It's the end of the year and the beginning of the year again, and the regulatory annual review series has arrived as scheduled. This article focuses on asset management and wealth management. Let's take a look back firsttwo thousand and twenty-fiveMajor events and main themes of annual regulation, and further discussion ontwo thousand and twenty-sixPredict the possible direction of the year.

Part Onetwo thousand and twenty-fiveReview of annual regulatory mainline

1、 Completion of stock rectification, intensive implementation of new regulations

Guiding Opinions on Standardizing Asset Management Business of Financial Institutions (i.e“New Asset Management Regulations”）After the transition period ended, the asset management industry turned a new page. However, the scale reduction of some securities firms' large collections, private equity asset management plans, bank wealth management and other products is not easy, and they will be transferred to individual cases for disposal after the unified transition period expires. entertwo thousand and twenty-fiveIn the year, these products are gradually approaching rectification“deadline”The pace of transformation or liquidation has significantly accelerated in response to regulatory requirements.

During this year, the regulatory authorities continued to consolidate the results of the rectification of the new asset management regulations in the form of new regulations and draft opinions. The "Draft Measures for the Administration of Asset Management Trusts" (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft Measures for the Administration of Asset Management Trusts") have finally been released, bringing the new regulations on asset management to the trust industry. At the same time, regulators have successively issued specific business rules in areas such as suitability management, sales behavior, and investment behavior; For similar businesses, the rules under different regulatory agencies and product types are gradually converging, with the aim of compressing the space for regulatory arbitrage. A landmark event was the introduction of the "Management Measures for Information Disclosure of Asset Management Products of Banking and Insurance Institutions" at the end of the year, which took a big step towards aligning the information disclosure standards of banking and insurance asset management with the securities and fund industry.

After the implementation of the new regulations on asset management, most financial institutions whose main business does not include asset management have established specialized asset management companies to undertake related business. buttwo thousand and twenty-fiveThe pace of establishing new subsidiaries in the year has slowed down, and the pace of securities asset management companies applying for public offering licenses (partially to complete the transformation of large collective products) has also slowed down. totwo thousand and twenty-fiveAt the end of the year, there were no securities firms or asset management companies still waiting in line to apply, and some institutions voluntarily withdrew their applications. There are various reasons, but the highly standardized and fully competitive market after the implementation of the new regulations undoubtedly raises the threshold for business expansion. These institutions continue to participate through business cooperation: small and medium-sized banks without wealth management subsidiaries sell or manage wealth management products from other banks, while securities firms without public offering licenses transfer large collective products to other public fund managers, resulting in more refined industry division of labor.

2、 Setting the tone for high-quality development of public funds and implementing policy combinations

The China Securities Regulatory Commissiontwo thousand and twenty-fiveyearfiveMonthly release of the 'Public Offering Action Plan', with the entire article revolving around“Investor oriented, with the best interests of investors as the core”The goal is to promote the implementation and effectiveness of a series of policies within about three years. The relevant policy measures are roughly concentrated in three directions.

Firstly, propose specific measures to address industry pain points. In response to the problem of weak sense of gain among investors, at the level of fund companies, it is required to establish an assessment and compensation system centered on fund investment returns; At the level of fund products, it is proposed to further reduce investment costs by formulating performance comparison benchmark guidelines, leveraging their role in determining product positioning, measuring performance, and constraining investment behavior. The floating management fee mechanism based on performance comparison benchmarks is also promoted, while strengthening the disclosure of information on performance and expense levels of actively managed equity funds to assist investors in decision-making. Overall, it is driving the industry forward“Heavy scale”Turn“Heavy returns”.

Secondly, relying on regulatory guidance to force industry transformation and optimize structure. For example, optimizing the regulatory classification evaluation system, including indicators such as investor profit and loss and proportion, performance benchmark comparison, equity fund proportion, and investment research capability evaluation; Optimize the registration arrangements for equity funds, promote innovation in equity products, vigorously develop on-site and off-site index funds, and support the entry of medium and long-term funds into the market.

