境外媒体看监管

中国规范商业银行互联网存款业务，不得借助网络手段违反或规避监管

（路透社 2021-1-15）

China's banking and insurance regulator on Friday banned commercial banks from using third-party internet platforms to sell deposit products, including those relating to fixed-term deposits.

The move is designed to avoid spillover financial risks brought by the rapid development of the financial technology sector, according to a statement of China's Banking and Regulatory Commission (CBIRC).

While the takeoff of China's fintech sector has helped such business grow rapidly in recent years, it has brought hidden risks related to information disclosure and product management, the CBIRC said.

Local lenders attracting deposits nationwide with the help of internet platforms are suspected of violating regulatory rules that limit smaller city banks to drawing business from their home market, the regulator added.

These, usually high yield, deposit products, are exacerbating a liquidity crunch among lenders, and could be “violating the requirement of interest rate pricing mechanism”, CBIRC said in a separate notice.

银保监会主席郭树清：国际社会指中国搞国家资本主义是“巨大的误解”

（彭博社 2021-1-19）

China’s top financial regulator dismissed claims the nation is distorting its economy through “state monopoly capitalism” as pressure grows on China to align more with global trade rules.

Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said the accusations are a big “misunderstanding” of how its economy operates.

Private companies contribute about 60% to the economy but have only half the tax burden of state-owned enterprises, Guo said at the Asian Financial Forum on Monday. It’s impossible for China’s banks to subsidize state-backed companies amid intensified competition in the credit market, he said.

China on Monday reported economic growth that exceeded its pre-pandemic rates in the fourth quarter, enabling it to post a full-year expansion as major peers suffered contractions. While growth in 2020 was the slowest in four decades, the outperformance meant that China increased its share of the world economy at the fastest pace on record, according to World Bank estimates.

In the past decade, China contributed nearly 30% on average to the world’s economic growth, Guo said. The competitiveness of Chinese products didn’t come at the cost of hurting its workers’ interest, he said.

中国表示对于金融科技的监管政策并非针对具体公司

（彭博社 2021-1-22）

China’s banking regulator said recent measures to rein in financial technology firms that have hit hard at giants such as Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co. weren’t aimed any specific company and have been well received by some in the industry.

Some of the firms have a “relatively positive attitude” toward the new requirements and have achieved “initial effects” in their “rectification” efforts, Liang Tao, vice chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said at a briefing in Beijing on Friday.

The new rules, designed to prevent monopolies from being formed as well as unfair competition, are in line with supporting the long-term stable development of private enterprises, Liang said. By taking their own measures, internet platforms can return to a role of serving the real economy and “become an important force” in supporting economic growth, he said.

Banks and insurers should continue to cooperate normally with internet platforms in compliance with laws and regulations and some lenders that have pulled back should correct their behavior, he said, without elaborating.

At the same briefing, the regulator’s chief risk officer, Xiao Yuanqi, said officials are monitoring risks at firms engaged in crowd-funding in the health-care sector and will take “corresponding measures.”

A decision by Meituan to shutter its operations in the field at the end of this month was due to risks in deviating from its main business, he said.

Financial innovation is a “double-edge sword,” Guo Shuqing, chairman of the regulator, wrote in an article in December. China plans to impose “special and innovative regulatory measures” on financial technology firms to eliminate monopolistic practices and strengthen risk controls, he said.

银保监会推动银行保险机构切实加强党的领导持续提升公司治理

（路透社 2021-1-29）

China's banking and insurance regulator issued draft rules on Friday in which emphasized stronger Communist Party leadership in both state-owned and private banks and insurers to contain corporate governance risks.

The draft rules urged state-owned banking and insurance institutions to prioritize the key business decisions made by the Communist Party committee before consulting the board and the top leadership, according to statements of the China's Banking and Insurance Regulatory Committee. (CBIRC)

It also limited the number of financial institutions one single individual can be appointed to as the independent director in order to restrain interest transfers. It also urged all lenders and insurers to shoulder responsibilities in environmental, social and corporate governance, a relatively new concept to Chinese financial institutions.

Chinese financial regulators have been sharpening their scrutiny of financial institutions' shareholdings amid fears that loans or fluids from lenders and insurers to big investors could prove a weak point in the country’s financial system.

银保监会主席郭树清：金融科技公司需满足资本充足率要求

（路透社 2021-3-2）

China's financial technology companies are expected to meet capital adequacy requirements within a maximum of two years, said Guo Shuqing, head of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) on Tuesday.

