China: Evergrande president soon banned for life from stock markets

Evergrande takes its president with it in its fall. The Chinese regulator will ban the president of the struggling real estate giant from all access to the securities market for life, state television CCTV reported on Monday. The market regulator (CSRC) “is considering ruling in favor of a lifetime ban on entering the securities market for Xu Jiayin,” according to CCTV.

Evergrande “received notice from the CSRC regarding administrative sanctions and market bans motivated by (...) illegal and illicit behavior,” according to the press release. The company itself “will have to make corrections and will be given a warning as well as a fine of 4.175 billion yuan” ($580 million). The judgment will conclude that Xu Jiayin “made decisions and organized the implementation of financial fraud, using particularly heinous means and in particularly serious circumstances,” Hengda Real Estate further indicates. The Evergrande boss “will also receive a warning and a fine of 47 million yuan.” Or nearly 5.9 million euros.

Evergrande's astronomical debt has become the symbol of the crisis in the Chinese real estate market, which has lasted for several years and has repercussions on the entire Chinese economy. In January, a Hong Kong court ordered the liquidation of the most indebted real estate developer in the world, to the tune of more than 330 billion US dollars (305 billion euros). In the absence of “ a restructuring proposal, let alone a viable proposal which has the support of the majority of creditors, it is appropriate to make a liquidation order,” High Court Justice Linda Chan said.