On December 19th, the People’s Bank of China issued administrative penalties indicating that Industrial and Commercial Bank, Bank of Communications, and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, among others, received fines in the tens of millions RMB, with the total penalty amount exceeding one billion RMB. This news has sparked discussions among netizens.
According to the penalties released by the People’s Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank was fined 39.615 million RMB for 10 violations and had illegal gains of about 4.34 million RMB confiscated. Additionally, 17 responsible individuals were also penalized with fines ranging from 20,000 to 150,000 RMB, with 4 of them receiving warnings.
The penalty information further revealed that Industrial and Commercial Bank was found to have violated regulations on clearing management, contractual merchant real-name system management, anti-counterfeiting currency operations, credit information collection, provision, inquiry, and related management, among other illegal activities.
In response, Industrial and Commercial Bank publicly stated that the issues addressed in the penalties occurred before 2023, and corrective measures have since been implemented.
Similarly, Bank of Communications was issued warnings and fined 67.8343 million RMB for 11 violations related to account management and clearing management. They had illegal gains of 239,800 RMB confiscated.
Bank of Communications responded by stating that the issues for which the penalties were imposed occurred before 2023 and that corrective actions have been completed.
On the same day, the official website of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission disclosed that Shanghai Pudong Development Bank was fined 15.6 million RMB for inadequate management related to wealth management and distribution business, inadequate employee management, among other reasons.
Furthermore, several individuals implicated in the misconduct at Bank of Communications and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank were also penalized.
Regarding these developments, netizens have voiced their concerns:
“Some are questioning if there are ulterior motives behind the transactions of these three banks. When state-owned major banks have so many violations, can the public still trust them with their deposits in the future?” “Whose money is being fined? Shouldn’t it belong to the customers? To whom do the fines go?” “Imposing fines alone does not genuinely address the issues; it merely directs these ill-gotten gains into another pocket.”
“It’s not just this bank that has problems! All banks are presenting various pitfalls for the public…Among all the fines, Industrial and Commercial Bank is the worst! The ordinary people are experiencing mortgage defaults, collusions in debt collections, exacerbating the burden on debtors!”
“When customers open salary accounts or savings accounts at banks, they are often urged by service staff to activate services like Meituan, Eleme, Kuaishou, Pinduoduo, and stocks. Is this behavior illegal? Why isn’t this being investigated together?”
“I’ve been using the Industrial and Commercial Bank. A six-digit password protects three-digit money, and I’m charged 3 yuan in service fees every month.” “When a friend transferred over five thousand yuan to me, the bank froze my account and demanded details of the sender. Why didn’t they ask where my money was from when I made deposits? They’re not doing their job and are making things difficult for the ordinary people.”
“Ping An Bank illegally registered a Ping An Bank card for me without my knowledge. Is this action considered illegal? Can someone help me seek justice?” “Why aren’t these negligent employees being sentenced? It’s their irresponsibility that has led to our hard-earned money being lost with no returns.”
On July 18th, the official website of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission revealed that the Beijing branch of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank was fined 2.45 million RMB for issuing loans through improper means and serious violations of prudent operation rules.
In early August, Shanghai Bank Co., Ltd. was warned, had illegal gains of 469,519.5 RMB confiscated, and was fined 28.748 million RMB.
On September 12th, the regulatory website disclosed three batches of penalties, with a total of 8 banks fined 148.7 million RMB, 2 wealth management companies fined 14.2 million RMB, and a related person from an insurance company fined 2.825 million RMB.
In early November, the Ju County branch of the Agricultural Development Bank of China was fined 300,000 RMB for inadequate loan management, and the then branch manager, Hu Shunbo, was warned. Upon review, it was found that the Agricultural Development Bank had received 48 penalty notices within the year, totaling fines close to 39 million RMB.
On December 1st, 2023, 22 Chinese financial institutions were penalized, including several major state-owned banks.
At that time, the official website of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission listed 22 administrative penalty decisions involving various financial institutions, such as China CITIC Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Minsheng Bank, Bohai Bank, China Everbright Bank Wealth Management, PICC Asset Management, Lujiatou China Taiping Life Insurance, Sunshine Property Insurance, Hezhong Asset Management, and Guangda Yongming Asset Management, as well as their senior executives, with a combined penalty amount exceeding 300 million RMB.