Regulatory ties critical to financial vigor
UK banking official lauds cooperation with China on range of rules for lenders
China should intensify collaborative efforts with other economies in the realm of financial regulation and policy coordination in a bid to better guard against financial risks, bolster resilience and heighten stability in the global financial system, an expert said.
Sam Woods, deputy governor for prudential regulation at the Bank of England — the central bank of the United Kingdom — said cooperation between regulators is key for ensuring financial stability.
During an event at Peking University’s National School of Development on Monday, Woods shared key lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis, highlighting the importance of “close and regular cooperation between regulators”.
He said international regulators, including Chinese regulators, have worked closely together to reform international standards, particularly around capital adequacy framework issues, to ensure lenders hold sufficient capital.
“This resulted in the so-called Basel III accord, which has been implemented globally,” he said. “But the work is never done. We are currently getting together with colleagues in China and elsewhere all around the world, implementing an object to that framework.”
Facing a major test last year with the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, some other US lenders and Credit Suisse, he said global regulators need to “learn the lessons and consider what changes should be made”.
“In this context, I am looking forward to continuing to work closely with my counterparts in China,” he said. “We can together shape the financial landscape that is resilient, sustainable and beneficial for global economic stability.”
Woods said China is a crucial supervisory partner for the UK, as the former hosts a major presence from two of the UK’s largest banks.
Looking ahead, he said there is great potential for further UK-China financial collaboration.
“China has continuing opportunities to diversify and strengthen its banking sector by supporting reciprocal market access to both countries’ banking sectors, which will increase both market efficiency and financial innovation,” he said. “And deep connections between the UK and China’s capital markets — alongside the adoption of higher standards for transparency in government — will increase the efficiency and liquidity of China’s capital markets at a time when private investment is very much in demand.”
Woods added that the two countries can bring together efforts to “green” the financial system, including the adoption of recognized standards for green finance.
With the UK’s expertise in financial services and China’s vast market and innovation, he believes UK-China cooperation can support the evolution of a financial system that is not only robust, but also adaptable to future challenges.
Zhou Yanli, a former vice-chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, said China has made considerable progress in terms of global financial regulatory cooperation, and the country’s ongoing institutional financial opening-up will foster high-quality development in the sector. He made the remarks during an economic forum held on Friday by Renmin University of China’s Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies.
As of mid-January, China had signed 126 memoranda of understanding or cooperation agreements with financial regulatory authorities in 87 countries and regions, according to the National Financial Regulatory Administration.
To promote international cooperation, the NFRA’s International Cooperation Department said it will make more efforts to refine regular or irregular bilateral regulatory consultation mechanisms, maintain open channels for daily regulatory communication, enhance cross-border regulatory coordination on specific events and matters, achieve comprehensive supervision of crossborder financial institutions and defuse cross-border risks.
More efforts will also be made to deepen cooperation under the framework of MOUs in the banking and insurance regulatory sectors, including increased international cooperation in technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance and digital finance, the NFRA’s International Cooperation Department said in a statement earlier this month.