A senior executive of Bank of East Asia Ltd.’s China unit has been detained on suspicion of accepting bribes, according to a report by Cailian.
(Bloomberg) — A senior executive of Bank of East Asia Ltd.’s China unit has been detained on suspicion of accepting bribes, according to a report by Cailian.
Bank of East Asia (China)’s assistant president Chen Zhiren was detained on July 19 and is being held in Beijing, according to the report, which said the investigation is related to bank loans.
In response to questions on the report, BEA said in a statement that the matter “pertains solely to the personal actions of an individual employee” and that it has “stringent internal control mechanisms and protocols in place.”
“This matter has no impact on BEA China’s lending business and doesn’t involve East Asia Qianhai Securities,” the bank said in the statement.
Hong Kong-based BEA has outlets in about 40 cities in mainland China. It was one of the first foreign banks to receive approval from China’s banking regulator to establish a locally-incorporated bank in mainland China in 2007, according to its website.
The lender employs over 3,000 staff in mainland China as of end June, according to its latest earnings report.
BEA shares fell 1.5% to HK$9.91 as of 9:47 a.m. in Hong Kong.
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