CBHB (09668.HK), a joint-stock bank with 2 trillion yuan in assets, has become a major recipient of regulatory penalties.

On September 24, the central bank released administrative penalty information. For 11 violations including breaching financial statistics rules and bank settlement account management regulations, CBHB was issued a warning and fined more than 5.42 million yuan, with six responsible individuals also penalized.

Just one month earlier, CBHB had been hit with a 50.15 million yuan fine by the National Financial Regulatory Administration for imprudent loan, bill, and wealth management business practices, while its subsidiary CBHB Wealth Management was fined 12.3 million yuan, bringing the combined "parent-subsidiary" penalty to 62.45 million yuan and making it a market focal point.

According to statistics from Qiye Yujingtong, as of September 27, CBHB and its branches had accumulated 73.62 million yuan in fines and confiscations in 2026, the highest among the 12 joint-stock banks nationwide and far exceeding the full-year 2025 penalty level of 6.95 million yuan.

While regulatory fines keep piling up, the stock price has remained sluggish for a long time. As of the close on September 25, CBHB's H-shares were at HK$0.75 per share, with a total market value of HK$13.322 billion (approximately 11.4 billion yuan). Since 2022, CBHB has not implemented cash dividends for four consecutive years. As of the end of June 2026, CBHB's non-performing loan ratio was 1.76%, up 0.1 percentage points from the end of the previous year, the highest among the ten listed joint-stock banks. Its personal loan non-performing ratio rose from 3.8% at the end of the previous year to 4.93%.

26 Penalty Notices and 73.62 Million Yuan in Fines This Year

On September 24, the central bank issued four large fines in a row, with four banks heavily penalized. Among them, CBHB was warned for 11 violations, had 85,107.25 yuan of illegal gains confiscated, and was fined 5.3437 million yuan, totaling over 5.42 million yuan in penalties and confiscations. Six responsible individuals at the bank received fines ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 yuan, involving multiple departments including wealth management and private banking, consumer finance and credit cards, inclusive finance, internal control and compliance, and corporate banking.

The violations cited in this penalty primarily included breaching financial statistics regulations, violating bank settlement account management rules, violating agency collection business rules, violating bank card acquiring business rules, violating network security management rules, violating data security management rules, violating anti-counterfeit currency business rules, violating treasury account setting and usage rules, violating credit information collection, provision, inquiry, and related management rules, failing to fulfill customer identity verification obligations, and failing to submit large-value transaction reports or suspicious transaction reports as required.

The concentrated exposure of multiple basic compliance issues reflects obvious loopholes in the bank's internal system construction, business process controls, and employee performance supervision.

Notably, shortly before this penalty, on August 21, the National Financial Regulatory Administration issued a ten-million-yuan-level fine. For violations including imprudent loan, bill, and wealth management business practices, CBHB was fined 50.15 million yuan, and two responsible individuals were fined 220,000 yuan. Meanwhile, CBHB's subsidiary CBHB Wealth Management was fined 12.3 million yuan for irregular investment operations and inaccurate information disclosure, with two responsible individuals fined 110,000 yuan. The combined "parent-subsidiary" penalty of 62.45 million yuan briefly made CBHB a market focal point.

According to Qiye Yujingtong statistics, as of September 27, CBHB and its branches (excluding subsidiaries) had received 26 penalty notices in 2026, with fines and confiscations totaling approximately 73.62 million yuan, the highest among the 12 joint-stock banks nationwide. Excluding branches, CBHB's head office alone accumulated 59.79 million yuan in fines and confiscations in 2026, also ranking first among joint-stock banks. In full-year 2025, CBHB and its branches received 32 penalty notices with cumulative fines of approximately 6.95 million yuan, a relatively low level among joint-stock banks.

It is worth mentioning that in March 2026, CBHB officially appointed its president Qu Hongzhi to concurrently serve as chief compliance officer, with a term consistent with that of the president.

Non-Performing Loan Ratio Rises to 1.76%

As one of the national joint-stock banks, CBHB listed in Hong Kong in July 2020. As of the close on September 25, CBHB's H-shares were at HK$0.75 per share, with a total market value of HK$13.322 billion (approximately 11.4 billion yuan). Among other Hong Kong-listed joint-stock banks, China Merchants Bank, China CITIC Bank, China Everbright Bank, China Minsheng Bank, and China Zheshang Bank had market values of HK$1.27 trillion, HK$467.4 billion, HK$163.9 billion, HK$149.9 billion, and HK$64.3 billion, respectively.

The sluggish stock price is closely related to CBHB's operating performance and shareholder returns. As of the end of June 2026, CBHB's total assets were 2.03 trillion yuan, up 4.85% from the end of the previous year; loans and advances issued exceeded 1 trillion yuan, up 5.52%; and deposits absorbed were 1.22 trillion yuan, up 7.07%.

In the first half of 2026, CBHB achieved operating income of 13.952 billion yuan, down 1.85% year-on-year; net profit was 4.151 billion yuan, up 8.37% year-on-year. Among this, benefiting from continuous optimization of the liability structure and reduction of interest-bearing costs, CBHB achieved net interest income of 8.525 billion yuan in the first half, up 5.95% year-on-year; net interest margin was 1.39%, flat year-on-year. However, among non-interest income, the bank's net fee and commission income was 1.79 billion yuan, up 52.54% year-on-year; while net financial investment income was 3.206 billion yuan, down 33.7% year-on-year, resulting in negative overall revenue growth. CBHB attributed this mainly to the relatively good market performance in the same period last year, when the bank seized opportunities to enhance financial investment returns, while this year's market performance has been relatively stable.

In terms of asset quality, as of the end of June 2026, CBHB's non-performing loan balance was 17.882 billion yuan, an increase of 1.961 billion yuan from the end of the previous year; the non-performing loan ratio was 1.76%, up 0.1 percentage points; and the provision coverage ratio was 162.22%, up 0.06 percentage points.

It should be noted that as of the end of June 2026, among the ten listed joint-stock banks, CBHB had the highest non-performing loan ratio. According to data from the National Financial Regulatory Administration, as of the end of June 2026, the non-performing loan ratio of China's joint-stock banks was 1.23%, up 0.01 percentage points from the end of the first quarter; the provision coverage ratio was 201.89%, down 2.71 percentage points from the end of the first quarter.

As of the end of June 2026, CBHB's corporate loans and personal loans balances were 764.768 billion yuan and 183.76 billion yuan, accounting for 75.26% and 18.08% of total loans, respectively; non-performing loan balances were 8.819 billion yuan and 9.063 billion yuan, up 8.09% and 16.75% from the end of the previous year, respectively.

As of the end of June 2026, CBHB's corporate loan non-performing ratio was 1.15%, flat from the end of the previous year, but the personal loan non-performing ratio rose from 3.8% at the end of the previous year to 4.93%, highlighting pressure on retail business credit quality.

In addition, as of the end of June 2026, CBHB's overdue loans were 27.135 billion yuan, an increase of 4.208 billion yuan from the end of the previous year.

It is worth mentioning that since 2022, CBHB has not paid cash dividends for four consecutive years. As of the end of June 2026, CBHB's capital adequacy ratio, tier-one capital adequacy ratio, and core tier-one capital adequacy ratio were 12.1%, 10%, and 8.37%, respectively, all declining to varying degrees from 12.48%, 10.13%, and 8.4% at the end of the previous year.