China Cracks down on Irregular Banking Operations

BEIJING, April 6 (Xinhua) -- China's top banking regulator has started a nationwide crackdown on irregular banking operations, including unreasonable charging and credit terms, an official announced here Friday.

Yang Jiacai, of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), said the body has sent 12 inspection teams to banking outlets around the nation to identify problems and promote rectification of existing issues.

"Many banks have standardized their service fees as required, halted some of them and introduced favorable policies. But we have discovered that some banks need further improvement in implementation," said Yang.

The CBRC will urge banks to further improve transparency in the charging of commission and establish a responding system for complaints, he said.

For credit terms, the CBRC will pay particular attention to higher interest rates for small and micro-sized enterprises and agricultural loans and other conducts that would increase clients' costs.

The banking regulator will also work with the National Development and Reform Commission and the People's Bank of China, the central bank, on specific rules to regulate service charges at commercial banks, according to Yang.