"You've ultimately become a robber in the industry, and that is unacceptable," CSRC chairman Liu Shiyu said during his strong-worded speech at a meeting held by the Asset Management Association of China.
Liu said China's capital markets had seen a series of "abnormal phenomena" lately, challenging the bottom line of China's financial law and regulations.
"That is not financial innovation," Liu said.
In a commentary responding to Liu's comments on Saturday, financial magazine Yicai said the CSRC might have already collected evidence of illegal insurance funds used in some buy-out deals via tender offers or banner acquisitions, citing unnamed sources in the industry.
(Reporting by Yawen Chen, Samuel Shen and John Ruwitch; Editing by Nick Macfie)