Commercial banks get wealth act together
By JIANG XUEQING | China Daily | Updated: 2018-04-16 07:39
Visitors check out new financial products at ICBC's booth at the Beijing International Wealth Managment Expo in 2015. FAN JIASHAN/FOR CHINA DAILY
Commercial banks are accelerating efforts to adjust their wealth management products or WMP business according to new regulatory requirements, as China is stepping up control over financial risks.
It is expected that China will soon formally launch guidelines to tighten rules on the asset management business of various financial institutions.
Top leaders of the country have approved new regulations for the asset management sector to tackle off-balance-sheet lending and eventually address China's debt problems, bankers said.
Gu Shu, president of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, the country's largest commercial lender by assets, has a positive attitude toward the regulatory tightening.
"To develop the asset management business well … there should be regulations and standardized development," Gu said at a recent news conference.
As at the end of 2017, the balance of ICBC's wealth management products stood at 3 trillion yuan ($477 billion), up 11.4 percent from the previous year. The bank ranked first among its peers in terms of the stock and the increase of WMPs, he said.
"We are designing net-worth wealth management products, which are in line with regulatory requirements. We are also doing research on transforming non-standard asset investment into standard asset investment. In terms of risk control, we are simplifying our product system and reducing embedment to increase penetration of WMPs according to new rules," he said.
So, Gu is confident that ICBC's asset management business will develop in a sustainable and more standardized way after the new regulations take effect.
Zhao Huan, president of Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, said regulatory tightening will motivate commercial banks to operate legally and in compliance with rules and thus contribute to sustainable and healthy development of banks.
"We will follow new regulations on interbank and asset management businesses so that the interbank business will head in the direction of bridging the short-term funding gap, and the asset management business will meet the requirements of serving the real economy, shifting towards net-worth wealth management products that are similar to open-end funds, and lowering the risk of maturity mismatch," Zhao said.
Under the overall policy, these two types of business will remain relatively stable, he said.
While streamlining their asset management business, many banks made moves to meet growing client demands for globalized asset management portfolios.
Last year, ICBC set up a company in Hong Kong for international asset management. Just a year later, the latter's assets under management have reached over HK$100 billion ($12.74 billion).
As at the end of 2016, the volume of the asset management business in China reached 116.18 trillion yuan, according to a report published by the China Banking Association.
Some 497 commercial banks issued 100,107 accumulative WMPs. The outstanding balance of WMPs reached 29.05 trillion yuan, or 25 percent of the entire asset management business nationwide, at the end of 2016.
Since last year, the country's top banking regulator has been issuing a number of directives to reduce financial leverage, address noncompliant practices and improve risk management.
As at the end of January, the balance of interbank WMPs dropped by 3.6 trillion yuan year-on-year. The growth of the wealth management business fell to 1 percent, down by 26.6 percentage points from the previous year.
The war on financial risks will continue this year, with renewed efforts to crack down on shadow banking activities and further rectification of financial irregularities, said Guo Shuqing, head of the regulator for the banking and insurance industries.
【Translation】
游客在2015北京国际财富管理博览会的工商银行展位上查看新的金融产品。范家山/为日报
随着加大对金融风险的控制力度，商业银行正在加快努力，。
预计不久将正式出台相关指导方针，。
银行家们表示，高层已经批准了对资产管理部门的新规定，以解决表外贷款问题，并最终解决的债务问题。
。
“要把资产管理业务做好…应该有法规和规范的发展，“在最近的新闻发布会上说。
截至2017年底，工行理财产品余额为3万亿元人民币(合4770亿美元)，比上年增长11.4%。他说，在股票和理财产品的增加方面，摩根大通在同行中排名第一。
.”我们还在研究如何将非标准资产投资转化为标准资产投资。在风险控制方面，我们正在简化我们的产品体系，减少嵌入，以根据新的规则增加WMP的渗透率。“
因此，相信，在新规定生效后，工行的资产管理业务将以可持续、更加规范的方式发展。
农业银行行长赵寰表示，，遵守规则，从而为银行的可持续健康发展做出贡献。
“我们将遵循银行间和资产管理业务的新规定，这样银行间业务将朝着弥合短期融资缺口的方向发展，资产管理业务将满足为实体经济服务的要求，转向类似开放式基金的净值理财产品，并降低期限错配的风险，”赵说。
他说，在整体政策下，这两类业务将保持相对稳定。
许多银行在精简其资产管理业务的同时，采取措施满足日益增长的客户对全球化资产管理组合的需求。
去年，工行在香港成立了一家国际资产管理公司。一年后，后者管理的资产已超过1000亿港元(约合127.4亿美元)。
据银行业协会发布的一份报告显示，截至2016年底，资产管理业务总额达到116.18万亿元。
约497家商业银行发行了100，107个累计理财产品。2016年底，理财产品余额达到29.05万亿元，占全国资产管理业务总额的25%。
自去年以来，，以降低财务杠杆，解决违规行为，并改善风险管理。
截至1月底，银行间理财产品余额同比下降3.6万亿元.财富管理业务的增长降至1%，比前一年下降了26.6个百分点。
，打击影子银行活动和进一步纠正金融违规行为的努力将在今年继续下去。
ICBC：Industrial and Commercial Bank of China，工商银行。
Vocabulary
tackle：英[ˈtækl] 美 [ˈtækəl]
n.用具，装备;索具;阻挡; 阻截队员;
vt.着手处理; [橄榄球]擒住并摔倒（一名对方球员）; 给（马）配上挽具;
vi.擒住并摔倒一名对手;
rectification：英[ˌrektɪfɪ'keɪʃn] 美 [ˌrɛktəfəˈkeʃən]
n. 矫正;<电>整流;<化>精馏; <数>求长
翻译：许文
朗读：宋杨