China's first bank-affiliated wealth management unit opens

CCB Wealth Management Co Ltd, China’s first wealth management subsidiary affiliated to commercial banks, opened on Monday in Shenzhen, marking banks’ growing roles in the asset management industry.

As a wholly owned subsidiary of the state-run big lender China Construction Bank Corporation, CCB Wealth Management is registered in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, with a registered capital of 15 billion yuan (US$2.17 billion).

The company will engage in businesses such as public offering of wealth management products to the general public, private placement of wealth management products to eligible investors, wealth management advisory and consulting services and other businesses approved by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission(CBIRC).

With this subsidiary, China Construction Bank said in a recent announcement that it will be able to better realize group-wide coordinated development of asset management business, improve the proactive management capacity and professionalism of the wealth management and asset management business, and further isolate business risks.

Also, the wealth management unit can facilitate its parent bank’s support and serve for the development of the real economy and implementation of the inclusive finance strategy, increase its supply of financial products, and hence better satisfy the increasing and diversified financial demands of society.

Liu Guiping, president of China Construction Bank, said at the opening ceremony that

wealth management and asset management industry is an integral part of the country’s financial system and also embodies a strategic direction for the transformation and development of commercial banks.

So far, 31 commercial banks have announced their plans to set up wealth management subsidiaries, including six state-owned large lenders, nine joint-stock commercial banks, 14 city-level commercial banks and two rural commercial players. And eight of them have received regulatory approval for the establishment, according to reports from STCN.com.

In December 2018, China’s banking watchdog unveiled long-awaited rules concerning commercial banks' wealth management arm, allowing banks’ wealth management funds to be directly invested into stock market.

In the same month, the CBIRC gave the nod for the China Construction Bank and Bank of China to set up wealth management branches, and Agricultural Bank of China and the Bank of Communications were approved in January.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country’s biggest lender, got the green light in mid-February.