Chinese stock exchanges have halted processing at least 60 initial public offering (IPO) applications as regulators investigate intermediaries in the deals, including Deutsche Bank‘s Chinese securities venture.
Exchange disclosures on Wednesday showed 12 IPO plans in Shanghai’s tech-heavy STAR Market and 48 in Shenzhen’s start-up market ChiNext were suspended.
Each had hired one or more of three companies being investigated by securities regulators – Zhong De Securities, accounting firm ShineWing and Sino-Australian law firm King & Wood Mallesons – the exchange filings said.
Zhong De is a joint venture between Shanxi Securities and Deutsche Bank.
All three companies served Leshi Internet Information and Technology, which the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) last March said conducted accounting fraud between 2007 and 2016.
King & Wood Mallesons and Zhong De said they had no immediate comment. ShineWing and Deutsche Bank could not immediately be reached for comment.
Shanxi Securities said in an exchange filing on January 18 that Zhong De would fully cooperate with the CSRC’s investigation into suspected law violations when it underwrote sales for Leshi in 2016.
It was not immediately clear if IPOs planned for the Beijing Stock Exchange were also affected.
- Reuters with additional editing by George Russell
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