What’s new: Liu Liange, a former chairman of the Bank of China Ltd., has been charged with accepting bribes and illegally granting loans, joining a growing list of financial veterans falling from grace in Beijing’s anti-corruption crackdown.
Prosecutors accused Liu of taking “huge amounts of” bribes from individuals or businesses in exchange for promotion and financing favors during his tenure at the BOC and at the Export–Import Bank of China (Exim Bank).
Liu violated regulations to issue “an exceptionally large amount” of loans, resulting in significant losses, prosecutors said.
Caixin learned that Liu has been linked to the case of Li Li, the former president of Exim Bank’s Beijing branch, who was placed under investigation in January 2022. Li pleaded guilty to charges of taking almost 100 million yuan ($14 million) in bribes in March 2023. A verdict is still pending.
Background: Liu, 63, has been under investigation by China’s top anti-graft agency since March 2023. He was expelled from the Communist Party in October.
Appointed as the president of BOC in 2018, Liu became chairman in 2019. He also served as the party chief of the state lender. Before that, he had been president of the Exim Bank since 2015 after serving as deputy president for eight years. Liu earlier worked for the central bank for more than a decade.
An anti-corruption crackdown continues to sweep the financial sector. Earlier this month, Tian Huiyu, a former president of China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd., received a suspended death sentence on multiple charges including bribes and insider trading.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
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