China bond market forgery raises wider concerns

A Chinese investment bank is under pressure from more than 20 financial institutions to honor a bond financing deal agreed by a rogue employee who allegedly forged the company’s official seal.  Shenzhen-listed Sealand Securities is facing “huge” losses on a bond financing deal involving Rmb10bn ($1.44bn) in bonds, the Beijing Times has reported. According to the paper, Zhang Yang, a senior executive in Sealand’s bond division, left the country and was unreachable. The deal was reportedly a so-called proxy holding arrangement – a popular transaction structure for using leverage to invest in bonds or other securities. According to the Financial Times, the incident spotlights the risks that leveraged bets on rising Chinese bond prices will inflict losses on financial institutions as a market correction runs its course.