China authorities seize fallen tycoon's multibillion-dollar firms

Companies held total assets of $172bn; crackdown aims to ease risk

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The moves aim to protect investors’ legitimate interests, regulators said.  © Reuters

WU HONGYURAN, LIN JINBING and HAN WEI, Caixin

The Chinese government has seized nine financial companies formerly controlled by fallen tycoon Xiao Jianhua for alleged lawbreaking, in an unusually aggressive move to deal with risks from his once freewheeling financial empire.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) took over four insurance companies and two trust firms, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) seized two securities companies and one futures firm, according to official statements released Friday.

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