Chairman of Foresea Life Insurance resigns

SHENZHEN - Yao Zhenhua is no longer chairman and a board member of Foresea Life Insurance, the company said in a statement on Monday.

The statement said Yao handed in his resignation on March 1. The board met and agreed to his request on March 6. Deputy chairman Zhang Jinshun was appointed interim chairman.

China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) barred Yao from the insurance industry for 10 years for irregular market operations last month.

The CIRC said that Foresea Life violated regulations and provided false information on its capital increase.

Foresea Life, a subsidiary of financial conglomerate Baoneng, was suspended from selling its questionable high-return insurance service in December, after speculative stake buyouts in listed companies by heavyweight insurers.

To contain financial risk, the CIRC sent investigation teams to insurance companies, including Foresea Life, to review their management, balance sheets, product and capital use.

The CIRC said Foresea Life had stated that its shareholders had used their own fund for capital replenishment in November 2015, but an investigation revealed that the statement did not match the actual capital source. The CIRC said Yao was directly responsible for the false information.