Suspected of illegal stock speculation, the octogenarian academician was investigated by the Securities Regulatory Commission

On the evening of April 19, 2024, Sugon (603019. SH) issued an announcement, saying that the company's chairman Li Guojie received a notice of filing a case on the same day, and the CSRC decided to file a case against him for suspected short-term trading of Sugon shares.

Li Guojie is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and is 80 years old. A week ago, Sugon disclosed that Li Guojie's wife Zhang Dihua violated short-term trading, with a cumulative turnover of more than 150 million yuan, and the couple apologized for this and handed over all the proceeds to the company. At that time, the company responded to the "China Times" reporter that Zhang Dihua was old, in poor physical condition, and his children were not around, so he took stock speculation as his personal life preference.

However, whether Zhang Dihua's account is controlled and used by him, and whether there is insider trading, has aroused doubts in the market. One investor said: "The case has been filed, which means that it is not only a problem of short-term operation of the lady, but also other problems." ”

The 80-year-old academician was investigated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission

According to public information, Sugon is mainly engaged in the research and development and manufacturing of high-end computer, storage, security, and data center products, and vigorously develops digital infrastructure construction, intelligent computing and other businesses, and the company was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2014.

Born in Shaoyang City, Hunan Province in May 1943, Li Guojie is a well-known computer expert in China, mainly engaged in applied basic research and technology development strategy consulting in the fields of computer system architecture, artificial intelligence, big data, and future networks. He graduated from the Department of Physics of Peking University in 1968, received a master's degree in computer science from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1981, and a doctorate degree in computer science from Purdue University in the United States in 1985.

In 1995, Li Guojie was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and in the same year, he founded and served as the chairman of Shuguang Information Industry Co., Ltd. From March 2006 to December 2010, he served as the chairman of Tianjin Shuguang Computer Industry Co., Ltd. (the predecessor of Sugon), and since January 2011, he has been the chairman of Sugon. He was also a researcher and director of the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the director of the National Intelligent Computer Research and Development Center, and the dean of the School of Computer and Control of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Over the decades, Li Guojie has received numerous awards, including the highest academic award at the Information Industry Academic Conference in 2006 and the Outstanding Contribution Award of the China Computer Federation in 2017. The Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences commented that Li Guojie led the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Sugon Company to make important contributions to the development of China's high-performance computer industry and the development of Loongson's high-performance general-purpose CPU chips.

However, this well-known computer expert and veteran academician who is still sticking to his post at the age of more than 80 is now the focus of the capital market on suspicion of illegal stock speculation.

According to Sugon's announcement on the evening of April 19, Chairman Li Guojie received a notice from the China Securities Regulatory Commission on the same day, and decided to file a case against him because he was suspected of short-term trading of Sugon shares. The company said that this matter is an investigation of Li Guojie personally, and will not have a significant impact on the operation of the company's board of directors and the company's daily business activities, and Li Guojie will actively cooperate with the investigation of the CSRC.

A week ago, it was revealed that Mrs. violated the rules of stock trading

A week before Li Guojie was placed on file for investigation, Sugon had just disclosed that Li Guojie's wife Zhang Dihua had violated the rules in stock trading.

According to the announcement released on the evening of April 11, Zhang Dihua has held Sugon shares since March 3, 2023, and has bought about 3.34 million shares (141 transactions) of the company's shares from March 3, 2023 to March 14, 2024, with a total turnover of about 154 million yuan, sold about 3.34 million shares (91 transactions) with a total turnover of 154 million yuan, and made a cumulative income of about 590,000 yuan after deducting transaction commissions, stamp duty and other taxes. As of the announcement date, Zhang Dihua still held 700 shares of the company's stock.

According to Article 44 of the Securities Law, shareholders, directors, supervisors and senior managers holding more than 5% of the shares shall sell their shares or other securities with the nature of equity of the company (including those held by their spouses, parents, children and held by other people's accounts) within six months after the purchase, or buy them again within six months after the sale, and the proceeds therefrom shall belong to the company.

Sugon said that Zhang Dihua failed to correctly understand the relevant laws and regulations of short-term trading, and there was no subjective intentional violation. During the trading period, Li Guojie was not consulted, nor was he informed of the above-mentioned trading behavior, and there was no situation of trading the company's shares due to insider information. After learning of the matter, the company attached great importance to it and verified the relevant situation in a timely manner, and Li Guojie and his spouse Zhang Dihua both apologized for the above violations and actively cooperated with the verification. At the same time, in accordance with the relevant regulations, Zhang Dihua has handed over the full amount of about 590,000 yuan to the company.

Zhang Dihua bought and sold more than 200 times in a year, and the transactions can be said to be extremely frequent. On April 12, Sugon further responded to the "China Times" reporter that Zhang Dihua used his own account to speculate in stocks. He is old, in poor physical condition, and his children are not around, so he takes stock trading as his personal life preference. Chairman Li Guojie often goes out to participate in academic, industry exchanges and other activities, and fails to promote and supervise in time.

Short-term trading or insider trading

Is Zhang Dihua's account really controlled and used by himself? With the CSRC's formal investigation of Li Guojie, this matter has become intriguing. Some investors bluntly said that the CSRC's filing of a case against Li Guojie shows that it is not only as simple as short-term trading by his wife, but may also involve insider trading.

In fact, in some cases in the past, directors, supervisors and senior executives of listed companies used their family members' securities accounts to conduct insider trading. For example, the latest penalty decision released by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on April 19 shows that Zhang Zhiyong, chairman of Beijing Shuzhi Technology Co., Ltd., used his wife Zhang's account in insider trading.

Different from the so-called short-term trading, insider trading behavior directly violates and undermines the principle of fair market information, which is called "stealing" in the capital market, which is a serious violation of the law and may even lead to criminal liability. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has repeatedly stressed that it is necessary to crack down on such illegal acts and maintain the normal trading order of the market.

Zhan Junhao, a financial commentator, said in an interview with the China Times that the CSRC's investigation usually means that it has a certain degree of evidence and believes that it is necessary to conduct further investigation. However, opening an investigation does not mean that the facts of the party under investigation have been determined, but rather a formal legal process aimed at further collecting evidence and ascertaining the truth.

"As the chairman, it's certain to know the inside scoop of the company. Zhang Yue, chairman of Aoyu International, pointed out to this reporter that the elements that constitute insider trading usually include traders taking advantage of insider information to trade before the information is made public in order to obtain improper benefits. If Lee's conduct meets these characteristics, then it may constitute insider trading.

In recent years, there have been frequent violations of laws and regulations in the A-share market, such as short-term trading of directors, supervisors, senior executives and their families. Bai Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, suggested that a strict regulatory mechanism should be established, relevant supervision should be strengthened, and violations should be detected and dealt with in a timely manner. At the same time, the punishment for violations will be increased, the cost of violations will be increased, and an effective deterrent will be formed.

Regarding Li Guojie's investigation, on the evening of April 19 and 20, the reporter of this newspaper repeatedly contacted the Sugon Securities Department of Zhongke and the relevant person in charge to seek comment, but failed to get a response. The company said in the announcement that it will continue to pay attention to the progress of the above matters and fulfill its information disclosure obligations in strict accordance with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations.

On April 19, Sugon's share price closed down 4.45% at 44.67 yuan per share, with the latest market value of about 65 billion yuan. According to the company's recently released financial report, its revenue in 2023 will be 14.353 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.34%, and its net profit will be 1.836 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.88%.

Editor-in-charge: Ma Xiaochao Editor-in-chief: Xia Shencha