Micro lenders, consumer finance firms and banks operated by internet platforms should all have adequate capital like other financial institutions, Guo said at a news conference.

Chinese financial regulators have rolled out a slew of measures since last year to tighten the oversight of online lending practices in the country, particularly of technology firms looking to expand into the financial space, moving away from its once laissez-faire approach.

"Starting a business needs capital, so does starting a financial business," Guo said. “As long as internet platforms conduct financial operations the requirement of capital adequacy ratio on them should be the same as financial institutions."

Financial regulators have set various grace periods for different internet platforms, according to Guo. Some have until the end of 2020 and others until the middle of 2021 to meet capital adequacy requirements, he said.

"But by a maximum of two years, (the capital adequacy of) all platforms should be back on track, Guo added.

中国发文禁止小贷公司向大学生发放互联网消费贷，已放贷款不展期

（路透社 2021-3-17）

China's top banking regulator said on Wednesday it had banned micro lenders from granting new consumer loans to college students over concerns of over-lending and financial risks.

It also urged micro lenders to gradually reduce existing loans to students, and banned institutions without financial licenses from offering credit services to college students, according to a statement on its website.

The statement was jointly released by five government agencies including the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), the People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Public Security.

Chinese financial regulators have long warned of the risks brought by easy access to loans via manifold consumer apps, and rolled out a slew of measures since last year to tighten the oversight of online lending practices.

The campaign was particularly targeted at technology firms looking to expand into the financial space, and led to the suspension of Ant Group's $37 billion initial public offering last year. It generated 40% of its profits from its two major online micro lending units.

Traditional banks and consumer finance firms should also tighten their risk controls involving student clients, and make sure they have a second source of debt repayment, the statement said.

"We should resolutely curb the internet platforms to 'harvest' college students, and safeguard their rights and interests", the CBIRC said in a separate statement.

博鳌论坛：中国不良贷款反弹压力较大，续推地方债补充资本

（路透社 2021-4-20）

China is expected to face pressure from a rebound of non-performing loans, and banks must fully evaluate the risk and be prepared in advance, a senior banking regulator said on the sidelines of the Boao Forum on Tuesday.

China has implemented monetary and fiscal policies since last year to support an economy jolted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial institutions were encouraged to lower rates for virus-stricken firms, and relief measures were rolled out to give borrowers breathing space during the virus crisis.

Although many small enterprises have benefited from such policies, some companies have still suffered from the pandemic, and adjustments to domestic and global supply chains are expected to cause some defaults, said Xiao Yuanqi, vice chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. (CBIRC)

Non-performing loans of the banking sector totalled 3.6 trillion yuan ($554.06 billion) at the end of March and the bad loan ratio stood at 1.89%, the latest CBIRC data showed.

With smaller banks more vulnerable to any sudden increase in bad loans, the regulator will keep pushing a programme that allows local governments to use money raised from special government bonds to recapitalise some small lenders, Xiao said.

"The programme is effective and the pace was fast, according to Xiao, "We are currently ramping up efforts to carry it out."

Xiao said in a briefing last Friday that the amount of special bonds for capital replenishment this year "will be relatively stable" compared with last year's figure of 200 billion yuan.

高盛将与工商银行组建合资理财公司

（华尔街日报2021-5-26）

Chinese regulators have approved a wealth-management joint venture between Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., as China further opens up its lucrative financial sector to foreign banks.

Goldman’s asset-management arm will own 51% of the venture, and the remainder will be held by an ICBC wealth-management subsidiary, the New York-based bank said Tuesday.

ICBC, one of China’s largest state-owned banks, said the venture will help it provide more diversified and professional wealth-management services and would improve the bank’s ability to serve the real economy.

In China, wealth-management businesses run by banks typically sell investment products to a range of individuals. Goldman on Tuesday cited its own research estimating that investible assets held by Chinese households could surpass $70 trillion by 2030. About 60% of that could be allocated to non-deposit products including securities, mutual funds and wealth-management products, the firm said.

Goldman said the new venture has received preliminary approval from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and it intends to develop a range of investment products for the China market. That would include “quantitative investment strategies, cross-border products and innovative solutions in alternatives,”  Goldman said.

Goldman has sought to expand its presence in the world’s second-largest economy. Last December, it applied to take full control of Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities Co. by acquiring the 49% share of the venture it didn’t own. Goldman Sachs was the first global bank to seek full ownership of its securities business in China.

