High profile Chinese investment banker reported missing by his company

Reasons for his disappearance remain unclear

Vishwam Sankaran
Saturday 18 February 2023 11:17 GMT
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Top Chinese billionaire tech banker Bao Fan goes missing

The founder of a Chinese investment bank widely known as a prominent dealmaker and well-connected banker, has reportedly gone missing.

Bao Fan, the founder of the investment bank China Renaissance Holdings Ltd, was aiding a Chinese government investigation before his disappearance, Bloomberg reported.

China Renaissance said in an exchange filing on Thursday that it has been unable to contact Mr Fan, adding that his “unavailability is or might be related to the business and/or operations”.

The reasons for Mr Fan’s disappearance remain unclear.

Mr Fan has become the latest in a line of China’s business executives to have mysteriously disappeared.

The news of his “unavailability” follows a line of several high-profile Chinese business heads who have gone missing in the last few years amid a nationwide anti-corruption campaign led by president Xi Jinping.

At least five executives became unreachable without prior notice to their companies in 2015.

In 2017, prominent Chinese financier Xiao Jianhua was reportedly abducted from his room in the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong by Chinese security officers.

Then in 2021, Alibaba founder and billionaire Jack Ma became unreachable for three months amid Beijing’s crackdown on his businesses after he criticised the country’s regulatory policies.

Mr Fan founded China Renaissance in 2005, following a banking career at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse.

China Renaissance has since become a prolific investor, with about $7.1bn (48.6 billion yuan) under its investment management as of the end of June last year, according to the company’s recent interim report.

He is a prominent dealmaker and was involved in major mergers in China including that of ride-hailing firms Didi and Kuaidi.

The sudden disappearance of the dealmaker, known as one of China’s best-connected bankers, has raised concerns about a potential new crackdown by Beijing on finance and tech figures.

Following news of his disappearance, China Renaissance’s Hong Kong-listed stock dropped to a record low of HK$5 in early trade, wiping off $360m in market value. The stock, however, regained some ground later in the day, reported Reuters.

With no official comments from Chinese authorities, speculation is rife about Mr Fan’s disappearance among financiers and tech executives across Hong Kong and mainland China.

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