Cross-border market manipulation case busted

    REGULATORS have busted the first cross-border market manipulation case under the Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect program, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said Friday.

    Authorities gave maximum administrative penalties to those responsible, confiscating more than 1.2 billion yuan (US$173 million), according to an online statement by the securities regulator. The CSRC accused the perpetrators of repeatedly manipulating share prices including that of Zhejiang China Commodities City Group Co. The CSRC worked closely with the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong on the case, the CSRC said.

    Fosun Pharmaceutical plans bid for Stada

    SHANGHAI Fosun Pharmaceutical is planning a bid for German generic drugmaker Stada, already the center of a 3.6 billion euro (US$3.8 billion) takeover battle between two private equity consortia, sources close to the matter said.

    Fosun Pharmaceutical is also holding early-stage talks with buyout funds including CVC about a potential joint bid, but may decide initially to go it alone with a view to taking financial investors on board later, one of the sources said.

    Index, board planned for green corporate bonds

    THE Shanghai Stock Exchange will launch an index for green corporate bonds and establish a board for such bonds to facilitate financing for environmentally friendly projects.

    The index and the board will be launched “at an appropriate time,” according to the exchange. It said a total of 14 corporate bonds and three asset-backed securities had been issued for the green sector on the exchange by the end of February, raising 22.3 billion yuan (US$3.2 billion).

    CRRC to produce subsea trenching machine

    CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Co. said Friday that its subsidiary Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd. (SMD) will build the world’s largest subsea trenching machine at its British manufacturing base.

    The trenching machine will weigh 178 tons and can lay oil and gas pipelines at a depth of 1,000 meters at a speed of 1,000-meters per hour. Mike Jones, vice general manager of SMD, said the machine will be the most efficient subsea oil and gas pipeline laying equipment in the world. It is scheduled for delivery to a Shenzhen subsidiary of the China National Offshore Oil Corp. next year.