HONG KONG - Authorities in China have ordered a senior Nomura Holdings banker overseeing the firm's investment banking operations there not to leave the mainland, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
It was not immediately clear when the exit ban took effect. Wang was based in Hong Kong, his LinkedIn profile showed, though his nationality was not immediately known. Beijing is investigating Cong, former president of China Renaissance Holdings, which resulted in the investment bank's founder Bao being taken away in February, a development that stunned the business community.
Asked why the Nomura banker was barred from leaving, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said he did not have knowledge of the situation at a regular news briefing on Monday.Wang added, "I would like to reiterate that China has always been committed to providing a market-oriented, legalised and internationalised business environment for foreign enterprises to operate legally.
A Reuters analysis has found an apparent surge of court cases involving such bans in recent years, and foreign business lobbies are voicing concern about the trend.