Finance & economics | Executive exit

A surprise sacking at China Merchants Bank frightens investors

One of the world’s largest banks sheds tens of billions of dollars in market value

|SHANGHAI

CHINA MERCHANTS BANK has always stood out from the pack. It was founded by a former communist guerrilla in 1987 as China’s first commercial lender with a corporate-shareholding structure. It is part of a group with ties to a Qing dynasty project that sought in the 19th century to build an indigenous steam-powered shipping industry in order to compete with the West. The English name “merchants’‘ is a poor rendition of the Chinese, which is better translated as “investor recruitment”.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Executive exit”

The Fed that failed

From the April 23rd 2022 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

illustration of a stern-faced man in a suit with a green tie, set against a bright green background. A small building with a flag is depicted in the pocket of his suit

The great-man theory of Wall Street

Why finance is still dominated by bold individuals

Hong Kong’s property slump may be terminal

Demographics and geopolitics will make a recovery harder


A float is inflated in preparation for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Why everyone wants to lend to weak companies

An unanticipated side-effect of Donald Trump’s election victory


American veterans now receive absurdly generous benefits

An enormous rise in disability payments may complicate debt-reduction efforts

Why Black Friday sales grow more annoying every year

Nobody is to blame. Everyone suffers

Trump wastes no time in reigniting trade wars

Canada and Mexico look likely to suffer