Chinese state-owned financial institutions are clawing back bonuses and cutting pay as Beijing broadens its scrutiny of the finance industry to include mutual funds and Hong Kong-based bankers.

Some leading state-owned mutual fund managers on the mainland have been told to return the portion of their annual salary that exceeded a cap of Rmb2.9mn ($400,000), according to two fund managers who received guidelines in the wake of an onsite audit in June. The payment of this year’s bonuses had been delayed, one said.

Hong Kong-based executives at units affiliated to state-owned Citic Group on mainland contracts have been told to return bonuses, two people briefed on the situation said. Executives at the investment unit of Hong Kong’s state-owned conglomerate Everbright Group have also been told to return bonuses received in recent years, two people familiar with the decision said.