The start of 2016 has seen no let up in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s three-year-old crackdown on graft, with the country’s financial sector put sharply in the spotlight since last summer’s market meltdowns.
Xi’s pledge was to target “big tigers” leaders and decision-makers in the Communist Party and the private sector - as well as “small flies” who cause irritation at grass-roots level.
A number of high-ranking regulators and executives at big securities houses had come under scrutiny since the market turmoil last summer that sent the benchmark Shanghai index plunging 43%.
Some were being investigated for alleged “malicious” short-selling, insider trading or...