China’s fourth-richest man has been banned from the country’s insurance industry for 10 years, in the most aggressive move yet by regulators to tame borrowing and hostile corporate¹ takeovers by insurers.

中国第四大富豪被禁入保险业10年，这是监管机构在惩戒保险商借款和发起敌意收购方面迄今最严厉的举措。

Yao Zhenhua, chairman of financial conglomerate² Baoneng Group, last year launched a high-profile raid on China Vanke, the country’s largest residential³ developer. He acquired a stake worth 25 per cent, prompting Vanke’s chairman to label Baoneng “barbarians⁴”.

身为金融综合企业宝能集团(Baoneng Group)董事长的姚振华，去年对中国最大的住宅房地产开发商万科(China Vanke)发起了高调的突袭行动。他收购了万科25%的股份，促使万科董事长给宝能贴上“野蛮人”的标签。

Much of the funding for Baoneng’s Vanke stake and other investments came from policies sold by its life insurance unit, Foresea Life Insurance, which Mr Yao also chairs.

宝能买下万科股票的大部分资金以及其他投资，均来自其寿险部门前海人寿(Foresea Life Insurance)出售的保单。姚振华也是前海人寿的董事长。

Foresea quickly scaled the premium⁵ rankings of China’s life insurance industry by selling so-called “universal insurance” products, which are essentially⁶ wealth management vehicles with a small protection component⁷.

通过出售所谓的“万能险”产品——本质上是带有较小的保障成分的理财工具——前海人寿在中国寿险行业的保费收入排行榜上迅速攀升。

Investors⁸ flocked to the products, which are mostly distributed through banks, drawn⁹ to their high yields and short maturities¹⁰.

受高收益和短期限吸引，投资者蜂拥购买这些主要通过银行分销的产品。

Insurers are able to offer higher yields than those available on comparable vehicles from banks and other fund managers because they have the freedom to invest in a wider range of assets. Anbang Insurance Group has also relied on sales of universal insurance products to fund a high-profile global shopping spree.

由于保险商可以在更广泛的资产类别中进行投资，因此它们可以提供比银行和其他基金管理公司的类似理财产品更高的收益率。安邦保险集团(Anbang Insurance Group)也依靠出售万能险产品，为其在全球高调的收购活动提供资金。

But analysts¹¹ have warned against the strategy. Such products essentially force insurers to seek out risky¹², high-yielding assets in order to meet future payouts. Analysts are also concerned by a liquidity¹³ risk when short-duration products are matched to long-term, illiquid assets such as real estate¹⁴ or large equity¹⁵ stakes.

但分析师对该策略提出了警告。此类产品实际上迫使保险商为了满足未来兑付而寻找高风险、高收益的资产。流动性风险——当短期产品与房地产或大笔股份等期限长、流动性低的资产搭配时——也引发了分析师的担忧。

In banning Mr Yao from the industry for 10 years, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission announced that Foresea had “provided false data” and “used insurance funds against regulations” without providing specifics.

在禁止姚振华入保险业10年的同时，中国保险监督管理委员会(CIRC)宣布前海人寿“提供虚假资料”和“违规运用保险资金”，但并未提供具体细节。

Rarely seen in public, Mr Yao was China’s fourth richest man in 2016 with a fortune of $17bn, up more than ninefold from a year earlier, according to the Hurun Report. Local media say he started as a vegetable seller before making his first fortune as a property developer in the freewheeling city of Shenzhen in the 1990s.

胡润百富榜(Hurun Report)数据显示，很少在公开场合露面的姚振华，在2016年中国富豪排行榜上排名第四，身价达到170亿美元，是一年前的9倍多。国内媒体称，他最初以卖菜起家，然后在20世纪90年代自由放任的深圳市成为房地产开发商，赚到了他的第一桶金。

Before the latest punishment, the CIRC had already signalled an intention to crack down on such practices. At a press conference on Wednesday, CIRC chairman Xiang Junbo said the agency “will never allow the insurance industry to be turned into a rich boys’ club” or become a “sanctuary¹⁶ of large financial crocodiles”. Mr Xiang previously¹⁷ warned that insurers cannot be “ATM machines” for corporate raiders.

在出台最新处罚之前，中国保监会已发出要打击这种做法的信号。在上周三的新闻发布会上，中国保监会主席项俊波表示，保监会“绝不能允许把保险办成富豪俱乐部”，“更不容许保险被金融大鳄借道藏身”。项俊波警告称，决不能让保险企业成为企业掠夺者的“提款机” 。

Mr Xiang also promised on Wednesday to curb¹⁸ “aggressive” pricing and “unreasonably¹⁹” high returns on some insurance products. He said insurers should not interfere²⁰ with the management of listed companies. Instead, the industry should focus on its core function of providing risk protection.

上周三，项俊波还做出承诺，保监会还将遏止部分保险产品的“激进”定价和“不合理”高回报。项俊波说，保险公司不应干预上市公司的管理层。相反，保险业应当关注其风险保障的核心功能。

In December, CIRC banned Foresea from selling universal life products stemming from an inspection²¹ team’s findings. Evergrande Life Insurance, a unit of property developer China Evergrande Group, was also temporarily banned from buying stock after the securities regulator labelled leverage-fuelled stock purchasers as “robbers”.

去年12月，在一个检查组得出结论之后，中国保监会禁止前海人寿销售万能险产品。在中国证监会主席把一些实施杠杆化收购的企业称为“强盗”后，房地产开发商中国恒大集团(China Evergrande Group)旗下的恒大人寿(Evergrande Life Insurance)也被暂时禁止投资股票。

Anbang and another insurer, Shenzhen-based Funde Sino Life Insurance, were also subject to inspection. They have not been punished. An Anbang spokesman denied that the CIRC sent inspectors²² to Anbang last May.

安邦和另一家总部设在深圳的保险企业富德生命人寿(Funde Sino Life Insurance)也是检查对象。它们没有受到惩罚。安邦发言人否认中国保监会去年5月向该公司派驻了检查人员。

Foresea did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Friday.

前海人寿没有立即回复上周五晚些时候记者的置评请求。