Financial Fraud "Penalties" Land, *ST Mubon Chairman Liao Zhiyuan Resigns, Can "Post-95s" Related Party "Step into the Spotlight" Resolve Company's Predicament?

Ask AI · Liao Zhipeng: How Can a Post-95 Executive Resolve the Delisting Crisis?

Daily Economic News Reporter: Chen Pengli Daily Editor: Zhang Yiming

On the evening of March 20, *ST Mubo (SH603398, stock price 11.27 yuan, market value 4.887 billion yuan) issued multiple announcements, full of important information.

First, the company and related parties received the “Administrative Penalty Decision” from the Jiangxi Securities Regulatory Bureau due to issues such as false disclosures in periodic reports and failure to disclose related-party transactions as required. The company was fined 7 million yuan, its actual controller and then-chairman Liao Zhiyuan was fined 8 million yuan, and was barred from securities market activities for six years.

Meanwhile, *ST Mubo also announced a major personnel change. The company’s former chairman and general manager, Liao Zhiyuan, resigned from all positions for “personal reasons” and will no longer hold any role. The board of directors appointed director Liao Zhipeng, born in 1998, to serve as acting chairman and CEO.

On one side are heavy regulatory penalties and the departure of the actual controller; on the other side is a young executive born after 1995 stepping into the spotlight. However, the young executive faces the reality that *ST Mubo has already been issued a delisting warning, facing dual risks of delisting due to revenue and internal control issues. Additionally, the company still has large amounts of illegally used raised funds that have not been repaid.

Jiangxi Securities Regulatory Bureau Penalty Officially Enforced

After nearly eight months of investigation, *ST Mubo’s financial fraud case finally reached a regulatory conclusion.

Following the company’s disclosure at the end of February that it and related parties received the “Notice of Administrative Penalty Hearing,” on March 20, the company and related parties received the “Administrative Penalty Decision” from Jiangxi Securities Regulatory Bureau.

It was confirmed that *ST Mubo committed two major violations: false disclosures in periodic reports and non-disclosure of related-party transactions as required.

Specifically, in 2023 and the first half of 2024, *ST Mubo, through its subsidiaries, fabricated business operations, artificially increasing revenue by 516 million yuan and 198 million yuan, accounting for 31.17% and 45.49% of the disclosed revenue for those periods; inflated total profits by 159 million yuan and 75 million yuan, representing 536.60% and 46.50% of the disclosed profits. These manipulations caused the “2023 Annual Report” and “2024 Semi-Annual Report” to contain serious false disclosures.

In addition to financial data “inflation,” the company also had serious issues with misappropriation of funds. The penalty decision shows that in 2024, *ST Mubo’s non-operating fund transactions with its actual controller Liao Zhiyuan and other related parties totaled 1.204 billion yuan, accounting for 128.98% of the audited net assets for that period. Of this, non-operating fund occupation by Liao Zhiyuan amounted to 168 million yuan, and by other related party Zhang Zhong’an amounted to 1.036 billion yuan. The company failed to disclose these related-party non-operating fund occupations in a timely manner, resulting in significant omissions in the 2024 annual report.

Based on these violations, Jiangxi Securities Regulatory Bureau ordered *ST Mubo to correct the issues, issued a warning, and fined 7 million yuan; fined Liao Zhiyuan a total of 8 million yuan, and imposed a six-year ban from securities market activities. The bureau also warned four responsible persons including Zhang Zhong’an and fined them between 1 million and 3.5 million yuan each; Zhang Zhong’an was also barred from securities market activities for six years.

On the same day the penalty was announced, the board of *ST Mubo also received a written resignation letter from Liao Zhiyuan. The announcement states that Liao Zhiyuan resigned from all positions including director, chairman, and general manager for “personal reasons,” and will no longer hold any position in the company.

“Post-95” Director Liao Zhipeng Acts as Dual Role

Public information shows that Liao Zhiyuan took control of *ST Mubo (then called Bangbao Yizhi) in January 2021. Born in 1987, he is still under 40 years old. From November 2021 to September 2022, he served as the company’s general manager, and since November 2021, he has been chairman.

After Liao Zhiyuan’s swift departure, *ST Mubo held a board meeting on March 20, appointing director Liao Zhipeng to serve as acting chairman and CEO.

Notably, Liao Zhipeng’s resume shows he was born in 1998, making him 28 years old now. He will become a employee director starting April 2025. The company’s announcement states that Liao Zhipeng is related to Liao Zhiyuan, but the nature of this relationship has not been disclosed.

Faced with a difficult crisis, this “post-95” acting chairman faces significant challenges. First and foremost is the imminent delisting risk. *ST Mubo’s stock has been under delisting warning since May 6, 2025. According to regulations, if the company’s audited revenue after deductions in 2025 is below 3 billion yuan and net profit is negative, or if the 2025 financial statements and internal control reports are issued with non-unqualified opinions, the stock will be delisted.

Based on the company’s disclosures, these risks are quite high. In its reply to the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s inquiry, the company admitted that the auditor has issued a special explanation, indicating uncertainty whether the revenue after deductions in 2025 will exceed 3 billion yuan. Additionally, due to unresolved major defects in the 2024 internal control audit report, auditors are expected to issue a non-unqualified opinion on the company’s internal control for 2025.

The failure of internal controls also has lingering effects: recently, the company responded to the exchange’s inquiry that it still has 646 million yuan of illegal use of raised funds that have not been repaid.

In summary, this young “acting leader” faces many tests. Whether he can lead *ST Mubo out of its predicament remains to be seen by the market.

Daily Economic News