China's banking regulator said that since February last year 1,887 bank employees have been punished for their involvement in hundreds of crimes worth more than 8 billion yuan.

A statement issued by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) show crimes at banks have dropped by almost a third to 480 cases in the first half of the year, a decline of 240 cases over the same period last year. The CBRC says this shows the the frequent occurrence of scandalous crimes is being contained.

The statement did not provide details on the types of crimes that were committed nor the type of punishment the criminals faced.

In the first half of this year, the CRBC successfully solved 242 bank crimes and recovered 516 million yuan (about 64.5 million U.S. dollars) in cash, according to the CRBC.

The CBRC has launched a special program to improve bank governance in the country. The commission has urged Chinese banking institutions to establish stricter internal-controls to prevent financial crimes.

China has been rocked by a number of shocking banking scandals in recent years, as the country strives to reform its bank system.

Analysts attribute the frequent occurrence of these crimes to the old management systems of state-owned banks, traditional banking culture in China as well as weak supervision.

Source: Xinhua