The Beijing based Unicredit Investigation Consultant Company was raided on April 20th by police and all employees were arrested. The reason for the sudden raid is somewhat vague and appears to involve the ‘exposure of confidential company information’.
According to the company’s website Unicredit specializes in providing investigated credit reports and market research on Chinese companies. It claims to be one of the oldest credit information companies in China dating back to 1996 and provides information to export / import trading companies, export credit insurance firms, and banks.
‘Investigating enterprise credit reporting’ companies are not regulated in China, however a new regulation is under consideration by the Chinese government which will require commercial credit information companies to be licensed, to have a minimum capital of Yuan 50 million, have competent management, secure systems and to comply with privacy provisions. The new regulation was published twice for public consultation and is expected to become law in 2012.
The raid of Unicredit comes on the heels of a nationwide crackdown on companies and individuals involved in the theft and misuse of private data. 1,700 individuals have been arrested.
Source: Chinese Press Coverage
