Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said in his speech at the 2024 "May 15 National Investor Protection Publicity Day" event on May 15 that the institutional foundation of investor protection will be further consolidated, the quality of listed companies will be further improved, industry institutions will be further promoted to improve the level of professional services, and further crack down on securities violations and crimes in accordance with the law, and further smooth the channels for investor rights protection and relief.
Experts interviewed by the China Securities Journal believe that Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, put forward five "furthers" in the above-mentioned activities, which fully embodies the requirements of running investor protection through all aspects of the operation of the capital market, all fields of capital market activities, the whole process of capital market development, and the all-round requirements of capital market supervision.
The new "National Nine Articles" proposes that "by 2035, a capital market with a high degree of adaptability, competitiveness and inclusiveness will be basically built, and the legitimate rights and interests of investors will be more effectively protected", and investor protection has a long way to go. In the future, the regulatory authorities will further consolidate the institutional foundation, improve the quality of listed companies, and enhance the joint force of insurance, which will effectively and effectively promote the high-quality development of the capital market, further boost investor confidence, and enhance investors' sense of gain.
Consolidate the institutional foundation
In recent years, important breakthroughs have been made in the construction of mechanisms for investors to exercise their rights and protect their rights, and the channels for civil remedies and dispute resolution for investors have become smoother, and the investor protection system has become more and more perfect. The CSRC proposes to "further consolidate the institutional foundation for investor protection", and it is expected that the channels for civil remedies and dispute resolution for investors will become smoother.
On the one hand, it is necessary to further consolidate the institutional foundation for investor protection. "After the promulgation and implementation of the New Securities Law, the 11th Amendment to the Criminal Law, and the Futures and Derivatives Law, the system of investor protection laws and regulations with relevant judicial interpretations, administrative regulations, departmental rules, normative documents and self-discipline rules as specific guidelines has been continuously improved. Under the framework of basic laws and regulations, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has continuously improved the basic system and strived to improve the insurance system covering all aspects of issuance, listing, trading and delisting. Liu Junhai, a professor at the Law School of Chinese University, said.
Liu Junhai said that taking the "1+N" policy system that is accelerating the implementation of the capital market as an example, the "Opinions on Strictly Controlling the Access to Issuance and Listing and Improving the Quality of Listed Companies from the Source (Trial)" issued in March proposed that by optimizing the issuance and underwriting system, we will strictly supervise ultra-high pricing and over-raising to enhance the sense of gain of small and medium-sized investors; Strengthen the inclusiveness of benefit distribution, and require enterprises to formulate post-listing dividend policies and other measures to reward small and medium-sized investors before listing. For another example, the "Regulations on the Management of Securities Transaction Costs of Publicly Offered Securities Investment Funds" issued in April proposed that the commission system for fund securities transactions will be further optimized, and the transaction costs of fund investors will be reduced, which will help guide securities fund operating institutions to further correct their business philosophy, focus on improving investors' long-term returns, provide better trading, research and investment services, promote the formation of a better industry development ecology, and fully reflect investor protection. These measures will greatly increase the cost of securities violations and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of investors.
On the other hand, we will further unblock the channels for resolving investor disputes and remedy, and increase the application of special representative litigation.
The "Opinions on the Strict Implementation of the Delisting System" issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission in April clearly stated that it is necessary to broaden multiple exit channels, promote and improve the three-dimensional accountability system for administrative, criminal and civil compensation, and comprehensively use support litigation, model judgments, professional mediation, representative litigation, advance compensation and other methods to protect the rights and interests of investors for companies that have been delisted for major violations.
"Looking ahead, it is also necessary to improve the investor compensation and relief mechanism in the process of delisting, and the controlling shareholders, actual controllers, directors, and executives who are responsible for major illegal delisting must compensate investors for losses in accordance with the law." Xu Feng, a lawyer at Shanghai Jiucheng Law Firm, said.
Improve the sense of gain for investors
In this regard, Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, prescribed a "good prescription", including "further promoting the improvement of the quality of listed companies", "further promoting the improvement of professional service levels of industry institutions", and "further cracking down on securities violations and crimes in accordance with the law".
