"The person who understands the business best manages compliance." Can Lv Xiaoping safeguard the risk control gate of Zheshang Securities?

How can AI · Lü Xiaoping’s business experience help quickly rectify the compliance system?

Produced by | Reading Business Era

Edited by | Li Xiaoyan

On April 3rd, Zheshang Securities officially announced Lü Xiaoping as the Chief Compliance Officer. This veteran of Zheshang Securities, who has won the “Zheshang Star” award four times, is not an “airborne” appointee. She previously led a team that achieved the highest per capita revenue in equity investment banking and also spearheaded market-making business at Beijing Stock Exchange, generating millions in profit. Now, taking on the banner of compliance rectification, can Lü Xiaoping transform her more than ten years of “difficult but correct” investment banking experience into the core confidence for Zheshang Securities to reshape its compliance system?

If we only look at her resume, Lü Xiaoping is not a typical “legal-oriented” compliance leader. Her career path spans research, wealth management, institutional business, and investment banking, covering almost all major risk exposure scenarios of a securities firm. This background gives her a stronger ability to “penetrate business to identify risks” at a time when compliance issues are erupting intensively, and aligns well with regulatory requirements emphasizing “substance over form” in risk control.

In 2024, Lü Xiaoping received the “Zheshang Star” award for the fourth time. To her, the significance of this award is not in the honor itself but in its timing—coinciding with her “double ten-year” milestone of her investment banking career and the establishment of the SME investment banking headquarters. In 2014, she shifted from familiar research, wealth, and institutional sectors to investment banking, almost “restarting from zero,” taking on the task of building an SME investment banking team. At that time, this choice did not offer short-term financial benefits, but serving small and medium-sized enterprises was a “difficult but correct” strategic direction for the company.

Lü Xiaoping gradually established a methodology of “professionalism, self-discipline, and gratitude” through practice, viewing professional ability as the underlying asset of investment banking, and internalizing self-discipline and compliance requirements into team behavior norms. Under her leadership, the team focused on project gradient construction and talent structure, forming a cycle from project initiation, guidance, to application and issuance. Meanwhile, through initiatives like the “Double Hundred Action,” they deepened engagement with regional enterprises, strengthening project reserves and customer stickiness. In 2023, her investment banking line achieved leading per capita revenue, validating the effectiveness of her strategic choices.

Returning to the present, Zheshang Securities faces not just isolated issues but a systemic aftermath of “expanding faster than internal controls.” In 2025, Zheshang Securities achieved a total operating income of 8.841 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.95%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 2.412 billion yuan, up 24.87%. However, at the start of 2026, the compliance defense line of Zheshang Securities repeatedly failed, with issues such as the adequacy of branch suitability management, and vulnerabilities in headquarters custody and subsidiary control exposed, rapidly magnifying structural weaknesses in the compliance system.

Under the strict deadline for rectification set by regulators, time has become the most scarce resource. The advantage of internal promotion is amplified at this moment—no need for adjustment, direct implementation at the executive level. Lü Xiaoping’s familiarity with organizational structure and business processes enables her to quickly pinpoint root causes and push for effective rectification, which is also the practical basis for her receiving full support from the board of directors.

Of course, the challenges Lü Xiaoping faces should not be underestimated. On one hand, the rectification tasks are heavy and the cycle is short, requiring compliance to meet rigid regulatory demands while avoiding excessive contraction of business. On the other hand, shifting from a business leader to a compliance coordinator, how to establish independence and authority, and clearly delineate boundaries between efficiency and risk, will directly determine the success of her reforms.

From an industry perspective, Zheshang Securities’ choice is somewhat representative. Against the backdrop of stricter regulation and increasing business complexity, a compliance model solely based on legal or institutional approaches is facing diminishing marginal utility. Talents with both business understanding and risk control capabilities—multi-disciplinary professionals—are becoming key variables in upgrading securities firms’ compliance systems. Lü Xiaoping’s appointment is not only a response to the company’s current issues but also an active adaptation to this trend.

From a four-time “Zheshang Star” award-winning investment banking leader to the appointed compliance chief in times of crisis, Lü Xiaoping’s transformation reflects Zheshang Securities’ exploration of a “business-oriented compliance” model, and is also a microcosm of securities firms reshaping their compliance systems and returning to their service roots amid strict regulatory cycles.