Thirdly, it is necessary to clearly strengthen law enforcement. We will adopt a strict regulatory attitude towards illegal activities such as market manipulation and insider trading; At the same time, based on the issues discovered in previous audits by the National Audit Office, it is proposed to strictly govern the leakage of dividend information, assistance in tax avoidance, and the transmission of improper benefits in the sales process“gray area”Behavior.

two thousand and twenty-fiveDuring the year, some measures have been implemented or entered the stage of soliciting opinions. For example, the "Regulations on the Management of Sales Expenses for Publicly Offered Securities Investment Funds" were announced at the end of the year, marking the implementation of the third phase of fee reduction in the public offering industry; According to reports, the Fund Industry Association has revised performance evaluation guidelines and issued them to some fund companies. The performance evaluation of the public fund industry may undergo significant reforms. In addition, policies have been implemented in multiple areas such as performance comparison benchmarks, information disclosure, suitability management, sales behavior, participation in listed company governance, and clean practices.

3、 Asset management trust addresses institutional shortcomings

After the promulgation of the new regulations on asset management, supporting rules have been implemented in areas such as bank wealth management, securities and futures asset management, and public funds.two thousand and twenty-fiveyeartenIn September, the State Administration of Financial Supervision released the "Draft for Soliciting Opinions on Asset Management Trusts", filling the gap in the supporting system of the new asset management regulations in the trust industry.

Overall, the content of the draft for soliciting opinions on asset management trusts is aligned with bank wealth management, securities, funds, and other asset management businesses. For example, specifying the implementation of asset management trusts“hosting”rather than“Keep”System, newly added“Supervise the investment operation of trust companies”The trustee's responsibility is to extend the scope of safe custody from cash to trust assets. Considering that trust business has been widely used as a channel in the past, unlike the custody requirements of other asset management products, the "Draft for Soliciting Opinions on Asset Management Trusts" puts forward higher requirements for custodian banks, such as consolidating and calculating the number of upper level trust product investors in specific circumstances, and penetrating and verifying the actual investors and final sources of funds of other asset management products.

It is worth noting that the draft for soliciting opinions on asset management trusts may have an impact on the existing business of asset management trusts. For example, similar to other asset management products, the draft for soliciting opinions proposes investment diversification requirements for trust products, where the amount invested in the same asset by a single trust product does not exceed the actual received trust size25%However, it is common in the industryTOFIn the model, trust plans serve as investment vehicles, investing almost all funds into a single project, such as investmentQDLP/QDIEThe new requirements for funds may directly make such structures unsustainable.

In addition, with the unique advantages of trust business in property independence, bankruptcy isolation, etc., compared with other asset management institutions, trust companies are expected to play a differentiated role in professional service areas such as property custody, affairs management, risk isolation, as well as public welfare and charity, providing more diversified asset and wealth management services.

4、 Upgrading custody supervision and further consolidating responsibilities

In practice, there is controversy over the scope and boundaries of responsibilities of custodians, and different regulatory authorities and industry associations have varying requirements for certain responsibilities.two thousand and twenty-fiveIn the year, the State Administration of Finance and the China Securities Regulatory Commission respectively issued and revised fundamental measures in the field of custody business, and the relevant regulatory spirit and requirements have been somewhat aligned.

The General Administration of Financial Supervisiontwo thousand and twenty-fiveyeartwelveThe release of the "Bank Custody Measures" for the first time aims to systematically regulate the custody business of commercial banks, clarify the responsibility boundaries of bank custody business, and put forward special requirements for non-standard asset custody, which is expected to have a profound impact on the industry. Considering the wide variety of bank custody products, although this method has to some extent considered the difficulties of custody business and the differences in regulatory requirements corresponding to different products, it still cannot completely avoid inconsistencies with specific product custody requirements. For example, the Bank Custody Measures convey clear information——Banks conducting custody business shall not bear credit risk, market risk, or liquidity risk. Given this requirement, it is worth noting whether banks, as custodians of money market funds or important money market funds, can continue to provide liquidity or financing support.

two thousand and twenty-fiveyearfourIn September, the China Securities Regulatory Commission released the "Draft for Soliciting Opinions on Fund Custody", which raised the entry threshold for custody from the perspectives of substantive business development ability and compliance risk control ability. For example, for institutions applying for a new custody license, the net asset requirement istwo hundredIncrease to no less than 100 million yuan for commercial banksfive hundredBillion yuan, securities companies and other financial institutions not less thanthree hundredRMB100mn Consistent with the "Bank Custody Measures", the "Draft for Soliciting Opinions on Fund Custody" also emphasizes the consolidation of custodian responsibilities, such as improving the reporting mechanism for major abnormal situations; For the custody of private equity securities funds, if their investment involves investing in other private equity products, or other products of investment managers or related parties, the custodian shall comply with the rules“To the end”duty. We have noticed that the number of institutions applying for fund custody licenses has decreased recently, and some institutions have voluntarily withdrawn their applications.

