China’s securities regulator has imposed one of its larger recent individual penalties for market manipulation, finding that a man named Yu Han used dozens of accounts and concerted trading to distort the price and volume of a small-cap eyewear stock. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) ordered the confiscation of Yu’s illicit gains of CNY 510.9 million and an equal fine, for a combined penalty the regulator reports as about CNY 1.02–1.03 billion, and barred him from the securities market for three years.
The CSRC’s investigation found that between June 2019 and August 2024 Yu controlled and traded through 67 securities accounts to push the shares of Boshi Eyewear (博士眼镜). The account group bought and sold large blocks across many trading sessions: cumulative competitive bids bought roughly 110.6 million shares and sold roughly 101.7 million, while the group’s holdings at times represented more than 10–20% of the company’s freely traded shares. The regulator detailed episodes of high bid-price buying and intra-account trades — tactics that concentrated liquidity, inflated turnover and materially affected price discovery.
The watchdog quantified impact and profit. Over the manipulation period the stock climbed from CNY 13.72 to CNY 37.81, a rise of about 176% at a time when the Shenzhen Composite fell nearly 9.4%, a divergence the CSRC says demonstrates the abnormal influence of the trading. The authority calculated Yu’s unlawful gains at CNY 510,892,270.94 and rejected his claims that he lacked intent, controlled far fewer accounts, or that his trading did not materially affect the stock’s price.
Beyond monetary punishment, the regulator has applied a three-year market ban that prevents Yu from working in securities business or holding senior positions in listed issuers and also imposes a trading prohibition forbidding him from buying or selling any exchange-traded or listed securities during the ban. The decision follows due process steps described by the CSRC: an investigation, a hearing at the petitioner’s request, and an explanation of rights and appeal remedies. Yu may seek administrative review or sue in court, but the penalty stays in force during those procedures unless overturned.
The case is significant not only for its scale but for the enforcement signal it sends. Chinese regulators have intensified scrutiny of market misconduct as part of a broader effort to bolster investor protection and improve market quality after several episodes of volatility and fraud in recent years. Large individual fines, public naming and multi-year bans aim both to deter sophisticated traders who can manipulate low-liquidity names and to reassure retail investors that improper conduct will be pursued and punished.
For traders, brokers and small-cap issuers, the ruling underscores changing compliance expectations and the operational reach of the CSRC. Exchanges and brokerage risk-monitoring systems will face pressure to detect complex layering, intra-account wash trades and coordinated order patterns earlier. Policymakers must balance vigorous enforcement with measures that support legitimate liquidity provision, while investors should reassess concentration and governance risks in thinly traded stocks.