In late October 2025, a chilling wave swept through China's financial circles as news broke that Shan Junbao, Chairman of CICC Capital, had gone missing. His phone was turned off, and his WeChat messages went unanswered—as if he had vanished into thin air. Shortly after, CICC Capital swiftly removed all references to his positions from its official website, a silent yet powerful statement that spoke louder than any formal announcement.

Shan Junbao's disappearance was not an isolated incident but rather the climax of a systemic collapse. Before him, key executives including Ding Wei, the founding Chairman of CICC Capital, as well as core leaders An Yuan and Xiao Feng, had already been taken away for investigation. Once hailed as "China's Goldman Sachs" and managing assets worth 560 billion yuan, this "blue-blooded" private equity firm now faces an unprecedented "wipeout" of its leadership.

### 01 The Tightening Regulatory Net To understand CICC Capital's downfall, one must first recognize the broader regulatory crackdown sweeping China's financial sector. In recent years, "preventing and mitigating major financial risks" has become a central theme of economic policy, shifting from mere rhetoric to a top-down transformation. The regulatory approach has pivoted from "encouraging innovation and tolerating failure" to "standardizing development and enforcing lifelong accountability."

Two key forces drive this change: 1. **Financial Anti-Corruption**: From the execution of Lai Xiaomin, former Chairman of Huarong Asset Management, to the downfall of Yi Huiman, former Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the anti-corruption campaign has left no corner of banking, insurance, or securities untouched. The focus is no longer just on "tigers and flies" but on severing the illicit ties between capital and power. 2. **Regulatory Overhaul**: The 2018 Asset Management New Rules marked the end of the "shadow banking" era, mandating "penetrative supervision" to expose hidden risks. For private equity firms relying on complex structures for profit-shifting, this was a fatal blow.

### 02 The Domino Effect: A List of the "Missing" As regulators turned their spotlight on CICC Capital, its leadership began falling like dominoes. - **Shan Junbao**: The current helmsman, his disappearance is linked to alleged "under-the-table agreements" diverting government-guided funds to related parties. - **Ding Wei**: The founding Chairman, investigated in the summer of 2025, was implicated in a 30-billion-yuan entrusted investment scandal involving Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). - **An Yuan & Xiao Feng**: Close allies of Ding Wei, they were swiftly detained for their roles in the same scheme.

From mid-level managers to the Chairman, CICC Capital's core leadership has been nearly "wiped out."

### 03 Systemic Failures Behind the Collapse The "wipeout" points to three fatal flaws: 1. **Profit-Shifting via "Under-the-Table Agreements"**: Secret deals bypassed formal contracts, funneling funds to insiders. 2. **Authoritarian Management & Weak Oversight**: Shan Junbao's autocratic style rendered compliance departments powerless. 3. **Complacency Under the Spotlight**: Past prestige blinded the firm to regulatory shifts, leaving it exposed when scrutiny intensified.

### 04 A Dual Shockwave: Trust Erosion & Industry Reshaping CICC Capital's implosion is more than a corporate scandal—it’s a seismic event for China's private equity (PE) sector: - **LP Trust Crisis**: Institutional investors, especially state-backed LPs, now demand deeper due diligence, no longer swayed by brand reputation alone. - **Regulatory Chill**: Stricter rules will force a "compliance arms race," squeezing out smaller, rule-bending firms. - **Business Model Shift**: The era of "wild growth" gives way to value creation and post-investment management.

### 05 A Wake-Up Call for the Industry Shan Junbao's disappearance marks the ignominious end of CICC Capital's golden age. Its downfall serves as a stark reminder: unchecked power and lax compliance, no matter how glamorous, inevitably lead to ruin.

As the tide recedes, the financial sector must heed this warning. Trust is the essence of business, and its foundation lies in respecting the rules. In China's new era of stringent oversight, this may be the only "moat" that ensures survival. For the PE industry, painful as it may be, a healthier, more transparent future could be on the horizon.