All banks and other lenders in China, both domestic and foreign-owned, must from now on issue annual financial statements, according to a directive issued by the People’s Bank of China. It did not specify whether the reports should be based on domestic or more stringent international accountancy standards.
Bloomberg said the move was prompted by China’s desire to bring its banking industry up to international standards and reassure household savers that their money is safe.
Move to promote lending to SMEs Joint-stock commercial banks and city commercial banks have been given permission by the central bank to participate in yuan interbank lending.
These banks have been growing in importance in recent years as lending by stateowned commercial banks has fallen. Moreover, most of their loans go to cash-strapped small and medium-sized enterprises. The central bank said that some of these banks were short of funds to lend to good projects, while others had sufficient funds but could not find worthwhile projects. Interbank lending should help resolve this situation. Sun said that venture
Venture capitalists form association Venture capitalists interested in China are forming the China Venture Capitalists Association to increase their bargaining power with the Chinese government and boost industry exchanges, South China Morning Post said. The group will be founded formally on June 18 in Beijing by Chang Sun, managing director of the Asian branch of American firm Warburg Pincus, and will have around 30 members including the likes of Carlyle Group, Pama Group, New Bridge, IDG, Goldman Sachs and Intel Capital. The group will promote venture capitalists to the government and gather market data.
Sun said that venture capitalists accounted for about US$500m of the total of US$40bn of foreign investments in China last year but that the amount would be even smaller this year, following the collapse of the information technology boom. However, Warburg Pincus said that it intends to spend around US$200m in China in 2002, focusing on the financial sector and telecommunications equipment providers.
Regulators to check listed firms China’s regulatory authorities are to analyse transactions and relationships between listed companies and their controlling shareholders to make sure both abide by the regulations, China Daily said. The process of checking, which started in May and will continue until November, will involve the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) reviewing the conduct of listed companies and the State Economic and Trade Commission looking at the behaviour of shareholders.
Zhou Xiaochuan, chairman of the CSRC, said that China had 1,169 listed companies with a market value of US$548bn. However, the dominance of the state, which owns the majority of shares in many listed companies, threatens to undermine the interests of smaller shareholders. Zhou added that some government departments and controlling shareholders have interfered with the operations of listed firms.
You must log in to post a comment.