Bank to tackle bad loans ( 2003-07-10 10:07) (China Daily)
The China Banking Regulatory
Commission (CBRC) said Wednesday it would accelerate banking reform and do more
to regulate the sector in the remainder of the year.
The commission said its priorities for the coming months include working with
other ministries to revise central and commercial bank laws, and drafting a law
on bank regulation.
The commission also said it plans to review the work of the four State-owned
asset management companies which dispose of non-performing loans (NPLs) and
would give them more "policy support.''
Such support would be welcomed by asset management companies that have called
for more leeway to do their job, in response to criticism over the slow pace of
NPL disposals.
In a major reform, the Chinese Government set up the four asset management
companies in 2000 to take over 1.4 trillion yuan (US$168 billion) in NPLs from
State-owned commercial banks.
The commission also vowed to pressure joint-stock commercial banks and city
commercial banks to further reduce their NPL ratios and support efforts to boost
their capital by wooing overseas investors and seeking public listings.
And the CBRC will help city commercial banks bring risk under control and
meet regulatory requirements.
The commission also announced the creation of a preparatory committee for
setting up its regional branches. The CBRC was founded in March to take over
bank regulatory functions from the central bank.
The commission plans to set up provincial bureaux at 31 provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities as well as five key cities, including Dalian in
Northeast China's Liaoning Province and Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong
Province, it said.
City-level subordinates will be established in prefectures and
prefecture-level cities, while offices will be set up in some smaller cities and
counties, the CBRC said.
