Allianz granted approval for first wholly foreign-owned insurance asset management firm
Allianz is the first foreign company to receive these milestone approvals, and first-mover advantage should count for something, but there are plenty of big international rivals hot on its heels…
CBIRC issues draft code to improve corporate governance at financial institutions
Failure of corporate governance has been identified as one of the root causes of the financial scandals that have hit state-owned and private companies, and as a key risk to the financial system. This may well have been driven partly by…
CBIRC lays out its priorities for 2021
The goals outlined at the CBIRC’s 2021 work conference come as no surprise – most are long-standing targets and problems. However…
PBoC tightens oversight of data collection by credit reporting companies
The draft measures are part of a broader effort by the government to improve data privacy and protection. Since Beijing …
Banks banned from offering online savings products on third-party internet platforms
Regulators are working overtime pumping out rules to contain what they see as growing risks in various parts of the financial system. This is partly a function of the ongoing financial derisking campaign that …
CBIRC allows non-bank financial institutions to initiate creditors’ committees
In the wake of the recent wave of domestic bond defaults and with the expectation that the number of bond and loan defaults is going to increase, financial regulators have pushed for new rules to …
Yi Gang commits to staying the course
None of this is new – it’s the same note Yi has been hit for weeks. However, it underscores …
PBoC draft rules on third-party payment providers threaten to break up dominant players
Beijing has become increasingly concerned about the growing market power of fintech companies, notably the third-party payment platforms Alipay, owned by Ant Group Co. Ltd., and WeChat Pay, owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd. The concern stems from …
CBIRC proposes regulations to improve management of banks’ liabilities
The proposed regulations are consistent with other recent regulatory efforts to improve oversight of bank funding as part of a broader campaign to derisk the financial system. While most analysts pay close attention to the asset side of banks’ balance sheets, it is instability in bank liabilities that are more likely to …
SAFE revises rules to improve forex market liquidity
This is another example of regulators responding to the State Council’s demand to get rid of unnecessary administrative procedures and to …
CSRC issues rules to tighten grip on private funds
These regulations are part of the government’s broader strategy of controlling risks in the financial sector. On the one hand, the authorities want to …
CBIRC steps up regulation of short-term health insurance
The notice represents another effort by the CBIRC to build a more stable and better-regulated insurance sector. As with other areas of China’s financial system, supervision of the short-term health insurance business has not …
PayPal takes full ownership of Chinese payments company GoPay
PayPal’s acquisition of the remaining stake in GoPay follows the government’s decision to scrap foreign ownership controls on most of the financial sector. The acquisition gives PayPal full control to …
CBIRC devolves responsibility for personal insurance supervision to local branches
Since the Party and the State Council told the bureaucracy to simplify administration, decentralize power, and improve services last year, financial regulators have issued a series of rules to …
CBIRC issues draft guidelines to grade consumer finance companies
Beijing knows that consumer finance is key to boosting consumption, but wants to make sure that the industry isn’t generating undue risk. Having been burned by …
PBoC outlines priorities for 2021
The PBoC’s 2021 priorities are largely a restatement of long-standing priorities, including serving the real economy, financial derisking, and maintaining a prudent monetary policy. But there were also new areas …
MoF amends performance evaluation system for state-owned commercial banks
For years, the government has sent conflicting signals to commercial banks. On the one hand, they are often asked to do the state’s bidding and play their part in …
CBIRC rolls out new rules for internet insurers
Expanding insurance coverage among underserved sectors of the population is a key strategic imperative for policymakers and the internet is an ideal vehicle for doing so. But, as with other online financial services, insurance has been …
PBoC drafts revisions to anti-money laundering measures, covering nonbank financial institutions for the first time
Efforts to upgrade and improve anti-money laundering regulations are not driven solely by the need to comply with the FATF. They are also a key component of …
Ant Group summoned by regulators for a second time as fintech crackdown gathers pace
Since the shock suspension of Ant Group’s IPO on November 2, regulators have been on a crusade to rein in the fintech sector, not only in terms of the risks it potentially poses to the stability of the financial system but also …