news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Interface News reporter | Mu Yue

Recently, the news that "1.252 billion yuan of deposits of Youce Investment deposited in Chang'an Bank disappeared" has attracted widespread attention in the market.

Jiemian News reporters noticed that an investor's revelation information initially circulated online showed that starting from February 19, 2019, Youce Investment raised nearly 10 billion yuan in funds from more than 300 qualified investors nationwide (mainly in Beijing, Zhejiang, Hainan, Fujian, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Gansu) through "Youce Yueyueying", "Youce Changshi", and "Youce Changxiu" to invest in agreement deposits of a certain bank. The funds have been kept in the special deposit accounts of the Baoji Jinling and Technology Branch of a certain bank. As of June 28, 2024, according to the net value and share information announced by Youce Fund, the deposit balance should be more than 1.2 billion, but the bank flow shows that the deposit is only more than 80,000. The 1.2 billion deposits disappeared, making it impossible for Youce Fund holders to redeem and withdraw money.

Subsequently, Youce Investment issued an announcement on major matters regarding the operation of some funds on July 10. The announcement mentioned that on July 4, during the operation of some funds managed by the company, the bank failed to provide the "Account Balance Statement" as agreed. In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors, it decided to suspend the application and redemption of a total of 11 products including "Youce Changshi", "Youce Changxiu" and "Youce Yueyueying No. 3".

Youce Investment also stated that the company went to the public security organs to communicate as soon as the incident occurred, and connected with the head office of Chang'an Bank to actively seek appropriate handling methods.

A recent report published by the National Business Daily further restored the course of events. The report pointed out that from April 2019 to May 2023, Youce Investment signed an "Agreement Deposit Contract" with Chang'an Bank to deposit the funds raised from the three products "Youce Changshi", "Youce Changxiu" and "Youce Yueyueying No. 3" into the Baoji Jinling Branch of Chang'an Bank and the Baoji Technology Branch of Chang'an Bank.Private EquitySpecial account. According to the 2023 annual report disclosed by the relevant products, the total amount of the agreement deposits of the above three banks reached 1.252 billion yuan. On July 3 this year, investors found that the "Account Balance Statement" was not published as scheduled, and the account flow certificate printed by Chang'an Bank showed that the agreement deposit was only 86,000 yuan.

The report of the China Business Network also mentioned that Youce Investment has entrusted a lawyer to send a lawyer's letter to Chang'an Bank. The total amount of deposits in the lawyer's letter was 1.32 billion yuan. It mentioned that the above-mentioned private equity account violated the regulations to open online banking, resulting in the transfer of funds in the fund's exclusive agreement deposit account. However, relevant personnel from Chang'an Bank said that Youce Investment and the bank signed a supplementary agreement to apply for the opening of online banking.

As both parties have different opinions, whether the opening of online banking was initiated by Youce Investment or opened in violation of regulations by Chang'an Bank remains to be further confirmed.

In terms of custodians, data from the China Securities Association shows that the custodians involved in the three products "Youce Yueyueying", "Youce Changshi" and "Youce Changxiu" are mainly Haitong Securities andIndustrial SecuritiesAccording to Caixin, the current statement given by the custodian is that "the data in the valuation table were all provided by Youce Investment, and the custodian did not go to the bank for review."

Where did the huge amount of deposits that disappeared from Youce Investment go?

According to a report by a reporter from the China Business Network, based on the bank account flow vouchers obtained, it was found that in addition to transferring money to the fund investment account, the three deposit accounts of Youce Investment also transferred money to three external companies, namely: Baoji Fenghuangling Equity Investment Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Fenghuangling Investment"), Xi'an Changrong Investment Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Changrong Investment") and Baoji Yuanda Asset Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yuanda Asset"). Every month since March 2019, the fund investment account will transfer money to the deposit account in as short as 4 days or as long as a week. In most cases, the funds will be transferred to the above three companies on the same day as the deposit account arrives.

