(Yicai Global) Sept. 27 -- Bank of East Asia’s Chinese mainland unit denied online rumors that the lender has defaulted on wealth management products, claims that come just two weeks after the reported detention of one of its top executives in the mainland on suspicion of taking bribes.

BEA China and all branches under its jurisdiction are operating normally and orderly, with sound and stable business and management, its Hong Kong-based parent company told Yicai Global yesterday. The firm has reported the matter to the police, it added.

The rumors that BEA China has defaulted on all wealth management products except deposits started to spread on social media platforms yesterday.

On Sept. 13, financial news outlet Cailianshe reported that Chinese police had detained Chen Zhiren, assistant to BEA China’s president and head of the lender’s North China region, on July 19, adding that he was suspected of being bribed to make loans. The next day Bank of East Asia told Yicai Global that the matter solely concerned the personal actions of an individual employee.

Incorporated in 2007, BEA China has been fined nearly CNY30 million (USD4.2 million) for regulatory breaches in the past two years. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission fined the lender CNY11.2 million in May last year for 18 violations of laws and regulations, including failing to record loans to property developers in the right accounts.

BEA China also received a CNY16.7 million fine on Jan. 10 for violating credit information collection and related regulations, according to the administrative penalty information released by the Shanghai branch of the People’s Bank of China.

In April, the bank’s Ningbo branch was fined CNY300,000 (USD41,900) for management failures and misappropriation of property development loans, administrative penalty information from the CBIRC’s local bureau showed.

BEA China had over 3,250 employees as of Dec. 31, with 70 outlets in 38 cities in the Chinese mainland.

Shares of Bank of East Asia [HKG: 0023] finished today 2.5 percent higher at HKD9.68 (USD1.23) apiece. The broader Hong Kong market ended flat.

Editor: Futura Costaglione