The billionaire head of the Chinese investment bank, Bao Fan, has disappeared. His company China Renaissance Holding said in a message to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it could no longer contact him. The news sent the share price down nearly 30% on Friday afternoon (local time). His family had been informed that the 53-year-old was involved in investigations, financial news agency Bloomberg reported.
Bao Fan is the majority shareholder and chairman of China Renaissance Holding. The company said it is not aware of any information that suggests his absence is linked to the group’s business, which follows normally. Renaissance President Cong Lin was arrested in September.
investigations
He was under investigation in connection with his previous work for the financial leasing arm of the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank (ICBC), Chinese business magazine Caixin reported. Both were close.
Under Cong Lin’s leadership, ICBC Financial Leasing took out a $200 million loan to Renaissance in 2017, which the company repaid a year after its IPO, Caixin reported. The billionaire brought Cong Lin to Renaissance in July 2020 and named him president there. Bao Fan, a former banker at Morgan Stanley and the Credit Suisse Group, is considered one of China’s most prolific traders.