中国警示全球资产泡沫风险 建议加强金融监管合作

（彭博社 2021-5-29）

Recent interest rate hikes by emerging economies could lead to a bursting of global financial asset bubbles, according to a senior official with China’s banking regulator.

Unprecedented pandemic easing measures by developed countries have enlarged such bubbles, Liang Tao, vice chairman of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said at the International Finance Forum in Beijing on Saturday. Developed countries are sticking with ultra-low rates even as emerging economies raised their borrowing costs, potentially resulting in the re-pricing of global assets, he said.

Countries need to coordinate financial regulation and improve the monitoring of cross-border fund flows, and emerging markets must prevent risks from large movements of the so-called hot money, Liang said.

The official also said China has managed risks from new hidden local government debt, and contained bubble risks in property finance. The financial sector’s leverage has declined, while a disorderly expansion of capital has been corrected, he said.

The global economic governance system including organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization should better represent developing countries, Liang said.

中国版银保机构“生前遗嘱”落地，强调“自救为本”防范道德风险

（路透社 2021-6-9）

China's banking and insurance watchdog issued rules on Wednesday requiring sizable banks and insurers to prepare recovery plans in the unlikely event that they run into financial trouble, as the regulator seeks to strengthen the safety net of the country’s financial sector.

The goal for such plans, which are commonly known as “living wills” for financial institutions in some developed economies, is to make sure China's financial institutions don’t end up needing costly bailouts in the wake of risk events without contingency plans, and to maintain financial stability, the watchdog said.

Banks, rural credit cooperative and other deposit-taking institutions with consolidated assets at home and abroad of no less than 300 billion yuan ($46.96 billion) should prepare such recovery and resolution plans, the China's Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRG) said in a statement on its website.

Insurers with no less than 200 billion yuan of total on-book assets at home and abroad should also prepare such plans, it added.

The regulator added that eligible financial institutions should first make use of their own assets and ask for help from their own shareholders before turning to the government for support when running into trouble.

"They should prevent aggressive behaviour to shoulder too much risks, and prevent the moral hazard of over-relying on public rescues and support,” according to the statement.

A grace period will be given for the implementation of the rules, the CBIRG said, without stating specific deadlines.

中国警示金融衍生品风险

（彭博社 2021-6-10）

China’s top banking regulator warned retail investors to avoid financial derivatives, stepping up a bid to curb risks amid rising volatility in global commodities.

Investors that speculate in currency, gold or other commodity futures are set to pay the same heavy price as those betting that property prices will never fall, said Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission .

Speculation in derivatives by ordinary people “is tantamount to disguised gambling , and their outcome of losses is preordained ,” he said at the Lujiazui forum in Shanghai on Thursday.

With global commodities rising to records, Chinese government officials are trying to temper prices and reduce some of the speculative froth. Wary of inflating asset bubbles, the People’s Bank of China has also been restricting the flow of money to the economy since last year, albeit gradually to avoid derailing growth.

Guo defended China’s macroeconomic response during the pandemic. Criticism that it amounted to an inadequate contribution to global growth is based on “prejudice or misunderstanding,” Guo said. The policies helped maintain economic growth and avert a deeper global recession and its stable export prices are serving as an “anchor” to global inflation being fueled by money printing in developed nations, he said.

中国拟设立国民养老保险公司，注册资本111.5亿元

（路透社2021-8-19）

China plans to set up a state pension company with registered capital of 11.15 billion yuan ($1.72 billion), a filing showed on Thursday, the latest step by the world's most populous nation to boost funds for its citizens' retirement.

Seventeen bank-affiliated wealth management units, insurers and state institutions will take stakes in the company, whose largest shareholders include the wealth management units of China's big five banks, each with a stake of 8.97%, the filing by the Insurance Association of China showed.

The new company will manage commercial pension funds, short-terni and long-tenn health insurance, and entrust yuan or foreign currency-denominated assets to other asset managers for retirement purposes, the filing showed.

To remedy growing pension shortfalls, China's Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRG) is considering endorsing a list of private pension fluids and appointing a group of professional managers to nui them under a new scheme, Reuters has reported.

The 17 finns, among them China's largest brokerage CITIG Securities Go, Taikang Life Insurance, and the investment arm of Beijing's State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission, said they would use their own funds to invest in the new company instead of leveraged funds.