Improve the quality of listed companies. "The China Securities Regulatory Commission proposed to 'adapt to the needs of the development of new productive forces, optimize the issuance and listing, mergers and acquisitions, equity incentives and other institutional arrangements' and other measures will support enterprises to become better and stronger, and promote the high-quality development of enterprises." Zhao Xijun, co-dean of the China Capital Market Research Institute of Chinese University, said.
Positive rewards for investors. Liu Chen, a researcher at the Bank of China Research Institute, said that the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) proposed measures such as "further promoting industry institutions to improve their professional service levels", which will effectively improve wealth management capabilities and allow investors to better share the fruits of economic development through the capital market. Promoting fund fee reductions will effectively reduce investors' transaction costs.
Crack down on illegal acts that harm the interests of investors. Authoritative data show that in the past five years, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has handled a total of 2,370 cases of securities and futures violations, made 1,940 administrative punishment decisions, fined and confiscated about 23.1 billion yuan, transferred 591 suspected criminal cases and reported clues to the public security organs, and the "zero tolerance" law enforcement deterrence has been further strengthened.
"We are concerned that the regulatory authorities have recently focused on investigating and handling a number of major fraud cases with bad social impact and serious damage to the legitimate rights and interests of investors, seriously investigated and dealt with cases of illegal occupation of guarantees by controlling shareholders and actual controllers of listed companies, strengthened law enforcement in key areas such as bonds, futures, and private equity funds, resolutely eliminated the 'black sheep', accelerated the promotion of 'survival of the fittest', and continuously purified the capital market ecology." Song Yixin, a lawyer at Shanghai Hanlian Law Firm, said.
Enhance the synergy of insurance
Investor protection is a systematic project, which requires the coordination and cooperation of multiple parties, as well as legislative, judicial and law enforcement to purify the market ecology and crack down on securities violations and regulations, so as to jointly promote the sustainable development of the capital market.
"Investor protection is the top priority in handling securities cases." Zhang Xiaojin, director of the Fourth Procuratorate of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said that the procuratorial organs have always carried out the entire process of handling cases by recovering stolen goods and recovering losses, insisted on "pursuing all that should be pursued", strengthened cooperation with relevant departments such as the securities regulatory commission, public security, and courts, and did a good job in supervising the sealing, seizure, and freezing of assets involved in the case. Supervise and guide persons involved in the case to take the initiative to return stolen goods and make restitution. Support the litigation of the special representative for securities disputes in accordance with the law, and protect the rights and interests of investors through multiple channels.
In terms of justice, in order to promote the stable and healthy development of the market and protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors, the Supreme People's Court recently stated that it will step up the formulation of judicial interpretations on civil compensation for insider trading and market manipulation.
Ding Yuxiang, president of the first trial division of the Beijing Financial Court, said in an interview with a reporter from the China Securities Journal a few days ago that the dispute over the liability for securities misrepresentation is the first major cause of action since the establishment of the Beijing Financial Court three years ago, and the Beijing Financial Court has always strictly protected the right of action of investors, explored innovative securities dispute resolution mechanisms, and effectively guaranteed that investor protection institutions perform their investor protection duties in accordance with the law. In the next step, the Beijing Financial Court will continue to deepen and improve the "dual-track and dual-platform" mechanism, deepen the management of litigation sources of securities disputes, further improve the level of refinement of securities trials, and help the high-quality development of the capital market.
The China Securities Journal reporter also learned that in accordance with the deployment of the China Securities Regulatory Commission on holding the 2024 "5.15 National Investor Protection Publicity Day", many securities regulatory bureaus have acted quickly to strengthen investor protection education and publicity; A number of securities companies and fund companies have taken active actions to carry out special investment education activities on the "5.15 National Investor Protection Publicity Day...... The concept of investor protection is gradually taking root in the hearts of the people and gradually becoming the conscious action of all parties in the market.
Reviewer: Zhang Qinfeng
Editor: Li Ruoyu Jiao Yuanyuan
Proofreader: Zhang Jing
Issued by: Sun Hong
