Chinese regulators took fresh steps to defuse anger over a banking fraud that has sparked high-profile protests; by announcing a second round of repayments to depositors whose funds were frozen in two provinces.
Some deposits at four rural lenders in central Henan province and one in eastern Anhui province frozen; in what authorities said was a complex scam involving a private financial group with stakes in the lenders that had faked data by colluding with bank staff and siphoning off funds illegally.
In their bid to shore up confidence among depositors, Henan and Anhui provinces started making repayments.
Authorities in Anhui’s Bengbu city made a similar statement, saying it will start repaying clients; at a bank there with deposits of 50,000-100,000 yuan.
In addition to the rural bank scandal, the Chinese government is also grappling with a growing mortgage payment boycott across the country in a political sensitive year for Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is to secure a third leadership term at a once-in-five-years Communist Party congress later this year.
The regulator said local and central governments are actively working; to dispose of risks and would protect the legal interests of depositors.
-REUTERS.
