Misused funds total nearly 300b yuan
27/12/2005 17:15
Chinese auditors uncovered the misuse of 290 billion yuan ($36.3 billion)
in government funds in the first 11 months of the year and promised to
investigate three state banks for wrongdoing by staff members, officials said
yesterday.
A conference of the National Audit Office, which monitors the
use of government money—including state-owned companies—heard that 22,000
officials had been audited through November.
Among them, 196 officials
involved in violations of laws and regulations were dealt with by supervisory or
judicial organs.
The audit office said it will focus next year on
investigating branches of the Bank of China, Bank of Communications and China
Merchants Bank.
The Bank of Communications—the country's fifth-largest
lender—issued shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June. The Bank of China,
the second-largest lender, is also preparing to issue shares in its mainland
operations.
Separately, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said its
regular checks this year had uncovered irregularities involving 588.5 billion
yuan in loans and other funds at the nation's Big Four state lenders.
The banking watchdog said it punished 799 staff members of the four
banks after finding they were involved in illegal or unauthorized business
totaling as much as 588.5 billion yuan.
The commission said in a report
that the culprits were working at 103 units of the Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of
China. It checked 14,039 units altogether.
The news came as China
struggles to overhaul its Big Four banks by transforming them into joint-stock
operations, inviting foreign strategic investors and then listing the banks on
stock markets. Under a commitment to the World Trade Organization, the country
must give foreign rivals full access to its financial market by the end of next
year.
The Construction Bank of China has already gone public in Hong
Kong.
The CBRC acknowledged yesterday that while the state banks are
making progress in improving corporate governance, "illegal cases, including big
cases, are still frequently seen."
Source: shanghaidaily.com/Agencies
|