5、 There is a top-level design for the entry of medium and long-term funds into the market

The importance of medium and long-term capital in maintaining the stable and healthy operation of the capital market and supporting the development of the real economy has become a consensus among all parties.two thousand and twenty-fiveyearoneIn September, the Central Financial Office and six other departments jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the Entry of Medium - and Long Term Funds into the Market" (hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Plan"), providing top-level design for breaking through the bottlenecks of medium - and long-term fund entry into the market.

Specific measures to guide various types of funds into the market based on the Implementation Plan have been partially implemented within the year. For example, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges have revised the "Measures for the Administration of Securities Issuance and Underwriting" and its supporting rules, explicitly including bank wealth management products and insurance asset management productsIPOPriority allocation targets will be given the same policy treatment as public funds. In addition, the State Administration of Financial Supervision has issued a document to raise the upper limit of the proportion of insurance fund equity asset allocation, and according to regulatory disclosure information, this proportion is showing an increasing trend this year. In terms of guiding public funds to increase their market entry efforts, the "Public Offering Action Plan" and related regulations have gradually been implemented within the year, and some measures have been achieved through regulatory actions such as flexible adjustment of fund registration and issuance progress. As for other types of funds, although specific measures have not yet been introduced, relevant departments have expressed a regulatory approach to improving the investment management system for social security, basic pension, and enterprise (occupational) annuity to promote the entry of relevant funds into the market.

6、 Cross product unified rules are introduced to compress regulatory arbitrage

Previously, common issues such as investor suitability management were scattered in the specific business norms of various financial products, with inconsistent standards and institutional gaps. Within the year, the State Administration of Financial Supervision issued the "Measures for the Management of Product Suitability of Financial Institutions" and the "Measures for the Management of Information Disclosure of Asset Management Products of Banking and Insurance Institutions", which standardized the management of product suitability and information disclosure of asset management products within the system. Adhering to the new regulations“Same type of business, same standards”Principle, to unify and standardize common issues such as information disclosure for various products; However, inconsistent product market positioning may result in differences in the focus and content of the letter. The new regulations also respect the objective differences of various products and make targeted arrangements for individual parts, such as allowing self regulatory organizations to issue specialized self regulatory norms in the future.

Two new regulations in ordinary/The regulatory framework requirements for the classification of professional investors, product risk levels, and information disclosure are basically consistent with the rules of the China Securities Regulatory Commission system, but there are differences in specific business and responsibility arrangements. For example, under the new regulations, sales agencies are required to act as the credit obligor for asset management products of banks and insurance institutions, while under the rules and regulations of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, they only undertake information transmission work.

In addition to the above, the State Administration of Financial Supervision has also issued the "Management Measures for Commercial Banks' Agency Sales Business" and "Bank Custody Measures" within the year, which regulate banks' agency sales and custody business, and are expected to have an impact on banks' provision of asset management services. For example, the "Administrative Measures for the Agency Sales Business of Commercial Banks" limit the scope of the bank's consignment products to products issued by financial institutions holding financial licenses. However, when the asset management products they consignment involve investing in private equity funds or hiring private equity managers as investment advisors, they must also undergo admission review for the private equity funds or managers.

7、 Bilateral opening up accelerates, system continues to optimize

two thousand and twenty-fiveDuring the year, the opening up to the outside world has further expanded, mainly reflected in two aspects: market opening and institutional optimization.

In terms of market opening,threeForeign insurance asset management institutions have been approved for operation.QFIThe variety of products that can participate in trading is further enriched, as oftwo thousand and twenty-fiveend of the year,QFIThe available futures and options have been reachedone hundred and sevenOne. InQFITheQFLPIn addition to cross-border investment channels such as mutual recognition of funds and cross-border wealth management, the pilot program for cross-border asset management at Hainan Free Trade Port has officially been launched, providing new options for overseas investors and expanding the types of underlying assets they can invest in. Hengqin and Macau established“Qinao Fund Connect”Mechanism, based on which eligible institutions applyQFLPDuring the pilot qualification, simplified procedures can be enjoyed.

