(Yicai Global) Oct. 25 -- At least 59 senior executives have moved on from China's listed banks within the last year, many of which have made their way into the online finance sector or opted to work for smaller, private banks, Securities Daily reported.

The figure covers from Oct. 28, 2016 to Oct. 24 this year. The  executives came from 18 banks, comprising 23 from joint-stock banks, 20 from large state-owned lenders and 16 from urban and rural commercial banks.

Six of the leavers were board chairmen, while 17 were presidents or vice presidents. Some 45 of them departed from their position this year.

Changing companies and contract expiration were the top two reasons for the resignations. Many of the executives went to fintech companies and smaller banks, which offer higher salaries as well as equity and entrepreneurial space for core workers during their startup period, which makes them more attractive than traditional lenders, an insider said.

Departing senior executives is just a small part of talent loss at traditional banks, there may also be a large number of key managers and frontline staff leaving, but these resignations aren't reported publicly.