China tightens financial regulation in banking, insurance

China tightened up financial regulation and imposed fines totaling 5.94 billion yuan ($843 million) from 2017 to the first quarter of 2019 for violations of law and rules by banking and insurance institutions.

The fines levied by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission during this period exceeded its total amount of fines between 2006 and 2016, said a press release issued by the commission on Thursday.

Holding fast to the bottom line of preventing systemic financial risks, the commission maintained a high-hand posture on financial market irregularities, kept increasing the intensity of administrative penalties, cracked down heavily on violations of law and rules in key areas, and took diversified measures to ensure effective implementation of administrative penalties in recent years.

For the banking sector, the commission imposed fines totaling 5.49 billion yuan on 4,432 banking institutions and 5,305 individuals between 2017 and the first quarter of 2019. For the insurance sector, it imposed fines totaling 453 million yuan on 2,127 insurance institutions and 3,105 individuals over the same period.