1月21日，Financial Times发布上海交通大学上海高级金融学院金融学教授朱宁的采访报道，对于投资者要求监管机构公布其针对中信证券(Citic Securities)母公司——中信有限(Citic Ltd)的内幕交易指控的证据一事，朱宁教授表达了自己的观点。

Citic investor presses regulator on insider trading claim

An investor in Citic Securities, China’s largest securities company, has asked regulators for evidence to support claims of insider trading against its parent group Citic Ltd, which unloaded shares in the brokerage days before a regulatory crackdown sent its stock plunging.

China’s main stock index suffered its biggest one-day fall in six years on Monday after the securities regulator banned Citic Securities and its two largest rivals from opening new margin trading accounts for three months. Banks and brokerages were the hardest hit.

Seeking information that would allow him to deduce when Citic Securities knew it would face punishment, a shareholder has filed a request with the China Securities Regulatory Commission for evidence related to its investigation of margin trading practices at the brokerage, financial magazine Caixin reported on Wednesday, citing an interview with the investor, who gave only his surname, Yu.

“This is one of the first requests of its kind. This doesn’t happen every day,” said Zhu Ning, vice-dean at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance at Jiaotong University.

Scanned documents posted on Xueqiu, a popular mainland financial discussion forum, showed an official information request signed by an individual named Yu Ping, along with a mailing label addressed to the CSRC’s Beijing headquarters.

Mr Yu could not be reached for comment. The CSRC did not answer calls seeking comment.

Before Monday’s rout, Citic and its peers had been among the best performers in a mainland share rally that began in November. Citic’s Shanghai-listed shares fell by the maximum 10 per cent daily limit on Monday and again on Tuesday.

The CSRC announced its crackdown on margin trading after the markets closed on Friday. Meanwhile, Citic Ltd, Citic Securities’ parent, sold shares worth 3 per cent of the brokerage’s share capital on the open market between Tuesday and Friday, Citic Ltd disclosed in a filing on Friday.

The timing of the sale sparked widespread concern about whether the company acted based on inside knowledge of the CSRC’s pending action.

Yan Yiming, an attorney who specialises in representing investors in insider trading cases, said Citic Securities should have disclosed it was under investigation and noted the risk of punishment.

The CSRC said in mid-December that it was reviewing margin financing practices at a group of brokerages, without naming specific companies.

Mr Yan added that under China securities law, as the controlling shareholder Citic Ltd is presumed to have access to any inside information Citic Securities possesses.

“This kind of behaviour probably does qualify as insider trading,” said Mr Yan, referring to Citic Ltd’s share sale.

Citic Securities said in a filing on Monday that it learnt of its penalty from media reports and “was not notified in advance”. It said Citic Ltd’s stock sale was a “normal business decision”.

Mr Yan said he has received inquiries from Citic Securities’ investors about a possible civil action. But under Chinese law, investors cannot file a suit against a company unless the CSRC has issued it with an administrative punishment, which the regulator has not done.

Allegations of insider trading would be difficult to prove, said Mr Zhu, noting that prosecution requires clear evidence of the suspect’s motivation for the trade.

“I interpret the CSRC’s action more like a systemic tightening-up of margin trading rules. So this isn’t necessarily inside information about a specific company,” he said. “Brokerage shares have risen so much over the last few months; almost no one thought it was sustainable. Citic’s shareholder didn’t need an additional reason to sell.”

Citic Ltd’s unlisted parent company is among a handful of national champions directly owned by China’s cabinet. Last year the parent injected most of its unlisted assets into its Hong Kong-listed vehicle, which was renamed Citic Ltd.

China’s law on government information disclosure requires agencies to respond to requests within 15 working days. But Mr Yan, who led plaintiffs in modern China’s first insider trading lawsuit in 1998, is not optimistic about the chances for CSRC action against Citic.

“The government traditionally protects these big companies,” he said.

【原文链接】Citic investor presses regulator on insider trading claim