After a crackdown on the insurance sector, Chinese authorities are now turning their focus on cleaning up the online asset management industry.
In recent months, Chinese authorities put a stop to initial coin offerings and seized the operations of insurance giant Anbang, putting its chairman on trial for fraud. Now, officials are going after online asset managers, according to a «Reuters» report.
A top-level Chinese government body, mandated by the central government to mitigate risk in the online finance segment, issued a notice intensifying scrutiny of online asset managers, the news agency reported.
Non-financial institutions cannot issue or sell asset management products and online asset management companies must get a licence from the central financial regulators to conduct business, according to the report.
Open Door
The action should not deter foreign firms looking to expand in the country. Backing up a commitment made last year Chinese officials recently reiterated their desire to open up their financial services sector to large foreign players.
A growing number of overseas asset managers are tapping into the expanding reservoir of Chinese wealth through wholly foreign-owned enterprise units in China.
UBS Asset Management, Fidelity International and Aberdeen Standard Investments are among global firms with regulatory approval to offer onshore private securities investment funds to qualified institutional and high-net-worth investors in China.
