Regulators to watch banks' M&A activity closely

Regulators in mainland China have issued new guidelines showing how the country's anti-monopoly enforcement applies to financial institutions. Banks, securities companies and insurance companies will now need to take extra care when doing M&A deals.

On July 15 2009, the Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom), People's Bank of China, China Banking Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission and China Insurance Regulatory Commission jointly issued the Measures for Calculation of Business Turnover for the Reporting of Concentrations of Business Operators in the Financial Sector (金融业经营者集中申报营业额计算办法). They took effect in mid-August and apply to entities in the financial industry, including securities, futures, fund management and insurance companies, as well as banking financial institutions.