In Depth: China Intensifies Efforts to Curb Risk in Troubled Trust Sector

Profitability is out and risk management is in. That’s the message in the latest set of regulations for China’s trust companies aimed at controlling a 22.6 trillion yuan ($3.1 trillion) industry that continues to be beset by scandals after a years-long overhaul.

The rules, which replace regulations introduced in 2016, went into effect in November and put greater emphasis on risk prevention, encouraging trust firms to focus on providing wealth management services rather than acting as financing channels, experts and industry sources said. They also aim to limit the development of problematic trust firms by implementing differentiated supervision.