CBIRC starts repaying bank scam victims

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has assured the repayment of most of the victims in the nation’s biggest bank scam. The CBIRC announced that clients from the four rural banks in the central province of Henan, and one in Anhui, will be repaid in advance, starting on 15 July. Individuals with deposits of up to CNY50,000 (USD7,423) will be repaid first, with arrangements for the rest subject to further notice. Hundreds of bank customers protested after similar demonstrations broke out in May and late last month in Zhengzhou, calling on the authorities to return tens of billions of yuan of deposits in a suspected scam. This prompted the banking watchdog to speed up drafting a plan to resolve risks even as a police investigation is still ongoing.