BIZCHINA / Top Biz News
Insurance head resigns amid investment probe
By Bao Xian (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-12-29 08:50
The chairman of China's fourth-largest life insurer resigned during an
investigation of suspected misuse of funds, the company's spokesman
confirmed yesterday.
During a board meeting on Wednesday, the insurer "approved the
resignation of Chairman Guan Guoliang and named President Sun Bin as the
acting chairman until a new chairman is elected," said a spokesman for
the New China Life Insurance Company (NCL) on condition of anonymity.
"This change will not hurt the company," the spokesman said.
Guan, 46, has been under investigation by the China Insurance Regulatory
Commission (CIRC) since September for being suspected of violating
regulations on capital utilization.
The investigation is focused on Guan's investments in the real estate
sector and other areas forbidden by the industry watchdog.
"What is worse is that the board knows nothing about these investments,"
said a source close to the company who declined to be named.
As early as February of this year there were media reports saying
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the auditor for NCL in 2005, found the insurer
provided an 800 million yuan (US$102.5 million) warranty for three
companies in the first half of 2005 and did not include it in its
financial report. In addition, there were no available written contracts
for a 1.34 billion yuan (US$158 million) transaction between NCL and
Chengzhong Real Estate Company.
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