Bank of East Asia China senior executive detained on suspicion of accepting bribe

Bloomberg

A senior executive of Bank of East Asia Ltd’s China unit has been detained on suspicion of accepting bribes, according to a report by Cailian.
Bank of East Asia (China) executive vice president and head of Northern China, Chen Zhiren was detained and is being held in Beijing, according to the report, which said the investigation is related to bank loans.
In response to questions on the report, BEA said in a statement that the matter “pertains solely to the personal actions of an individual employee” and that it has “stringent internal control mechanisms and protocols in place.”
“This matter has no impact on BEA China’s lending business and doesn’t involve East Asia Qianhai Securities,” the bank said in the statement.
Detentions of executives at overseas banks is rare in China, but has stirred concerns before. In 2018, an employee of UBS Group AG was detained in the mainland, prompting wealth managers to impose restrictions on staff travel to China.
A drive launched last year by President Xi Jinping to root out corruption in the financial sector has nabbed more than 40 officials and executives, including bank presidents, senior market and exchange regulators.