Chinese regulator refuses to let up on banking crackdown with $22m fine

This represents one of the largest penalties in 2018.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has slapped fines worth $22m (CNY150) on six banks over violations in their wealth management and lending businesses which range from investing funds gathered from their WMPs to misleading advertising, reports South China Morning Post.

The six banks subject to penalties include the country’s fifth-largest lender Bank of Communications, which was penalised $1.07m (CNY7.4m), China Citic Bank $3.31m (CNY22.8m) and China Zheshang Bank $8.05m (CNY55.5m).

Also read: Small Chinese banks struggle to strike balance between curbing risk and lending

The case represents one of the largest penalties levied this year pushing the total number of fines on banks and individuals to 800 in Q3, according to data from the official Economic Information Daily cited by SCMP.

In fact, fines levied by the CBRC have increased nearly sixfold in 2017 when Guo Shuqing took the helm compared to the the cumulative penalties in the past 14 years.

At least 65% of the fines have been issued in relation to the bank’s nonperforming loans (NPLs), UBS said in a report. However, the current clapdown is expected to discourage future efforts to understate the amount of bad loans.