In China, Response to Pledged Share Meltdown Stirs Concern

In China, Response to Pledged Share Meltdown Stirs Concern
Logos of Orient Securities are seen near a branch of the company in Shanghai, China on Jan. 26, 2017. Aly Song/Reuters
|Updated:

SHANGHAI—Scores of Chinese brokers and banks are struggling under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of loans to companies using their own plummeting shares as collateral.

Southwest Securities, a Chinese securities broker based in Chongqing, said last month in its quarterly earnings report it had to set aside the equivalent of 80 percent of its profits through September to provide for likely losses because of such loans.