Xiamen International Bank Punished For Forcing Alcohol On New Recruits
A Beijing bank that was recently exposed for forcing new employees to drink alcohol during off-work hours said it had conducted a thorough investigation of the matter, resulting in the the suspension and punishment of several bank employees, according to a report in The Paper.
A WeChat message screenshot about a team meal of the Beijing branch of Xiamen International Bank last Thursday at the Pangu 7 Star Hotel Beijing went viral recently. It details a manager slapping a new employee – a 2020 college graduate – who refused to drink alcohol during a toast led by the branch head.
On Sunday, the branch offered its apology for what it said was the branch manager's improper behavior, and also highlighted the fact that the incident took place during off-work hours and was not an even the bank itself paid for.
The branch has deducted the manager's performance-related pay for two quarters, with a severe warning, and the head of the branch was punished the deduction of performance-related pay for one quarter, according to the public announcement.
On June 24, the Business Management Department of the People's Bank of China disclosed that a total of 16 punishment notices had been meted out to the Beijing branch of Xiamen International Bank and the bank's top leaders including the president, assistant to the president, deputy president and deputy general manager in the risk management department. The fines, imposed because of unauthorized credit inquiries, totaled over 3.475 million yuan ($500,000).
Xiamen International Bank was established in August 1985 as the first joint venture bank in China. It operates branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Fuzhou, Zhuhai, Xiamen, Quanzhou and in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao.
Local Brand Floats Whirlpool China Acquisition Deal
A-share listed home-appliance maker Whirlpool China, formerly Hefei Rongshida Sanya Electric Co., said it had received a letter last Friday from domestic competitor Galanz seeking to acquire Whirlpool China without terminating its listing position, The Beijing News reported.
Whirlpool China announced the suspension of trading in its shares on Monday, and it will resume trading on Wednesday at the latest.
The U.S.-based Whirlpool Corp. originally purchased a 51% stake in Hefei Rongshida Sanya Electric in August 2013 for $552 million as a significant expansion of Whirlpool's Asia business.
In July, Whirlpool China received a punishment notice from the Anhui office of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for its false accounting in its fiscal reports of 2015 and 2016. The company was fined up to 400,000 yuan ($57,840).
The inflated profits in the 2015 and 2016 fiscal reports were 118 million yuan and 105 million yuan respectively, representing 21.44% and 23.33% of the disclosed profit totals, according to the report.
The company reported 2.156 billion yuan in revenues in the first half of the year, a drop of 20% compared with one year earlier.
Neither Galanz nor Whirlpool China have made public comments on their reasons for the acquisition.
A Whirlpool China spokesman said that the company won't quit China's market. The company has made abundant investments in the city of Hefei, with an eye on long-term development strategies there, Beijing Business Today reported.
Michigan-headquartered parent company Whirlpool, which was founded in 1911 and acquired major competitor brands like Maytag and KitchenAid, has been beleaguered by scandals, as faulty tumble dryers and washing machines have turned into fire hazards. The company is also facing major layoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Large Fund Companies Report Big Profits
Eight domestically-listed equity fund companies recently released their first-half fiscal reports, achieving a combined total of 591 million yuan ($85.42 million) in net profits. Among these firms, five posted positive growth in net profits in the first half of the year, CHNFUND reported.
Shanghai-based Hua An Fund Management, one of the first mutual funds established in China in 1998, ranked highest with 280 million yuan in net profits. Meanwhile, Wanjia Asset Management and Hongta Hotland Asset Management reported a doubling of profits compared with one year earlier. Additionally, Franklin Templeton Sealand Fund Management and Changsheng Fund Management reported profit growths of 37.16% and 59.15%, respectively, during the period.
Soochow Asset Management, which oversees a smaller fund, saw a decline of 52.54 percent in net profits compared with one year earlier, according to data provider Wind. BOSC Asset and Xingyin Fund Management experienced a drop of 60 and 11 percent in net profits, respectively.
Hannover Messe To Join Domestic Land Developer in Exhibitions Venture
Chinese publicly traded real estate land developer Greenland Holding Group Company plans to invest an estimated 50 billion yuan ($7.23 billion) to build an international exhibition cluster, across seven core plots of land in Wuhan, encompassing 4.26 million square meters. Greenland Group said that they will form a strategic collaboration with Hannover Messe, one of the largest global trade fairs, to operate the project through a joint venture, state-run Xinhua agency reported.
The project will be situated in the Huangpi Airport Economic Development Zone, nearly five kilometers from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport. The venue will be served by five subway lines.
As the largest land sale ever for single-project use in Wuhan, the exhibition center will include commercial services, residential areas and core exhibition spaces occupying a total of 450,000 square meters.
The project is intended to aid in Wuhan's recovery in the post-pandemic economy with international exhibitions as well as integrating a transportation hub with new infrastructure and industrial parks, said Zhang Yuliang, the chairman of Greenland Group.
Greenland has been adding new dimensions to its high-end residential properties by building medical facilities such as hospitals and clinics, as COVID-19 ushers in a wave of stronger demand for health care, the South China Morning Post reported.
Last year, it launched an elder-care medical institution in Shanghai with partners Provectus Care, an Australian elderly care company, and the Shanghai International Medical Centre, hoping to tap into caring for the country's 250 million retirees aged over 60.
Ucommune Continues Bid For Nasdaq Listing
After abandoning its pursuit of an IPO on the Nasdaq earlier this month, Ucommune, one of the leading domestic co-working space providers, submitted its prospectus last Thursday to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This time, the company is attempting to go public via a backdoor listing, exploiting a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), The Paper reported.
A backdoor listing is one way for a privately held company to get listed on the stock exchange without navigating the initial public offering requirements. The SPAC in the Ucommune case is through the Nasdaq-listed Orisun Acquisition Corp., a blank check company that engages in business activities including mergers, share exchanges and asset acquisitions.
This July, Ucommune International, the wholly owned subsidiary of the Nasdaq-listed Orisun Acquisition Corp., acquired Ucommune. The deal resulted in a combined company that has a pro forma firm value of approximately $769 million, a drastic drop from Ucommune's peak value of $3 billion in 2018.
Despite offering a faster IPO process, a SPAC deal can be wound up if the merger or acquisition does not close within 12 to 18 months.
Last December, Ucommune failed to get its IPO off the ground with Citigroup and Credit Suisse due to the banks' non-positive projections for the co-working firm's valuation.
Ucommune reported nearly 188.2 million yuan in accumulative losses from 2017 through 2019, according to its fiscal report. The founder, Mao Daqing, claimed earlier this year a projected gain in profits across 2020, citing 113 newly signed workshops.
