BOHAI Life Insurance is banned from providing financial aid “in any form” to HNA Group in the next six months while it improves its corporate governance, the regulator said late Wednesday.

Bohai Life also has been barred from conducting any fund-related connected transactions with HNA during the period, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said.

A spot review of Bohai Life from March 24 to April 15 had found problems in managing shareholders, internal controls and connected party transactions, it said.

The ban adds fresh pressure on HNA Group’s financing situation after the government in June told major banks to review their credit exposure to the highly-leveraged company.

The company now faces increased scrutiny as regulators and bankers question the group’s opaque ownership structure and use of leverage.

Headquartered in the southern island of Hainan, privately owned HNA has announced deals over the last two years of more than US$50 billion. Some funding for HNA’s acquisitions has come from the sales of short-term universal life insurance products through insurance companies and banks it controls.

HNA, which owns airlines, hotels, real estate and a near 10 percent stake in Germany’s Deutsche Bank, controls Bohai Life through its Shenzhen-listed Bohai Capital. (SD-Agencies)