Big commercial banks to release key information

Major Chinese commercial banks have been ordered to release key information required by the Basel Committee to enhance their transparency, according to a government statement announced on Wednesday.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said that, starting from this year, banks whose assets exceeded 1.6 trillion yuan (or 200 billion euros in Basel standard) at the end of last year and those on the list of global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) shall release information on the 12 indicators used by the Basel Committee in identifying G-SIBs.

The banks shall release information including their balance sheet assets, over the counter (OTC) derivative notional values and Level 3 assets within four months of the end of their accounting year, or no later than the end of July.

The move can boost the internal management of the banks and improve transparency, the CBRC said.

So far, two Chinese banks have been listed among the G-SIBs: the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.