According to the South China Morning Post, discussions are still ongoing about bringing the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission under the purview of the People’s Bank of China.
However, two regulatory officials told the newspaper that CSRC is likely to continue operating separately.
Sought advice
In May, China reportedly asked the UK for advice on its plans to create a ‘super regulator’, as the country looked to improve financial oversight following the stock market crash of 2015, according to Reuters.
Weaknesses in Chinese financial regulation were exposed last year when the country’s stock markets lost a third of their value in a month.
The government and regulators rushed out a series of measures to halt the crash, including limiting short-selling, stopping new listings, and strong-arming big funds to buy more stocks.
The interventions were widely criticised for over-riding market mechanisms, poor inter-agency coordination and creating moral hazard by implying government support, the news service reported.
Creating a ‘super regulator’ has been in the works in China for a while, however, with Reuters reporting in November 2015 that China was considering consolidating supervisory powers under one regulator; covering banking, mutual funds, insurance, and securities.