In terms of institutional optimization,two thousand and twenty-fiveThe biggest initiative of the year is《QFIThe Work Plan ", which is relevant toQFIAll types of processes have been optimized and simplified. Meanwhile《QFIThe Work Plan specifies that licensed institutions mayQFIProvided investment advisory services and responded to market concerns regarding short-term trading, programmatic trading reports, and income swaps for foreign public funds. InQFLPaspect,QFLPThe pilot system for balance management will be further promoted to multiple cities across the country, including Hefei, Changsha, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Suzhou, and Hengqin, based on the existing pilot cities. Some cities have been optimizedQDLPPilot system, such as Shanghai'sQDLPPilot policies propose convenience measures to allow ShanghaiQDLPCarry out cash management both domestically and internationally, allow funds to exit in batches, and explore the expansion of raising funds in both domestic and foreign currencies.

8、 Investor protection runs through the entire process

two thousand and twenty-fiveDuring the year, the release of new regulations in the field of asset management, as well as the flexible handling methods adopted by regulatory and judicial authorities in extreme risk cases, all reflect full consideration of investors' interests.

In terms of suitability management, the State Administration of Finance has issued the "Measures for the Suitability Management of Financial Institution Products", and the Asset Management Association has issued the "Detailed Rules for the Suitability Management of Investors in Publicly Offered Securities Investment Funds (Draft for Comments)". Financial institutions need to conduct more detailed evaluations and matching when recommending products to investors. At the level of specific sales behavior norms, the "Management Measures for Agency Sales Business of Commercial Banks" and the "Code of Conduct for Sales of Publicly Offered Securities Investment Funds (Draft for Comments)" further regulate the behavior of sales institutions from the aspects of prohibiting misleading publicity, excessive sales, bundled sales, etc., and delineate more clear and specific red lines. At the level of information disclosure, the "Management Measures for Information Disclosure of Asset Management Products of Banks and Insurance Institutions" classify and unify the disclosure requirements for three types of products: asset management trust products, wealth management products, and insurance asset management products, and propose disclosure requirements for the entire life cycle. In addition, the public offering industry will implement the third phase of fee reduction and promote performance-based pay reform, further linking the interests of investors and public offering institutions. In the field of private equity funds, the Fund Industry Association has introduced a mechanism for changing the missing manager of private equity funds to avoid the impact of extreme events on the normal investment or exit of private equity funds.

For extreme risk cases of asset management products, regulatory or judicial agencies are actively using flexible and diverse handling methods to protect the interests of investors as much as possible. Thanks to the regulatory measures taken in the risk management of trust companies“One case, one strategy”Diversified model,two thousand and twenty-fiveWithin the year, Sichuan Trust completed its restructuring, and Huaxin Trust introduced state-owned assets to acquire beneficial rights and was approved to enter bankruptcy proceedings. In judicial practice, in the event of the loss of contact or inability of a private fund manager, the court confirms that the authorized personnel of the shareholders' meeting are qualified litigation subjects, or allows the execution of fund assets that have reached a liquidation deadlock with sufficient guarantees.

Part Twotwo thousand and twenty-sixOutlook on Regulatory Trends for the Year

1、 Public fund reform continues to deepen

According to the "Public Fund Action Plan", we expect that the public fund industry will usher in more new regulations or rule revisions, involving fund operation, sales, investment, custody, special types of products, as well as corporate governance, personnel management, performance evaluation, risk reserve and other areas of fund companies.

These new regulations will guide the deepening reform of the public fund industry, reshape the industry positioning and business development logic, and help achieve the industry goal of serving the high-quality development of the real economy and capital market with the best interests of investors as the core. Meanwhile, the new regulations will also have a significant impact on the asset management service industry. Withtwo thousand and twenty-sixyearoneTaking the newly released performance benchmark regulations as an example, on the one hand, it will help solve the problems of fund investment style drift and chasing after gains and losses. With the improved disclosure requirements for equity funds and floating management fee collection mechanisms, it will further assist investors in making decisions and bind the interests of investors and fund companies; On the other hand, it also provides guidance for service providers such as custodians to fulfill their duties. For example, the new performance benchmark regulations can help solve the problem of the lack of clear standards for investment style judgment and the difficulty for custodians to effectively supervise in this regard in practice.

2、 Government investment funds are moving towards standardization

The central and local governments in various policy documents have mentioned the idea of promoting the high-quality development of the private equity fund industry, and some places have already introduced specific supporting measures. Especially considering the widespread problem of fundraising difficulties in the industry and the fact that government investment has become an important support for the development of the private equity industry,two thousand and twenty-fiveyearoneThe General Office of the State Council has released the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the High Quality Development of Government Investment Funds. Although some of the issues in the opinion are still only“Encourage”The nature requires further coordination among state-owned assets, finance, local governments, and other departments, but at least indicates that the senior management has paid attention to relevant issues, such as canceling or reducing the requirements for reinvestment, canceling local registration requirements for managers and funds, and preventing crowding out effects on social capital. For the clear guidance proposed in this article, such as controlling the number of government investment funds and clarifying the requirements for hierarchical approval of fund establishment, we expect that relevant departments may introduce or modify relevant rules.

