Securities brokerage declared bankrupt
By Hu Yuanyuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-18 09:07

"The closing down of China Southern Securities is not a surprise since it has been an empty shell after China Jianyin Investment (JIC) took over the company last August," said He Yuanyuan, adding bankruptcy is a must to clear up its debts.

JIC is a spin-off from the China Construction Bank designed to take charge of the State-owned lender's non-banking business. After the acquisition, China Jianyin Investment Securities emerged and has become the fourth-largest brokerage in Shenzhen.

Established in 1992, China Southern Securities used to be a heavyweight in the sector. It increased its registered capital from 1 billion yuan (US$125 million) to 3.45 billion yuan (US$425.4 million) in 2002.

But due to poor management and embezzlement of a substantial amount of capital, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the local government took it over at the beginning of 2004 before announcing its closure in April 2005.

The central government injected 8 billion yuan (US$1 billion) into the debt-ridden trading house early last year when it was revealed that it had misappropriated 8 billion yuan (US$1 billion) of clients' money. But the efforts failed to revive the brokerage.

Since 2005, the industry watchdog has been reshuffling the securities sector, which had been in the doldrums for four years.

But most of China's 130 securities firms have bounced back this year due to the strong stock market rebound.

The benchmark Shanghai composite index has risen 60 per cent since the start of the year, helped by the non-tradable shares reform and new initial public offerings.

Experts estimate the revenue of most securities firms will double this year.


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