China: Former top banker sentenced to death for corruption
What's the story
Bai Tianhui, a former senior banker at China Huarong International Holdings (CHIH), was executed on Tuesday after being convicted of corruption and bribery. State media reported that Tianhui accepted bribes in exchange for preferential treatment worth over $156 million between 2014 and 2018. The verdict was announced by the Supreme People's Court (SPC), which said Tianhui's crimes were "exceptionally serious" with a huge social impact.
Asset management
CHIH's role in China's financial landscape
CHIH, where Tianhui worked, is a major state-controlled asset management firm in China. It deals with bad debts issued to citizens and is a subsidiary of China Huarong Asset Management, the largest asset management fund in the country. The company has been under scrutiny as part of President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign. Several other executives from Huarong have also been implicated in these investigations.
Legal proceedings
Tianhui's execution follows upheld conviction
Tianhui's appeal against his conviction was rejected in February, with CCTV reporting that his crimes were serious and had been reviewed multiple times before the verdict. The SPC stated that Tianhui "accepted bribes of an exceptionally large amount," causing "exceptionally significant losses" to the state and people. After meeting family members, Tianhui was executed on Tuesday morning, although details of the execution method remain unspecified.
Other convictions
Recent high-profile corruption cases in China's finance industry
Tianhui's execution adds to a string of high-profile corruption cases in China's finance sector. In March, Li Xiaopeng, former chairman of state-owned banking giant Everbright Group, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes worth 60 million yuan. Liu Liange, former chairman of Bank of China, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes totaling 121 million yuan ($17 million).