China steps up campaign to curb rising risks in financial sector

Shanghai

CHINA is stepping up efforts to rein in risks in the financial sector, curbing banks' use of complex financial products and resisting lobbying to relax the rules governing bad-loan buffers.

China's banking regulator is pushing back against requests from the country's largest banks to reduce the 150 per cent minimum ratio for bad-loan provisions, a move that is likely to curb their profits, people familiar with the matter said last Thursday. Banks whose ratios are already below that level are being urged by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) to take steps to restore their buffers, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private information.