China Merchants Securities responds to the huge loss controversy of SYEP's wealth management: the net value report was tampered with by the manager, and its custody responsibilities have been fulfilled

Regarding the financial incident involving SYEP, the responsibility game between the custodian institution and investors is escalating. Recently, the "Shenbo Hongtu Growth No. 1 Private Securities Investment Fund" subscribed by SYEP has incurred significant losses. As of December 25, 2025, the fund's latest unit net value is 0.18, with a cumulative net value growth rate of -81.54%, resulting in a loss of approximately 46.92 million yuan, exceeding 10% of the company's audited net profit for the most recent accounting year. Given that there have been no significant fluctuations in the secondary market recently, the sudden drop in net value in the short term clearly raises suspicions. In a public statement, SYEP not only accused the fund manager, Shenzhen Shenbo Xintou Investment Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shenbo Xintou"), of violations such as unauthorized trading and net value fraud but also pointed fingers at the fund custodian, China Merchants Securities. SYEP claims that China Merchants Securities failed to fulfill its supervisory and verification obligations, which led to significant losses. In response to SYEP's accusations, China Merchants Securities denied the claims. China Merchants Securities stated to Xinfeng: "After investigation, our company has fulfilled its custodian responsibilities in accordance with laws and contractual agreements, strictly performing supervisory duties regarding violations of contract conditions such as product investment ratios and leverage exceeding limits." This implies that the custodian may have already detected abnormal operations of the product in the background monitoring and issued warnings to the manager. Meanwhile, China Merchants Securities believes that information disclosure is the responsibility of the manager, and net value information is disclosed by the manager to investors. The manager has a legal and contractual obligation to accurately and truthfully disclose product net value information to investors, and the custodian neither has the obligation nor the means to directly reach investors. China Merchants Securities also provided a key detail, stating that the forged net value report received by SYEP included a link to a verification platform with China Merchants Securities' seal, allowing investors to verify its authenticity online by accessing the platform themselves. This means that SYEP may not have verified the authenticity of the report based on the link provided after receiving the net value report. Currently, the incident has entered both criminal and administrative regulatory procedures. SYEP is resolute in its stance, attempting to recover losses through legal means. China Merchants Securities, on the other hand, has taken a firm stance, stating in its response: "Our company will actively cooperate with relevant parties to handle subsequent matters in accordance with laws and regulations. Regarding recent unfounded accusations against our company by relevant parties, we reserve the right to pursue legal responsibility against them." As the police have intervened in the investigation, the truth behind this financial dispute involving a listed company, private fund managers, and leading securities firms is expected to be further revealed