On Sept. 11 the Beijing Stock Exchange said it has restricted trading in three
investors' securities accounts for three months after finding they privately
acquired shares during new-issue subscriptions and used fixed fees or
profit-sharing arrangements to lock in returns and transfer risk. The exchange
said the deals bypassed authorized trading venues, disrupted new-issue
allocation order and violated rules requiring publicly issued securities to
trade on established exchanges. The self-regulatory sanctions are presented as a
signal of tougher enforcement to protect market fairness and investor rights.
