China moved on Saturday to tighten risk management requirements on banks – to make them classify financial-asset risks promptly.
From July 1, banks must classify assets beyond the currently required loans.
This move appears to have been partly spurred by the country’s prolonged real estate crisis and construction companies’ ability to conceal their enormous debts.
From mid-year Chinese banks will need to list bond investment, interbank lending and off-balance-sheet assets into five categories ranging from “normal” to “loss”, according to rules published by the central bank and the banking and insurance regulator.
The rules will help “commercial banks evaluate credit risks more accurately and reflect the true quality of their financial assets,” said the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC).
Current rules have been deemed inadequate because “in recent years, the asset structure of China’s commercial banks has changed quite a lot, and risk classification faces many new situations and problems,” the CBIRC said.
The new rules, it said, will help prevent credit risks more effectively, the regulator said, so the rules will apply to banks’ new business.
ALSO SEE:
Biden Seen Banning Some US Investment in China
Lending jumps in January
China’s banks have been given until the end of 2025 to reclassify existing financial assets.
The authorities had already urged banks to step up lending and bond purchases to support recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy, after a surge in Covid infections and problems in the vast property sector.
New bank loans jumped more than expected in January to a record 4.9 trillion yuan ($720 billion).
The new rules announced on Saturday urge banks to scrutinise the underlying assets when they classify risks for asset management or securitisation products.
Lenders will also be required to strictly abide by the rules when assessing credit risks in debt restructurings. An increasing number of property developers face restructuring as they struggle to meet repayment obligations.
Commercial banks should perform risk classification of all financial assets at least once a quarter, and they must “strengthen the monitoring, analysis and early warning” of the risks, and take preventive measures in a timely manner, the rules say.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
ALSO SEE:
Chinese Manufacturing Yet to Pick Up, Factory Prices Drop
US ‘Not The Only Target’ Of Chinese Spy Balloons: Blinken
Investors Eye Better Returns as China Govt Bonds Lose Favour
