Article 176 Whoever illegally takes in deposits from the general public or does so in disguised form, thus disrupting the financial order, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention and shall also, or shall only, be fined not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan; if the amount involved is huge, or if there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan.

Where a unit commits the crime as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, it shall be fined, and the persons who are directly in charge and the other persons who are directly responsible for the crime shall be punished according to the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 177 Whoever commits any of the following acts of forging or altering financial bills shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention and shall also, or shall only, be fined not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment and shall also be fined not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan or be sentenced to confiscation of property:

(1) forging or altering bills of exchange, promissory notes or cheques;

(2) forging or altering settlement certificates of a bank such as certificates of entrustment with the receipt of payment, certificates of remittance and deposit receipts;

(3) forging or altering letters of credit or their attached bills and documents; or

(4) forging credit cards.

Where a unit commits any of the crimes mentioned in the preceding paragraph, it shall be fined, and the persons who are directly in charge and the other persons who are directly responsible for the crime shall be punished according to the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 178 Whoever forges or alters treasury certificates or any other negotiable securities issued by the State shall, if the amount involved is relatively large, be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention and shall also, or shall only, be fined not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan; if the amount involved is huge, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan; if the amount involved is especially huge, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment and shall also be fined not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan or be sentenced to confiscation of property.

Whoever forges or alters stocks or corporate or enterprise bonds shall, if the amount involved is relatively large, be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention and shall also, or shall only, be fined not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan; if the amount involved is huge, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan.

Any unit that commits any of the crimes mentioned in the preceding two paragraphs, it shall be fined, and the persons who are directly in charge and the other persons who are directly responsible for the crime shall be punished according to the provisions in the preceding two paragraphs respectively.

Article 179 Whoever issues stocks or corporate or enterprise bonds without approval of the competent departments of the State shall, if the amount involved is huge, and the consequences are serious, or if there are other serious circumstances, be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention and shall also, or shall only, be fined not less than one percent but not more five percent of the funds illegally raised.

Where a unit commits the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph, it shall be fined, and the persons who are directly in charge and the other persons who are directly responsible for the crime shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention.

Article 180 Any insider who possesses inside information about any stock exchange transactions or anyone who illegally obtains such information, prior to the publication of the information that concerns stock issuing or exchange or that has a vital bearing on the stock price, buys or sells the very stock or divulges the very information shall, if the circumstances are serious, be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention and shall also, or shall only, be fined not less than one time but not more than five times the illegal gains; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined not less than one time but not more than five times the illegal gains.

Where a unit commits the crime as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, it shall be fined, and the persons who are directly in charge and the other persons who are directly responsible for the crime shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention.

The range of inside information shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of laws or administrative rules and regulations.

The range of insiders shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of laws or administrative rules and regulations.