(Bloomberg) -- Chinese authorities are investigating Tian Huiyu, former president of China Merchants Bank Co., for suspected violations, days after removing him from the nation’s top retail bank. 

Tian, 56, is being probed for alleged serious violations of discipline and law, China’s top anti-graft body said in a statement Friday, without elaborating. Earlier in the week, he was abruptly removed from the role at Merchants Bank and subject to further assignment, after spending nearly nine years building the lender into the nation’s king of retail banking. 

The investigation comes as China has stepped up its efforts to root out corruption in its $60 trillion finance sector to keep systemic risks in check, as the nation battles a slowing economy, a cash-strapped real estate sector and worsening Covid outbreaks. 

The top disciplinary body sharply criticized more than two dozen financial regulators and state banks in February, saying they had common problems including prominent corruption around key positions and areas. 

Earlier on Friday, China’s top prosecutor said it has arrested Zeng Changhong, a former official at China’s markets regulator, on suspicion of taking bribes. 

Tian has been helming Merchants Bank since May 2013. Prior to that, he held various roles at other Chinese lenders including Bank of Shanghai Co. and once served as a secretary for Vice President Wang Qishan when the latter headed state-owned China Construction Bank Corp. in the 1990s.

Unlike most Chinese lenders that relied heavily on wholesale lending and corporate clients, Merchants Bank, based in the southern technology hub of Shenzhen, has benefited from its focus on retail banking. That strategy had sheltered it from the nation’s economic slowdown in the past few years and earned it a valuation premium over peers. Even after Monday’s drop, the bank still trades at about 1.5 times its book value, more than double the average for its peers listed on both mainland and Hong Kong markets.

Merchants Bank reported a 23% increase in net income last year, its fastest growth since 2012. The lender’s total assets had more than doubled since end-2013 to 9.25 trillion yuan ($1.5 trillion) by December under Tian’s leadership.

 

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