China to probe 4 rural banks for alleged bond manipulation

China’s financial regulators are scrutinising four rural commercial banks in Jiangsu province on suspicion of manipulating the treasuries market. The investigation comes amid Beijing’s efforts to cool a surge in bond prices.

The National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII), an organisation under the central bank, announced the probe in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement alleges that the banks, identified as Changshu Rural Commercial Bank, Kunshan Rural Commercial Bank, Jiangsu Suzhou Rural Commercial Bank Co, and Jiangnan Rural Commercial Bank, engaged in “manipulating prices and transferring benefits in the secondary market trading of treasury bonds.”

Attribution: Reuters