Chinese actress Zhao Wei banned from A-share market by regulators

China’s securities regulator has imposed a fine of 300,000 yuan ($45,197) and five-year ban from the A-share market on Chinese actress Zhao Wei and related persons for market violations, a company filing said late on Thursday.

Zhejiang Sunriver Culture Co, which Zhao Wei’s company had sought to acquire, said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday that the penalty and ban were imposed based on a probe launched in February by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

From late 2016 to early 2017, Zhao’s company attempted and then aborted a plan to acquire Zhejiang Sunriver Culture Co, then named Zhejiang Wanjia Co, and a Shanghai-listed firm, without sufficient funds.

Zhao has hoped to use high leverage to acquire a near 30 percent stake of Zhejiang Wanjia Co, which had a market capitalization of 10 billion yuan, with a company with a registered capital of only 2 million yuan.

After a series of announcements on change of plans, Zhao’s company terminated acquisition plan in March.

These actions caused the shares of Zhejiang Sunriver Culture to fluctuate wildly, and they misled market participants, the CSRC said.

There were false documents and violations of information disclosure rules, harming market equality and transparency, the filing said.

Zhejiang Sunriver Culture’s shares closed down 0.53 percent to 9.32 yuan on Thursday.

Huang Youlong, Zhao Wei’s husband, was also fined 300,000 yuan by the CSRC.