The founder of the Chinese insurer that owns New York City's Waldorf Hotel went on trial Wednesday on charges of improperly raising billions of dollars from investors and abusing his position to benefit himself. Wu Xiaohui , chairman of Anbang Insurance Group, was detained last year. Regulators took control of privately owned Anbang in February following a multibillion-dollar global buying spree that prompted questions about its financial stability.The case added to an avalanche of scandals for Chinese insurers. Executives of other insurers have been charged with corruption and mismanagement.Beijing announced plans March 13 to merge the Chinese banking and insurance regulators in an effort to step up scrutiny of those fast-evolving industries. They asked the Trump administration to confirm Kushner, who transferred his ownership stake to other family members, played no role in the negotiations.Anbang said it raised 50 billion yuan ($8 billion) in capital in 2014 by taking on dozens of new shareholders.

Source: Economic Times March 28, 2018 09:22 UTC