China's National Financial Regulatory Administration has opened a public consultation on a draft revision of its management rules for money brokerage companies, updating the 2005 pilot framework to reflect changes in the sector and supervisory needs. The proposal would tighten and streamline licensing, modestly broaden permitted activities, and strengthen conduct and risk-management requirements. Licensing changes include a higher minimum registered capital requirement and revised shareholder eligibility criteria, adding requirements covering financial condition, the proportion of equity investments and the proportion of financial-sector professionals, while simplifying parts of the approval process. On business scope, the draft would permit brokerage for gold market transactions and formalise data services by allowing firms, on a lawful and compliant basis, to use market quotation data generated through brokerage activity to provide data services to clients. Operating rules would be refined by setting access requirements for brokerage product types, requiring relevant State Council financial regulators’ permission or filing where product access rules apply, clarifying that brokerage clients must be financial institutions with relevant market access and qualified investor status, and specifying compliance controls across brokerage processes and fee management. Risk and conduct supervision would be reinforced through requirements on governance, internal controls, related-party transactions, remuneration and disclosure, alongside controls for operational, compliance, IT and data security risks, business continuity, outsourcing, and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, with a cross-department supervisory coordination mechanism. A new chapter on broker management would also set strengthened organisational and behavioural requirements and define prohibited conduct. The authority will revise the draft based on feedback and publish the final measures in due course.
China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission 2025-03-28
China's National Financial Regulatory Administration consults on revised management rules for money brokerage companies
China's National Financial Regulatory Administration is consulting on revising management rules for money brokerage companies, updating the 2005 framework. The proposal aims to tighten licensing, broaden permitted activities, and enhance conduct and risk management requirements. Key changes include higher capital requirements, expanded business scope to include gold market transactions, and strengthened governance and compliance controls.