, capital outflow from the country amounted to $49 billion, which was a record high since December 2015.

Kirill Sarkhanyants