China securities regulator hands out record high fine

Investors are in front of a screen displaying stock indices and prices of shares at a securities brokerage in Fuyang, East China's Anhui province, Dec 11, 2014. [Photo by Wang Biao/Asianewsphoto]

BEIJING - China's securities regulator slapped a 3.47 billion yuan ($504 million) fine on a company chairman for stock market manipulation, an all-time high for a fine.

Xian Yan, chairman of P2P Financial Information Service Co, formerly Shanghai Duolun Industry Co, will also be banned for life from trading on the Chinese securities market, according to the penalty decision announced by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on Thursday.

Xian was found guilty of fixing the stock price of his company via insider trading and reporting falsely to the stock market regulator from Jan 17, 2014 to June 12, 2015, according to the CSRC.

The amount of the fine received by Xian approaches the total of fines handed out by the CSRC for all of last year, which stood at 4.28 billion yuan, showing the regulator's determination to rein in risky stock behavior.