High-level COVID-19 policy developments
A series of important meetings were held over the past month with the goal of moving China’s economic renormalization forward, while continuing to support …
Party enforcers put forward evaluation criteria for PBoC officials
On May 15, Xu Jia’ai, head of PBoC disciplinary inspection unit discussed the scope of …
CSRC chief signals more support for banks to set up fund management units
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Financial regulators release plan for the GBA
On May 14, regulatory authorities jointly released the Opinions on Providing Financial Support for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong KongMacao Greater Bay Area – a plan to support the development of …
CBIRC orders closure, merger of banks’ unlicensed operations
On May 13, local financial media reported that CBIRC had once again told joint-stock commercial banks to rectify the unlicensed businesses they operate …
CBIRC issues new version of rules on banks’ online lending
On May 9, CBIRC issued a new version of draft rules to clamp down on risky loans by online lenders, in an effort to improve control and oversight of …
CBIRC lays out de-risking priorities
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Hannover Re’s Shanghai branch approved to increase its registered capital
On May 11, financial media reported that CBIRC approved German reinsurance company Hannover Re to increase the registered capital of its Shanghai branch from RMB 2.6 billion to …
Q1 monetary policy report promises more support
Despite pledging to intensify counter-cyclical adjustments to combat the fallout from COVID-19, the first-quarter monetary policy report does not suggest a fundamental change of direction for policy. The PBoC is looking to increase targeted support for…
MoF releases draft regulations on SFIs
The MoF’s efforts to disentangle crossholdings between SFIs and SOEs are a welcome development, as these tie-ups are…
CBIRC to investigate CITIC Bank for consumer information leak
The CITIC case is just the latest in a string of data breaches that underscore concerns among both regulators and consumers in China that protection of privacy, data, and rights in the financial industry is inadequate. Regulators are tightening scrutiny of…
CSRC relaxes requirements for foreign participation in custodian services
Under the phase one US-China trade agreement inked in January, China agreed to allow branches of US financial institutions to provide custodial services for funds by June 2020, as part of a…
CBIRC releases draft measures for regulating fund trusts
This policy is part of the new asset management regulatory framework, issued in 2018, which sought to crack down on risky shadow banking activities. In particular, these measures are aimed at…
Big state-owned banks’ high dividend payouts may be under threat
Cutting dividends is not unheard of for the big four, who reduced payouts after facing bad loans and stagnant profit growth in 2015. A stress test conducted by the government last year showed that…
CBIRC hints at relaxing implementation of wealth management rules
If the transition period is extended again, it will be the second extension in as many years. The problems with compliance toward these new rules stem from the fact that banks have billions of yuan of WMPs that are invested in…
Record number of brickand-mortar bank outlets closed in 2020
The closure of brick-and-mortar bank outlets is inevitable in a country where mobile and online banking and e-commerce are now ubiquitous, and the sector…
More small and medium-sized banks allowed to issue perpetual bonds
Smaller banks — and particularly those that aren’t listed — have fewer channels available for raising capital than their larger counterparts. They aren’t generating enough profit to add to their…
China abolishes QFII and RQFII quotas
The scrapping of QFII and RQFII quotas represents a very modest concession to financial opening given that existing quotas were not…
PBoC makes two key personnel appointments
In early May, local financial media reported that Sun Tianqi had been appointed as the head of the financial stability bureau of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and Zhou Chengjun was promoted from…
CBIRC approves financial investment companies to manage debt-to-equity swaps
This is yet another attempt by regulators to push forward the debt-to-equity swap program, which has made disappointing progress since it was unveiled in 2016. The program is part of the broader agenda to…