Monitoring Desk
BEIJING: Billionaire tech banker Bao Fan, who went missing 10 days ago, is assisting Chinese authorities in an investigation, his bank has said.
It is the first time China Renaissance Holdings gave a reason for Bao’s disappearance though details about the probe were not shared.
“The board would like to reiterate that the company’s business and operations are continuing normally,” the boutique bank said in the exchange filing on Sunday.
Reuters previously reported, citing sources, that Bao was taken away by authorities earlier this month to help in a probe into a former colleague, Cong Lin, the company’s former president.
China Renaissance Holdings saw its shares plunge as much as 50 percent last week after the boutique investment bank reported Bao missing.
The announcement raised concerns of a potential Beijing crackdown on business and tech leaders.
Bao Fan
Bao, who is both the chief executive and chairman of China Renaissance, founded the company in 2005 as a boutique advisory investment firm. It has since become one of the top financial institutions in China – executing business agreements and mergers between several of the country’s major tech companies.
The bank has served as an advisor for the initial public offerings of Didi’s listing as well as JD.com and Kuashou at the New York Stock Exchange in 2021.
