China's top insurance regulator removed for suspected disciplinary violations - Xinhua

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top insurance regulator has been removed from his position for suspected serious disciplinary violations, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, a week after the country's top anti-graft body said he was under investigation. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced its investigation into Xiang Junbo, the most senior financial regulator to be probed as part of a government fight against graft, on April 9. Citing an official with the Communist Party, Xinhua said Xiang had now been removed as chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC). CCDI said that Xiang, who also served as a member of the central bank's monetary policy committee, was suspected of "serious disciplinary violations", a phrase that usually refers to graft. Xiang's name and position were removed from CIRC's website, www.circ.gov.cn, shortly after last week's announcement. Xiang, 60, took control of the insurance regulator in 2011 after serving as chairman of Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, one of the four biggest state banks. He was also a former vice chief at the National Audit Office. Previously, the most senior official hauled in during the anti-graft campaign was Yao Gang, a former deputy head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, who was put under investigation in late 2015 following a stock market crash. (Reporting by Matthew Miller and Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Richard Borsuk and John Stonestreet)