China attempts to clean up its sleaziest regional banks

IT’S BEEN A bad year to be a big cheese in China. Billionaire entrepreneurs have been hounded. Over-extravagant entertainers have disappeared from the internet. Now a new type of tycoon is feeling the heat. The latest regulatory crackdown on what the government considers private-sector misbehaviour extends to businessmen with excessively cosy ties to banks. The fear is that insider dealing, preferential access to credit and lax corporate governance pose threats to stability, particularly in the regional and local underbelly of China’s financial system.