Before buying an investment recommended by bank staff, find it in that bank’s own app or website; an absent product may be an unauthorized private sale

Free. Search the product name in the bank’s app or website before buying; it takes a few minutes. The difficult part is telling a familiar relationship manager that you will check it yourself first.

Beijing’s Third Intermediate People’s Court defines a flying order as financial-institution staff using their job access to sell third-party products privately, without issuance or distribution authorization from their institution. National Financial Regulatory Administration rules issued in 2025 require banks distributing other institutions’ products to sell them in designated areas only through their own branches, website and app. Banks must provide a product lookup stating that it is distributed on behalf of another institution, the type and issuer. They must not mix distributed products with deposits or their own products. The first page of promotional materials must state that the partner institution issues and manages the product and the bank, as distributor, bears no responsibility for investment performance or redemption. Banks must authorize which staff can sell which products and display this at branches. Branch sales require audio and video recording. Banks and staff must not privately promote or sell unapproved products under their institution’s name (China nationwide, effective October 1, 2025). The Beijing court reported a case in 2022: in 2013, a bank relationship manager called a product the bank’s bestseller and said the bank was custodian. The customer signed a partnership agreement with a fund company and transferred 1.2 million yuan to its account. Principal was not returned and the company’s actual controller went to prison. The court held that promotion during working hours, at the workplace and using job access was an employment act. The customer was also at fault for focusing solely on high interest. The first instance allocated half the loss to each; the appeal upheld it. In October 2026, the Supreme People’s Court, central bank, financial regulator and securities regulator jointly published another typical case. A securities-branch head privately sold an unauthorized private fund; the customer invested 1 million yuan and sued in August 2023. The first instance rejected the claim. The appeal found both branch and customer at fault and awarded about 577000 yuan, exactly 576716.97 yuan; the case number was from 2024 (China nationwide, 2022 and 2026).

国家金融监督管理总局 (2025). 商业银行代理销售业务管理办法（金规〔2025〕6 号，第三十二、三十三、三十四、三十九、四十一、四十三、五十四条）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202503/content_7015054.htm；北京市第三中级人民法院 (2022-05-08). 案例微观｜遭遇理财「飞单」，我的损失谁来赔？. https://bj3zy.bjcourt.gov.cn/article/detail/2022/05/id/6713358.shtml；最高人民法院、中国人民银行、国家金融监督管理总局、中国证监会 (2026-10-12). 金融消费者、投资者合法权益保护典型案例（案例三，（2024）皖05民终1088号）. https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/513941.html；全国人大 (2020). 民法典第一千一百九十一条. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff808081729d1efe01729d50b5c500bf

Article 1191 of China’s Civil Code makes an employer liable for harm caused by staff performing work duties. Calling it personal conduct therefore does not necessarily exempt the bank. The share depends on each side’s fault. Recovering money usually requires a lawsuit; ordinary first-instance proceedings must conclude within 6 months under the rules, with extensions allowed, and you pay your lawyer. Complain to the bank first; if unresolved, call 12378, see item 43, call 12378 if you believe you were misled. Even a genuinely bank-distributed product carries no bank guarantee of redemption. Implausibly high returns are covered in item 6; insurance versus deposits in item 42. With elderly family members, use two-person confirmation for large spending, see section 17, item 3. The beneficiaries are you and elderly relatives. This is not investment advice.