China regulator raps stock market 'crocodiles'

China's stock market regulator on Sunday denounced the "crocodiles" that prey on small investors, at a time when Beijing is trying to reassure retail investors following the crash of summer 2015. "In the capital market, being a financial tycoon is only a half step away from being a financial crocodile,” said Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). China in recent days has announced investigations into insurance companies, including Evergrande Life and Foresea Life, for alleged market manipulation. The president of PICC, the country's first non-life insurance company, is being probed for corruption, the disciplinary organ of the ruling Communist Party said Thursday. Liu late last year denounced insurers engaged in debt-fuelled stock market acquisitions as "barbarians" and "thieves" The former banker was appointed in early 2016 with the mission of restoring confidence in financial markets after the debacle the previous summer, when the Shanghai marlet slumped nearly 40 percent. The erratic behaviour of the market regulator at the time fuelled the panic. In a report on its operations in 2016, the CSRC said it had opened investigations into more than 300 new cases. "Zero tolerance was given to insider trading, market manipulation, and dissemination of false information," it said. "The CSRC is committed to fighting against misbehaving financial magnates who will stop at nothing for money and power."