Securities regulator to inspect 46 companies' margin trading

The China Securities Regulator Commission will inspect stock margin trading at 46 companies, Reuters reported, citing state media. Banks have also been told to tighten lending supervision to avoid loans being funneled into the Shanghai Stock Exchange, where the outstanding value of margin loans used to purchase shares hit record highs for the previous three days, reaching RMB780 billion (US$124.5 billion) on Wednesday. Reports of previous investigations and regulatory clampdowns caused a dramatic plunge in stocks on January 19, with main indexes tumbling over 7% in a single day.