中国允许保险机构投资设立基金管理公司
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (“CIRC”) have jointly issued Pilot Measures on the Establishment of Fund Management Companies by Insurance Institutions (the “Measures”) effective as of June 18, 2013. Previously, insurance institutions were not permitted to sponsor or be major shareholders in fund management companies. The Measures now allow insurance institutions to establish or acquire fund management companies.
1. Eligible Insurance Institutions
All insurance companies, insurance group (holding) companies, insurance asset management companies and other insurance institutions within China (collectively, “insurers”) are now allowed to apply to establish or acquire fund management companies in China. (But see Section 5 below).
2. Double Supervision System
The establishment or acquisition of a fund management company by an insurer is subject to review and examination by both CIRC and CSRC. CIRC is responsible for determining whether the insurer is qualified to establish or acquire a fund management company from an insurance capital risk management perspective. CSRC is responsible for approving the establishment or acquisition of a fund management company by the insurer based on criteria outlined in the rules generally applicable to PRC fund management companies. An applicant must clear the approval procedure with CIRC before it can submit its application to CSRC.
The on-going supervision and regulation of insurers’ fund management companies will continue to be the joint responsibility of CIRC and CSRC under a combination of existing and yet-to-be issued regulations.
3. Risk Control and Segregation
Insurers and their fund management companies are required to establish systems to segregate risks, funds, businesses, venues, management staffs, books and records, information, etc., and they are prohibited from conducting affiliated transactions on a non-arm’s-length basis in financial markets (e.g. stock exchanges, the National Inter-Bank Bond Market). CIRC and CSRC will issue a separate rule governing affiliated transactions between insurers and their fund management companies.
4. Consolidated Supervision
According to the Measures, CIRC will adopt “consolidated supervision” over insurers who have fund management companies. “Consolidated supervision” generally means an approach to evaluate the strengths and risks of a group regardless of whether the risks are booked at the parent or subsidiary level. The Measures do not provide any details regarding how “consolidated supervision” will be applied in practice. The details are expected to be set forth in regulations to be formulated by CIRC. We note that the “consolidated supervision” approach is consistent with CIRC’s position reflected in other recently issued policies and regulations (e.g. Outline of “Twelfth five-year” Plan for China Insurance Industry Development).
5. Pilot Program
The Measures indicate that CSRC and CIRC will jointly select the initial insurance institutions to participate in this pilot program. It is unclear whether an insurer that is not selected can nonetheless apply to participate in the program at this stage.
Conclusion
The Measures respond to the request of insurers to be permitted to further diversify their insurance capital investments by developing their own fund management businesses. The Measures also further evidence the trend of China’s regulators to give financial institutions more scope to participate in a wider range of sectors within the finance industry.
中国允许保险机构投资设立基金管理公司
近日，中国证券监督管理委员会（“中国证监会”）与中国保险监督管理委员会（“中国保监会”）联合发布了《保险机构投资设立基金管理公司试点办法》（“《试点办法》”）。《试点办法》自2013年6月18日起施行。这之前，保险机构不被允许发起设立基金管理公司或成为基金管理公司的大股东。《试点办法》现允许保险机构设立或收购基金管理公司。
1、符合资格的保险机构
中国境内的所有保险公司、保险集团（控股）公司、保险资产管理公司和其它保险机构(合称“保险机构”)现都被允许申请在中国境内设立或收购基金管理公司（但亦请参见以下第5节的内容）。
2、双重监管体系
保险机构设立或收购基金管理公司需经中国保监会和中国证监会审查。中国保监会负责从保险资金投资风险防范角度，确定保险机构是否符合投资或收购基金管理公司的资格。中国证监会负责根据中国基金管理公司普遍适用的法律法规内规定的标准，批准保险机构设立或收购基金管理公司。申请人必须首先获得中国保监会批准后，再向中国证监会报送申请材料。
根据现有法规和有待将来颁布的法规，将继续由中国保监会和中国证监会联合负责保险机构投资设立的基金管理公司的持续监管。
3、风险控制与隔离
保险机构及其投资设立的基金管理公司按要求须建立有关制度，实现风险、资金、业务、场地、经营管理人员、账簿和信息等的隔离，并且《试点办法》严禁保险机构及其投资设立的基金管理公司在交易所市场、全国银行间债券市场等金融市场内以不公平的条件进行关联交易。保险机构与其投资设立的基金管理公司之间的关联交易规则将由中国保监会和中国证监会另行制定。
4、并表监管
根据《试点办法》，中国保监会将对投资设立有基金管理公司的保险机构实施“并表监管”。“并表监管”通常是评估集团整体优势和风险的一种方式，而不论风险记录在母公司或子公司层面。《试点办法》未对“并表监管”在实践中如何应用进行任何具体说明。此类细节内容预期会在中国保监会将来颁布的法规中规定。我们注意到，这种“并表监管”方式与最近发布的其它有关政策法规（例如《中国保险业发展“十二五”规划纲要》）中所体现出的中国保监会的立场保持一致。
5、试点项目
《试点办法》指出中国证监会和中国保监会将共同选定一批保险机构参与此次试点项目。目前尚不清楚未被选定的保险机构在此阶段能否申请参与试点项目。
结论
《试点办法》的出台回应了保险机构希望被允许通过发展自身基金管理业务进一步推进保险资金多样化投资的要求。《试点办法》也进一步证明了中国监管机构放手金融机构更大范围参与金融业内更多业务领域的趋势。
This article was originally published by Bingham McCutchen LLP.