The head of China’s insurance regulator is being investigated for suspected disciplinary violations.
The head of China ’s insurance regulator is being investigated for suspected disciplinary violations, the country’s top anti-graft body said on Sunday, bringing the most senior financial regulator to date into the government’s fight against corruption.
China’s top leaders have pledged this year to address financial risks and asset bubbles.
In a brief statement, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Xiang Junbo, head of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) and a member of the central bank’s monetary policy committee, was suspected of „serious disciplinary violations“ – a phrase that usually refers to graft.
It gave no further details.
Xiang’s name and position has been removed from the CIRC’s website although news about him remains.
As head of the insurance regulator, Xiang oversaw rapid growth of the insurance industry, along with liberalization of investment rules that provided insurers greater latitude to invest more of their assets at home and overseas.
China’s insurance assets nearly doubled over the last three years, reaching 15.1 trillion yuan ($2.19 trillion) at the end of 2016.
In February, Xiang appeared at a press conference where he vowed the insurance regulator would take more punitive action to punish short-term speculators and reduce long-term risk.