In addition, based on the recently released "Work Measures for Strengthening the Planning and Guidance of Government Investment Fund Layout and Investment Direction (Trial)" and "Management Measures for Evaluation of Government Investment Fund Investment Direction (Trial)", we expect the government to/state-owned assetsLPWe will pay more attention to the pre investment and post investment management of investment, such as incorporating aspects such as serving the real economy, supporting technological innovation and achievement transformation, and ensuring compliant operation into the evaluation system through pre investment or post investment assessment and evaluation, to guide the optimization of fund allocation.

3、 There is still room for further expansion in opening up to the outside world

QDLPTo a certain extent, it is the first choice for many overseas asset management institutions to explore the Chinese asset management market. At present,QDLPFaced with a shortage of quotas in some popular cities,QDLPThe new registration of managers is becoming increasingly strict and suspended. We expect that regulators may provide corresponding measures based on market demands, such as adding some city quotas, andQDLPA specialized system for registering managers and a unified system for quota rules have been introduced.

With the implementation of new regulations in recent years, we expect cross-border investment activities to become more active. Among them, with the implementation of the "Regulations on the Management of Hong Kong Mutual Recognition Funds", more Hong Kong mutual recognition funds with different investment regions and product categories will go north, providing mainland residents with richer product choices. 《QFIThe "Work Plan" and the "Implementation Rules for Cross border Asset Management Pilot Business of Hainan Free Trade Port" will enrich the tool choices for overseas investors to invest domestically.

In addition to the above, we expect that mechanisms such as the Swap Connect and Cross border Wealth Management Connect may also be further improved based on actual situations, or support cooperation with more countriesETFThe interconnection project aims to further open up the mainland financial market to the outside world.

4、 The supply of wealth management system will be increased

The wealth management business has huge business demand and potential, which is a consensus among regulators and the industry, and also one of the directions encouraged by regulatory agencies for institutional transformation. At the same time, the wave of market-oriented mergers and acquisitions, such as securities companies and fund companies, has also brought opportunities for some institutions to develop characteristic wealth management businesses. There is room for further improvement in the existing system according to the development needs of the industry. For example, the current system for securities and futures investment consulting business has been in place for a long time and needs to be updated in a timely manner based on the current development status of the industry; Fund advisory is still a pilot policy and a normalized mechanism needs to be established;QFIFurther clarification of institutional basis is also needed in some areas such as investment advisory, wealth management and trust business of trust companies. We expect that regulation will increase the institutional supply in the wealth management field, for example, for securities fund investment consulting business, fund investment advisory, family trust business and other areas that have previously solicited public opinions, regulation may gradually introduce formal regulations.

In response to the chaos in various industries, such as the uneven quality of existing securities investment consulting institutions, inadequate internal control systems, frequent violations, and unclear positioning of family trust business, as well as confusion with asset management services, we expect regulatory agencies to strengthen compliance requirements in the new rules, clarify specific standards and operating norms for wealth management business.

5、 Deepening of Pension Finance and Personal Pension System

two thousand and twenty-fiveDuring the year, regulatory agencies proposed regulatory spirit and specific requirements for the development of pension financial services in different regulatory documents. For example, the State Administration of Finance proposed to expand pilot projects for pension financial products and improve the design of pension financial products. Similarly, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has proposed to promote the inclusion of eligible index funds and other equity public funds in the scope of personal pension investment, explore the issuance of asset-backed securities as basic assets for pension facilities, andREITsSupport public fund management companies to establish subsidiaries specializing in pension financial services and revise the rules of pension target fund products.

But there are widespread issues in the field of personal pension funds“Account opening without deposit, low deposit amount”The phenomenon is still lacking in public awareness, and although savings and insurance products are stable, their attractiveness in terms of yield and liquidity are limited. We expect that the personal pension system will be further optimized, such as expanding product types or to include products with higher expected returns; At the policy level, it is also possible to further refine, such as supplementing a certain proportion of principal or income with exit paths, emergency withdrawal mechanisms, etc. At the same time, regulatory agencies will also strengthen risk level management from the perspectives of information disclosure, risk disclosure, and assessment mechanisms based on specific business situations.