Bank chiefs pay price for sticky fingers
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-05-29 22:05

Two bank managers have been forced to resign from the China Construction Bank for "dereliction of duty."

Zhang Enzhao [newsphoto/file]

Another two have offered resignations, a Beijing newspaper said yesterday.

Former head of the Shanxi provincial branch in North China Liang Fucheng and ex-chief of the Hunan provincial branch in Central China Sun Jiancheng are being held responsible for members of staff embezzling loans and fleeing the country with bank funds, the Xinhua News Agency reported at the weekend.

New branch heads have already been assigned to fill the vacancies at the bank, which is one of Chinese mainland's four main State-owned commercial banks.

The officials agreed to resign just days after the bank implemented a regulation that requires leading staff members who severely neglect their duties, including board chairman and president, to do so.

The rule was made at a time when the bank, the country's top home loans lender, is honing efforts to seek stock market listing. Former chairman 58-year-old Zhang Enzhao has already stepped down amid corruption allegations.

Officials should resign if their neglect results in economic crime or huge economic losses committed by their underlings, the rule says.

Beijing News says Sun Jiancheng proffered his letter of resignation after more than 10 illegal cases, involving nearly 30 million yuan (US$3.6 million), had been found in areas under his jurisdiction between late 2003 and early 2005.

Liang Fucheng is being blamed for huge economic losses at his branch when he was head, says the newspaper. The exact amount of money involved is unknown.

Sources with the bank said the resignations did not mean the pair had been sacked and their futures with the bank were not definitely over.

The paper reported that another two leading officials with the bank, both of whom are also at provincial branch chief level, have also submitted their resignations but these have not been accepted yet.

The China Construction bank has been plagued by several corruption scandals in recent years, and the bank's new leader, 49-year-old Guo Shuqing, is reportedly carrying out a nationwide investigation into irregularities.

Guo, former vice-governor of the People's Bank of China and ex-director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, was nominated as chairman of the board of directors in March this year.

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