China may unveil new asset management rules this week

SHANGHAI: China is "days away" from revealing new rules governing its asset management industry, the official China Daily newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed source close to the country's central bank.

Markets have been awaiting the release of the final version of new rules for China's $15 trillion asset management sector as part of a crackdown on risk in China's financial system.

President Xi Jinping and other top officials approved the new rules in March.

"After some banks' lobbying and the possible revision of the proposed regulation, the new rules could be released as early as this week," the China Daily quoted "an anonymous source close to the central bank" as saying.

"But I think with the regulation taking effect, many basic matters and details need to be further clarified in terms of guidelines, including reassessing the scale of standard credit assets and their appropriate value assessment methods."

The rules are expected to close loopholes that allow regulatory arbitrage, reduce leverage levels to curb asset price bubbles, and rein in shadow banking activity.

They are part of a raft of measures by the government to regulate the financial sector and contain debt and risks.

Earlier this month the People's Bank of China launched a two-month-long examination into online asset managers, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

China also recently announced a new financial court in Shanghai, which is yet to open, underlining Beijing's push to rid the sector of misconduct and police those asset managers who have fallen foul of regulations.