Rumor disseminators to come under ‘iron fist’

Securities regulators have promised to use an iron fist in dealing with the initiators and disseminators of recent market-rattling rumors that have proved to unfounded, the China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday.

After the investment bank CITIC Securities Co Ltd recently saw its share price decrease by 9.1 percent, rumors surfaced on Aug 13 that it had recorded a 2.9 billion yuan loss.

CITIC later said the news was untrue and the slump was the result of short-selling by equity funds.

So far, no connection has been found between the initiators and disseminators of the rumor and the short-sellers, the newspaper reported, citing an anonymous source with the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The source was quoted as saying that the commission will seriously punish any illegal activities in the securities market and that those suspected of initiating and disseminating false information or manipulating the market will be handed over to judicial authorities.