Why did Youce Investment frequently transfer deposits to three external companies? What kind of relationships exist between these companies?

According to the registration information of the China Securities Investment Fund Association, Interface News reporters found that Youce Investment was established in December 2016 and completed registration with the China Securities Investment Fund Association in November of the following year. It currently has 28 registered products with a management scale of 2-5 billion yuan. The company also has an affiliated private equity firm, Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment, which has 24 registered products with a management scale of 500 million to 1 billion yuan.

According to data from Tianyancha APP, the major shareholders of Youce Investment and Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment are both Hangzhou Lianxin Investment, with a shareholding ratio of 99%. Li Xiaoqing, who holds 90% of the shares of Hangzhou Lianxin Investment, is the actual controller of the two private equity firms.

In addition, data from Tianyancha APP also shows that Fenghuangling Investment is 100% controlled by Yuanda Asset, and there is also a vague connection between Yuanda Asset and Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment.

Specifically, Qingdao Guizhi Yexing Equity Investment, in which Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment holds a stake, holds 47.37% of the shares of Shaanxi Zhongjiang Culture. Ai Tao, the legal representative, executive director and general manager of Shaanxi Zhongjiang Culture, is also the legal representative, executive director and general manager of Shaanxi Xianqin Industrial, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yuanda Assets.

On the other hand, Li Wei, the financial director of Fenghuangling Investment, also serves as the supervisor of Qianmo Digital Information Technology, and Qingdao Guizhi Yecheng Equity Investment, in which Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment holds a stake, holds a 5% stake in Qianmo Digital Information Technology.

Information disclosed by the China Securities Investment Fund Association shows that Gu Xiaodong, the legal representative of Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment, had previously served as deputy general manager of Yuanda Assets and general manager of Fenghuangling Investment.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that according to Caixin, many investors purchased the Youce Fund through the wealth management institution Xiushi Investment, and stated that "Huang Wei is the boss behind Youce Investment."

Coincidentally, the Shanghai Securities News also mentioned in a related report titled "Ai Shaoyuan "secretly controls" ST Bu Sen, who is the financial backer behind the scenes?" that a regional executive of Xiushi Investment said that the actual controller behind Youce Investment is Xiushi Investment boss Huang Wei, who "secretly controls"ST BusenA considerable portion of the funds used by Ai Shaoyuan to invest in the "Xianhua Group" were raised through external fundraising on the fund issuance platform under Xiushi Investment.

Jiemian News reporters checked the data of Tianyancha APP and found no direct equity relationship between Xiushi Investment and Youce Investment. However, the address disclosed in Xiushi Investment's 2022 annual report is Room 4901, 49th Floor, Building 3, No. 2 Jianguomenwai Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, which is consistent with the office address disclosed by Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment in the China Securities Association. It is also adjacent to Youce Investment's registered office address in the China Securities Association, Room 4905, Building C, Yintai Center, No. 2 Jianguomenwai Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing. The address disclosed in Xiushi Investment's 2023 annual report is also Building 3, No. 2 Jianguomenwai Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, but the floor has been changed to Room 2004 on the 20th floor.

In addition, Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment and ST Bu Sen and its director Ai Shaoyuan have been "framed" in terms of shareholding. Among them, Shaanxi Zhongjiang Culture, in which Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment indirectly holds shares, is a shareholder of Shaanxi Bu Sen, with shareholding ratios of 65% and 35% respectively; Shaanxi Xianhua Health, which is actually controlled by ST Bu Sen's director Ai Shaoyuan, is the largest shareholder of Qingdao Guizhi Pufang Equity Investment with a shareholding of 79.2%. Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment also holds a small amount of shares in Qingdao Guizhi Pufang Equity Investment.

What is the actual relationship between Youce Investment and Xiushi Investment? What is the mystery behind the disappearance of the company's 1.252 billion deposits? The truth of the matter still needs to be further clarified.