New rules in January
January brought five national rules and one from Shanghai. The measures on securities brokerage and on private asset management by securities and futures institutions tighten internal control and adjust the rules on equity investment, while those on medium- and long-term foreign debt, on regulatory statistics for banking and insurance, and on the price of water supplied by water conservancy projects deal with procedure, duties over data and a cost-plus-return method of setting tariffs. Shanghai's measures on disinfection were also issued.
National
1. Measures for the Administration of Securities Brokerage Business
Published 13 January 2023 / in force 28 February 2023
The Measures define what brokerage business is, strengthen the management of client conduct and improve the process by which the business is run. They protect clients' lawful rights by clarifying charges and improving service, and they tighten internal risk control and compliance on five fronts: the management of branches, of personnel, of the persons in charge of branches, of business control and of information systems. They also make administrative supervision and accountability stricter in two respects: the accountability of the company and of the persons concerned is strengthened, and supervision of unlawful cross-border brokerage is increased.
2. Measures for the Administration of the Privately Offered Asset Management Business of Securities and Futures Operating Institutions (2023 revision)
Published 12 January 2023 / in force 1 March 2023
The revision makes clear the principles and direction of supervision and combines regulation with liberalisation, so that private equity asset management can better serve the real economy. It further increases the flexibility of product investment to meet market demand, draws on experience of supervision to improve risk control, and improves the transitional arrangements and the rule that new and old business are treated separately, institutions drawing up their own plans for orderly rectification as the securities regulator requires.
3. Measures for the Administration of the Review and Registration of Medium- and Long-Term Foreign Debt of Enterprises
Published 5 January 2023 / in force 10 February 2023
The Measures have six chapters and 37 articles: general provisions, the scale and use of foreign debt, review and registration, risk management and ongoing supervision, legal liability, and supplementary provisions. They make changes on five fronts: the scope of management is drawn sensibly so that supervision covers the field; the use of funds raised through foreign debt is more tightly controlled so that the real economy is served; the review and registration procedure is set out in more detail, so that it is more transparent and more convenient; ongoing supervision is renewed and enriched; and enterprises are guided to manage foreign debt risk better.
4. Measures for the Administration of Regulatory Statistics of Banking and Insurance
Published 25 December 2022 / in force 1 February 2023
The Measures have six chapters and 33 articles. Apart from the general and supplementary provisions, they deal with four matters. First, the bodies responsible for regulatory statistics: the duties of the central department of the banking and insurance regulator, of its other departments and of its local offices. Second, the conduct of statistical investigation: the principles, the categories, temporary investigations by local offices, the management and publication of statistical material and other supervisory requirements. Third, statistical management by banking and insurance institutions: organisational structure, the duties of the person in charge and of the officer responsible for regulatory statistics, the duties of departments, staffing, internal rules, the reporting of data, control of data quality, information systems, statistical material and the use of statistical analysis. Fourth, supervision of regulatory statistics: what is inspected, how inspection is carried out and the supervisory measures available, penalties for statistics not produced as required and for false statistics or obstruction of inspection.
5. Measures for the Administration of the Price of Water Supplied by Water Conservancy Projects
Published 22 February 2023 / in force 1 April 2023
The Measures deal mainly with the principles and method of pricing, the determination of permitted revenue and the procedure for setting and adjusting prices. They establish the principle of combining incentive with constraint, of users bearing a fair share and of letting the market play its part; unify the method, so that the price is set on permitted cost plus a reasonable return; and provide for prices to differ according to the project, with government investment recovering cost or earning a modest return and investment of social capital earning a somewhat higher return. Agricultural and non-agricultural water prices are set separately, having regard to the supply situation and to what users can bear.
Shanghai
1. Measures of Shanghai Municipality for the Administration of Disinfection
Published 7 December 2022 / in force 1 February 2023
The Measures have eight chapters and 48 articles: general provisions, general requirements for disinfection, disinfection service providers, preventive disinfection, emergency disinfection, supervision and administration, legal liability, and supplementary provisions. They make clear the duties of the government and of the departments concerned, set out the general requirements for disinfection, tighten supervision of disinfection service providers, regulate preventive and emergency disinfection, and improve the mechanism of supervision.