One of China’s biggest securities companies has said it has been unable to contact its top two investment bankers after media reports said the pair might be under investigation.
Citic Securities said in a statement on Sunday evening that it had not been able to get in touch with Chen Jun and Yan Jianlin.
Financial news magazine Caixin said the two men had been taken away by authorities but it was not clear whether they were being investigated or were merely being asked to assist in an investigation.
The pair are the latest executives to go missing from Citic as authorities deepen an investigation into the company following a spectacular rout on China’s stock market over the summer.
Chen is head of Citic’s investment banking business while Yan is head of the company’s international investment banking arm, according to its website.
Authorities are also scrutinising two other big Chinese securities firms as part of the investigation, which many see as an attempt by the ruling Communist party to deflect blame for the Shanghai index’s 30% drop from its peak. State media had encouraged the public to buy stocks, fuelling a bubble.
In August, the official Xinhua news agency said eight Citic employees were being investigated for illegal stock trading. The following month, the police ministry said Citic executives including its general manager, Cheng Boming, were suspected of insider trading and leaking sensitive information.
The company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that operations were “normal” and some employees who were asked to help in unspecified preliminary investigations had returned to work, although it did not name them.
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