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Galaxy appoints new head following Xiao exit

By Bi Xiaoning (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-08 07:57

Central Huijin Investment Co, the majority shareholder of brokerage firm Galaxy Securities, has appointed Hu Changsheng as its new president.

The move comes soon after Caijing magazine linked Xiao Shiqing, the former president of Galaxy, to a bribery scandal involving Wang Yi, the former vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and vice-president of the China Development Bank.

Wang, who was arrested in January on graft charges, reportedly confessed to accepting bribes worth more than 10 million yuan.

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Xiao, 45, was the deputy director of CSRC's department of listed company supervision before he was appointed as president and legal representative of Galaxy in January 2007.

Wang, who had worked at the CSRC between 1995 and 1999, too was at one time head of the department of listed company supervision. He was responsible for promoting Xiao as the deputy director of the department, according to media reports.

The mystery surrounding Xiao's case has reportedly further deepened by the conviction of Yang Yanming, general manager of a business unit of Galaxy Securities in Beijing, for embezzling 68 million yuan, which was used to bribe influential persons whose names were never disclosed.

Yang was sentenced to death, the highest penalty for the crime.

Hu was head of capital market department at Central Huijin Investment Co, an arm of the country's sovereign wealth fund, before taking up his new post.

According to local media reports, the CSRC had planned to restore Xiao to his old post as deputy director of department of listed company supervision and to assign Li Zhengqiang, the CSRC's director of fund department to be the new president of Galaxy Securities. Yet, just months later, it was reported that Xiao was under police investigation.

Galaxy Securities is the country's second largest securities firm in terms of the total number of operating networks, next only to CITIC Securities Co. It is the largest in terms of brokerage business, recording over 3 trillion yuan in trades, or 6.2 percent share of the market, according to the Securities Association of China.

Galaxy Securities lagged behind CITIC and other major rivals in other businesses and was ranked 54th in 2007 in terms of the return on net assets.