Former fund executive investigated

Yang Yi, former vice president of China Merchants Fund, is suspected of "rat trading" - illegally using insider information to profit from trading of more than 40 stocks worthy of over 300 million yuan ($49 million), China's securities regulator announced Friday.

According to a joint investigation conducted by China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the police, Yang is suspected of utilizing undisclosed information to trade stocks through a third party account.

Through the third party account, Yang illegally traded more than 40 stocks, which were also traded by the fund he managed, gaining a profit of more than 10 million yuan, according to CSRC.

The police have been authorized to arrest Yang and the case is currently under investigation, CSRC said.