China is considering steps that would make it easier for banks to issue asset-backed securities as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) expands financing channels for small businesses.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is studying a system in which lenders could register for a quota for two years and multiple issuances in the interbank market, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the matter has not been made public.
That would mark a departure from the current arrangement, in which lenders must seek approval for every offering, they said.
Li is encouraging banks to make room on their balance sheets as he shifts the economy toward slower growth driven more by small companies servicing consumers than by traditional smokestack industries.
Chinese banks sold 18.9 billion yuan (US$3.09 billion) of asset-backed securities last month, up three times from the same month last year, as bad loans surged and companies squeezed by a crackdown on shadow borrowing sought fresh funds.
“We have seen continued effort from the regulators in simplifying and streamlining the process for issuance approval, review and registration in the past months,” said Vera Chaplin, a Melbourne-based managing director of structured finance ratings at Standard & Poor’s. “As the market develops and evolves, it is natural to reassess the tradeoff between the rigor of individually approving transactions and a more efficient process.”
Asset-backed securitization, in which lenders package loans into collateral for note sales, can help banks make room on their balance sheets for new lending. The practice has attracted global regulatory focus since the 2008 financial crisis, when loans to subprime home buyers in the US went bad. China resumed approvals in 2012 as part of steps to expand fundraising channels after halting the development in 2009.
The PBOC issued a document about the proposed rule changes to some banks early last month seeking their opinions, and wants to reach a decision as soon as possible, the people said.
China Business News newspaper also reported on the proposed changes earlier.
The new development should help arrangers and issuers time their transactions better, said Helen Wong, senior director of structure finance at Fitch Ratings.
“Instead of waiting for months for regulatory approval, issuers can come to the market when the yields are in their favor,” she said.
The China Banking Regulatory Commission, which also oversees the industry, gave 27 domestic lenders greater ability to issue asset-backed securities, people familiar with the matter said last month.
“With the deregulation and market self-administration scheme, it is possible to see more variety in assets and deal structures, and potential increase in issuance size,” Chaplin said. “This will highlight the importance of governance and operational capabilities of the market players, and the need for increased transparency.”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
PROBE CONTINUES: Those accused falsely represented that the chips would not be transferred to a person other than the authorized end users, court papers said Singapore charged three men with fraud in a case local media have linked to the movement of Nvidia’s advanced chips from the city-state to Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firm DeepSeek (深度求索). The US is investigating if DeepSeek, the Chinese company whose AI model’s performance rocked the tech world in January, has been using US chips that are not allowed to be shipped to China, Reuters reported earlier. The Singapore case is part of a broader police investigation of 22 individuals and companies suspected of false representation, amid concerns that organized AI chip smuggling to China has been tracked out of nations such
RSS