SHANGHAI: The president of China's Everbright Securities brokerage has stepped down, the company said Thursday, just days after a trading glitch that roiled the country's stock market.
The government is investigating Everbright, China's seventh largest brokerage by assets, after a "design defect" in its proprietary trading system briefly sent the benchmark stock index up more than five percent last Friday.
In a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange, where it is listed, Everbright said it had accepted the resignation of Xu Haoming as president and board director.
The statement gave no reason for his departure, but said current chairman Yuan Changqing would be acting president.
Separately, China's market regulator said it would investigate computer programme trading following the incident, according to another statement.
The brokerage, a unit of state-owned China Everbright Group, mistakenly placed buy orders worth 23.4 billion yuan or $3.8 billion although not all the transactions were completed, authorities have said.
On Monday the brokerage mistakenly sold 10 million yuan worth of government bonds at the wrong yield, adding to its woes.
Authorities have ordered a three-month suspension of Everbright's proprietary trading business and banned it from underwriting debt issues for non-financial firms following the incidents.
Trading in Everbright Securities shares was halted on Thursday afternoon. They had lost more than 17 percent since trading resumed on Tuesday following another suspension from last week. (AFP)
