Funds: Heading in the right direction

Although the original Measures for the Administration of the Sale of Securities Investment Funds (证券投资基金销售管理办法) (the Measures) have only been in effect since 2004, like many other seven-year-old regulations in the quickly developing country, these regulations are already considered by many to be antiquated and ripe for an overhaul. China's fund industry, with assets under management attaining Rmb2.4 trillion (US$356 billion) by the third quarter of 2010 and projected to reach Rmb3 trillion (US$449.3 billion) by the end of 2011, has quickly outstripped the regulations governing it. Accordingly the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) had to introduce a revised version of the Measures.

The CSRC began revising the 2004 Measures at the beginning of 2008, and during the drafting process consulted quite a number of professional firms such as the Securities Association of China, fund management companies, commercial banks, securities companies, and securities investment consulting companies. The CSRC proceeded to publish a draft of the amendment for public consideration on November 11 2010, consolidate the 120+ pieces of solicited advice into 13 key points, accept five of them and reject the rest, and finally it issued the revised measures on June 9 2011. The revised measures came into effect on October 1 2011.