CSRC penalise stock manipulators $99.78m

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has issued a penalty of RMB 650m ($99.78m) to a group of six people for manipulating the stock prices of BTG Hotels, Pearl River and Jinjia Group. Though the group argued they made ordinary investments based on investigation and analysis, the CSRC nevertheless issued the heavy penalty.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) recently issued a penalty of 650 million yuan ($99.78 million) to six people for manipulating the stock prices of BTG Hotels, Jinjia Group and Pearl River, Beijing Times reported on Friday.

Between Sept. 23, 2013 and Aug. 27, 2014, the six-person group, including Huang Xinming, Xie Guanhua and Chen Nannan, first made block trades, and then manipulated the prices by trading between their own accounts. For instance, the group bought 38.49 million shares of BTG Hotel with 555 million yuan, then sold 38.26 shares at 565 million yuan. They owned around 20 accounts in total.

CSRC believes that the frequent buying and selling of the stocks, as well as the trades between their accounts, undoubtedly affected stock prices. Though the group defended itself, claiming that they made ordinary investments based on investigation and analysis, the CSRC nevertheless issued a heavy penalty.

The CSRC confiscated Huang’s illegal gains of 325 million yuan, and issued him a penalty of 325 million yuan. Xie and Chen, along with Huang Zhengzhong and Zhu Hui, each received a penalty of 900,000 yuan. Zhuang Dezhi received a 300,000-yuan penalty.