A few days ago, the Xiamen Securities Regulatory Bureau ordered three bank branches to take corrective measures, all of which were caused by violations of fund distribution business.
According to the statistics of the China Securities Journal, since the beginning of this year, more than 20 banks (including branches) have been ordered by the local securities regulatory bureau to take corrective measures, involving fund sales-related personnel "unlicensed", violations of the assessment and evaluation index system, misleading sales, imperfect risk assessment questionnaires and other issues.
Image source: Xiamen Securities Regulatory Bureau website
Three banks were ordered to make corrections
On December 21, the website of the Xiamen Securities Regulatory Bureau disclosed the decision to order corrective measures against the Xiamen Branch of China CITIC Bank, Xiamen Branch of Bank of Quanzhou, and Xiamen Branch of Bank of Communications.
According to the Xiamen Securities Regulatory Bureau, the fund distribution business of the Xiamen branch of China CITIC Bank had the following violations: the person in charge of the former fund distribution business department and the person in charge of the fund distribution business of individual branches did not obtain the qualifications to engage in fund business during their tenure, and failed to include investors' long-term investment income in the evaluation index system of branches and fund sales personnel.
Similar to the Xiamen Branch of China CITIC Bank, the Xiamen Branch of Bank of Quanzhou has some branches in which the persons in charge of the fund distribution business have not obtained the qualifications for fund practice, some of the personnel who have not obtained the qualifications for fund practice are engaged in the fund distribution business, and the long-term investment income of investors has not been included in the evaluation index system of the branches and fund sales personnel.
In addition, Bank of Quanzhou Xiamen Branch did not establish a prevention mechanism and business risk isolation measures for possible conflicts of interest between the fund distribution business and other businesses.
Bank of Communications Xiamen Branch also has the problem of "working without a license" and violating the assessment and evaluation index system. In addition, when selling fund products to investors, questionnaires are used to obtain investor information, and investors are not asked about their financial status such as income sources and debts, as well as investment-related academic Xi and work experience.
Banks should speed up the completion of internal control shortcomings
According to incomplete statistics, up to now, more than 20 banks (including branches) have been ordered to correct by the local securities regulatory bureau due to fund distribution violations this year.
The regulatory authorities also pay more attention to the management of mobile banking clients, information disclosure and access to fund products.
On March 16, the Chongqing Securities Regulatory Bureau pointed out that the sales interface of the mobile banking client of Bank of Chongqing lacked a summary of the information of individual fund products. In addition, no product access committee or special group was set up for the admission of public fund products, and the designated fund sales compliance and risk control personnel did not conduct compliance reviews and issue compliance review opinions on the access of newly sold fund products, and failed to conduct compliance reviews and issue compliance review opinions on the promotional materials of some fund products.
On April 6, the Hebei Securities Regulatory Bureau pointed out that the design of fund promotion in the relevant internal "marketing guidelines" of Tangshan Bank was not standardized, and some of the words used may be misleading to investors.
In the eyes of industry insiders, as an important channel for fund distribution, banks should "work hard to improve their internal skills" in the distribution of funds. Zhou Maohua, a macro researcher at the financial market department of Everbright Bank, said that banks should strictly implement the regulatory requirements for the fund distribution business, speed up the completion of the shortcomings of the internal control system, allocate professional and high-quality sales personnel, improve the risk control system, and implement the requirements for investor suitability management.
In view of the assessment and incentive issues in fund distribution, the regulatory guidance is also very clear. According to the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Distribution Agencies of Publicly Offered Securities Investment Funds, fund distribution agencies shall increase incentive arrangements for the continuous sales of existing fund products and regular fixed investment, and shall not use fund sales revenue as the main assessment index, shall not implement short-term incentives, and shall not implement special assessment incentives for funds during the subscription period.
Reviewer: Zhao Bai Zhinan Editor: Yu Hongbo Producer: Li Ruoyu Signed: Ding Jianming