FINANCE

Exclusive: Chinese Illegal Margin Financing Mastermind Surrenders U.K. Assets

Published: Sep. 4, 2025 8:37 p.m. GMT+8

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Song Shijie has recently surrendered $22.5 million in assets in a settlement with the U.K. National Crime Agency. Photo: AI generated

(London) — Four years after fleeing China, fortune has turned for the founder of a once-highflying Beijing shadow lender, who is in Chinese authorities’ crosshairs over alleged illegal securities transactions and money laundering.

The fugitive, Song Shijie, recently surrendered 16.7 million pounds ($22.5 million) worth of assets in a settlement with the U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA), including a luxury residential property and six apartments in London, according to a July statement published by the NCA.

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What Happened When

By 2015：: Yueda provided up to 5x leverage for stock trading and up to 10x for futures trading.

2015：: China's stock market crash; regulatory crackdown on shadow financing begins.

2017-2018：: Shadow financing made a comeback through grey-market channels; by 2018, Yueda's accumulated margin financing exceeded 30 billion yuan.

Early 2019：: Song Shijie manipulated stock prices and trading volumes of two listed companies, illegally profiting around 11 million yuan.

2020：: Yueda was placed on a CSRC blacklist of margin financing platforms.

2021：: Song fled China and relocated to the U.K.

June 2021：: Song entered the U.K. on a six-month visitor visa.

Early December 2021：: Song’s U.K. visitor visa legal stay period ended.

April 2023：: NCA applied to Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London to freeze two U.K. bank accounts held by Song.

2024：: Anhui securities regulator concluded a probe launched the same year, finding Song had manipulated stocks in early 2019; Song was ordered to pay 22 million yuan in penalties and confiscated funds.

By 2025：: Song had been wanted by Shanghai police for several years and was involved in a cryptocurrency money laundering case involving around $10 million after 2021.

July 2025：: NCA published a statement announcing Song surrendered £16.7 million ($22.5 million) worth of assets in a settlement.

August 2025：: Anhui securities regulator published a notice in a national newspaper to compel payment of the penalty after failing to locate Song.