Shanghai banks investigated for links to Fanxin

The city's banking watchdog has demanded a thorough investigation into Shanghai's lenders to discover if they received commissions to sell wealth management products promoted illegally by an insurance agency.

Shanghai Fanxin Insurance Agency, the city's largest insurance intermediary, had been selling unauthorized wealth management products, and its former general manager Chen Yi, fled with an alleged 500 million yuan ($81.7 million) of company money but was tracked down and brought back to China earlier this week.

To bring the risk under control, the Shanghai bureau of the China Banking Regulatory Commission has required major Chinese banks in the city to conduct thorough screening to see if they promoted or sold products offered by Fanxin, the department said.