CBRC vows to fight irregularities (China Daily) Updated: 2005-04-25 08:33
China's banking regulator yesterday pledged an all-out effort to fight the
battle against irregularities, following earlier regulatory measures announced
after recent scandals at major banks further exposed weaknesses in the sector.
"The high occurrence of banking irregularities at present is a reflection of
deep-rooted problems in multiple areas and we need to enhance our awareness of
the severity of the situation in banking cases," Liu Mingkang, chairman of the
China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), said in a statement.
Containing the trend of the high occurrence of bank irregularities is an
urgent task for both banks and regulators, he said. Liu is calling for an
escalation of the campaign against irregularities by the implementation of
strict guidelines on operational risk prevention, the enhancing of internal
audits, establishing crisis management systems and strengthening supervision of
branches.
The commission will increase its work at eradicating bank irregularities, so
as to "win the uphill battle against bank irregularities," Liu said.
Corruption and fraud scandals at the Bank of China and China Construction
Bank in recent weeks exposed loopholes in their internal control systems and
corporate governance structures, and prompted worries that their widely-watched
plans for initial public offerings may subsequently be hampered as investor
confidence is shaken.
The two State-owned lenders were chosen for a pilot joint-stock restructuring
operation at the end of 2003 and received a combined US$45 billion infusion of
capital.
The CBRC said last week it would set up a risk warning system for the banking
system. It has already established risk-warning guidelines for commercial banks
and installed computer systems to automatically detect wrongdoing.
Liu pledged to pay close attention to the new problems emerging from the
reforms of the two pilot banks and the Bank of Communications, a joint-stock
bank that is also undergoing restructuring, and urged "hard work" at improving
their corporate governance and internal control mechanisms.
The official said his commission plans to release guidelines on market risk
management of commercial banks and risk prevention rules on popular
renminbi-denominated wealth management business during the second quarter.
The commission is encouraging commercial banks to include market risk and
operational risk in their risk management platforms to conform with the new
Basel Capital Accord, although it has said conditions are not yet right for
China to adopt the stricter regulatory rules of the new Accord.
Chinese banks are increasingly exposed to risks in the capital market,
especially after many lenders launched renminbi wealth management products,
which are typically backed by yields on fixed-income securities, in recent
months to woo clients.
Also on the commission's second-quarter agenda are plans to draft
implementation regulations on asset securitization, guidelines on the
qualification of directors and senior management of banking institutions, as
well as rules on due diligence in the disposal of non-performing financial
assets, the official said.
Liu called for enhanced research work on new trends in the opening up of the
domestic banking sector, as well as urging an early formulation of strategies to
cope with the full liberalization of the market at the end of 2006, as the
Chinese Government promised to do upon its joining the WTO three years ago.
The official also called upon his fellow banking regulators to shoulder the
newly-assigned responsibility of eradicating illegal fund-raising and urged
speedy progress in drafting regulatory measures.
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