China will merge its banking and insurance regulators. What does the regulatory move mean?
China is merging its banking and insurance regulators into an uber-regulator controlled by the government, according to China's «Caixin».
Clearly, overseers in China are worried they cannot manage the risk from an increasingly sophisticated and non-transparent financial industry. Chinese firms have taken massive stakes overseas including in Deutsche Bank by piling aggressively into debt for their spending sprees.
The move comes against the backdrop of a crackdown last month on high-flying finance conglomerate Anbang, after the patience of Chinese authorities with the financial dealings of its acquisition-hungry conglomerates appeared to have ran out.
Warning on China
The decision will see China merge its Insurance Regulatory Commission with the Banking Regulatory Commission, which mirrors similar moves by foreign regulators such as Britain's.
The merger comes shortly after the Bank for International Settlements, the bank of central banks, warned that China is among the economies most at risk of a banking crisis.
