China Life faces probes from US, HK regulators

[dArKeR]

BLOOMBERG AND AP , SHANGHAI
Friday, Apr 02, 2004,Page 12

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating the US$3.4 billion listing of China Life Insurance Co (????), China's largest insurer, the Finan-cial Times said, citing unidentified people close to the regulatory agency.

In February, China's National Audit Office disclosed it had found accounting irregularities involving 5.4 billion yuan (US$654 million) at China Life, the country's biggest insurer, before it was restructured for its mid-December stock listing.

The New York-traded American depositary receipts fell 1.5 percent to US$25.01 on Wednesday, and the Hong Kong shares closed down 1.5 percent at HK$4.90.

Earlier this week, the company was hit by a class-action lawsuit by investors who complained that it failed to disclose that information before its shares were listed.

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