The shares of Sinolink Securities Co suffered the biggest fall in three weeks after its chairman Lei Bo was put under government investigation for 'personal reasons'.

Trading in the company's shares was suspended for an hour yesterday and finally dropped 5.07 percent to 36.35 yuan, the biggest fall since April 22. The Shanghai Comosite index dipped 0.9 percent to close at 2,639 points.

According to Sinolink's statement to the Shanghai bourse on Wednesday night, Wang Jinyong, vice-president of the company, will take charge of Lei's responsibilities for the time being.

Sinolink, which launched its IPO in 2007, had a net capital of 2.1 billion yuan at the end of 2008. The company's stock has risen 53 percent this year, compared with a 45 percent gain in the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index.

An industry insider said the investigation probably had something to do with Wang Yi, a former vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and former vice-president of China Development Bank.

Wang was stripped of his Communist Party membership and all official posts for taking bribes, Xinhua News Agency said on Feb 4, citing the Party's disciplinary body. He also took advantage of his posts to help relatives' businesses and may face criminal charges, the Xinhua report said.

The 51-year-old Lei was previously secretary to Wang, according to a report in Caijing Magazine. He is not the first top executive at a security firm to be investigated for alleged links to Wang.

Xiao Shiqing, the former president of China Galaxy Securities, has also been linked to the bribery scandal involving Wang Yi, according to Caijing Magazine.

(China Daily May 15, 2009)