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The veteran of Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, who is in his early 50s, runs a firm that has advised on mergers of major Chinese technology companies and which lists a number of investment funds in its annual report.

Mr. Bao controls around 50% of China Renaissance.

Record low of HK$5 in early trade, wiping off HK$2.8 billion ($360 million) in market value.

Nearly 30m shares changed hands on Friday, the highest on record.

Bao who previously worked at Credit Suisse Group AG and Morgan Stanley, has been hailed as one of China's best-connected bankers.

He was involved with major technology mergers including the tie-up of ride-hailing firms Didi and Kuaidi, food delivery giants Meituan and Dianping, and travel devices platforms Ctrip and Qunar.

Taken an increasingly active role in the group's private equity business in recent years.

The firm earned $20.6 million in Chinese related investment banking fees in 2022, down from $43.13 million a year earlier.

Bao started China Renaissance in 2005 as a two-person team, seeking to match capital-hungry startups with venture capitalist and private equity investors. Since then, it expanded into services including underwriting, sales and trading.

The investment bank made its market debut in Hong Kong in 2018 after raising $346 million.

Acted as adviser for some of China's biggest tech initial public offerings (IPOs), including those of JD.Com Inc and Kuaishou Technology as well as Didi's New York listing in 2021.

China Renaissance is also an active investor in the tech sector. In 2019, it raised more than 6.5 billion yuan ($950 million) in a yuan-denominated fund.

In 2019, it raised more than 6.5 billion yuan in a yuan-denominated fund.

Its investment management business has assets worth around 48.6 billion yuan (US$7.08 billion or RM31.29 billion) by the end of last June.

Currently ranked ninth on China's equity capital markets league table for 2023. It earned US$20.6 million in Chinese related investment banking fees in 2022, down from US$43.13 million a year earlier.

It had 2.3 billion yuan (US$336 million) of outstanding bank loans and 4.97 billion yuan of credit facilities as of the end of June.

The firm obtained an agreement for a US$300 million syndicated loan in May 2021. It stipulates that if Bao is no longer the single largest shareholder of China Renaissance Capital, or is no longer the chairman of the board, the principal lender may cancel its commitment and require mandatory repayment.

The banker’s family was told he’s assisting an investigation, a person familiar with the matter has said. Cong Lin, the firm’s former president, has been involved in a probe by authorities since September.

“The board has become aware that Mr Bao is currently cooperating in an investigation being carried out by certain authorities in the People’s Republic of China.”

The company said its business and operations are continuing normally and that it will “cooperate and assist with any lawful request” from the relevant Chinese authorities, if and when made

The detention of Bao Fan, chairman of the investment bank China Renaissance (1911), is related to an earlier investigation into Cong Lin, China Renaissance's former president, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The star banker has been detained since February by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the report said.

Bao is being held under a special form of detention known as "liuzhi", or "retention in custody," where a person may be detained for as long as six months without any access to a lawyer, the report said, adding it remains unclear if Bao will be formally arrested and charged.

Before the detention, authorities had spoken to Bao several times regarding the probe of Cong. Bao was queried about a suspected quid pro quo involving a loan that Cong helped arrange for China Renaissance before joining the firm.

Auditors haven’t been able to complete their audit and sign off on its earnings report with Bao unavailable for contact, according to its exchange filing late Sunday.

The board is also unable to estimate when it will be able to approve its audited results or dispatch the annual report on or before the April 30 deadlin

The announcement came as the investment bank posted an unaudited loss of 563.8 million yuan ($82 million) for 2022, compared with a net income of 1.6 billion yuan a year earlier.

The company’s shares had plunged as much as 32% since Bao was first reported to be missing, and remain more than 10% down this year.