Tougher action needed to eliminate financial fraud

According to a decision the China Securities Regulatory Commission recently published on its official website, video-streaming service provider Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp and its founder Jia Yueting have been fined 500 million yuan ($76.63 million) for financial fraud. Jia has also been banned from the securities market for life.

The decision means Leshi, which falsified its financial accounts from 2007 to 2016, has finally been brought to book. The unprecedented fraud involving a listed company in China's A-share market has not only caused huge losses to investors, but also greatly undermined the integrity of the capital market. It is right for regulators to mete out a heavy punishment to Leshi and Jia, but this alone is not enough.

Relevant intermediary agencies, especially accounting audit institutions, cannot shirk responsibility for "having no knowledge" of the fraud committed by Leshi over the past 10 years. The exact amount of money involved in the fraud is still not clear.

Also, it is not clear how, despite the IPO approval system, Leshi successfully passed layers of scrutiny and supervision. Will Jia face criminal trial? Can administrative punishment alone deter others? Under the registration system, with information disclosure supervision at the core, how can we guarantee the quality of new shares and listed companies more effectively without the Issuance Examination Committee of CSRC?

All these problems not only involve the prevention of financial frauds, but are also related to the overall reform and development of China's capital market.

As of Sept 30 last year, Leshi had nearly 190,000 shareholders, most of whom bought its shares when share prices were high. How should these investors' losses be compensated?

Administrative penalties should not be regarded as a panacea for the ills of the capital market nor should parties involved think they can heave a "sigh of relief". The regulator should take firmer and more effective measures to eliminate the root cause of financial frauds involving listed companies, and capital market players should heed the lesson from Leshi's fate to never indulge in fraud.

The authorities should impose the administrative punishment as soon as possible and bring Jia to justice so investors who have lost money don't feel the CSRC decision is not of much help.