On January 10^th, 2021, a seminar on corporate governance and financial regulation co-hosted by CITIC Reform and Development Research Foundation as well as China Corporate Governance 50 Forum (Research Center for Corporate Governance and Enterprise Development of Beijing Normal University) was held in Beijing.

 

Photo of the guests

 

Chen Yuan, vice chairman of the 12^th CPPCC National Committee and chief consultant of China Corporate Governance 50, made a keynote speech online. He pointed out that large state-owned financial enterprises were the backbone of China's financial industry, and the bellwether and vanguard of the healthy development of China's financial industry, and they should play a good role in three aspects. Firstly, we need to set an example in strengthening the centralized, unified leadership of the Party; Secondly, it was necessary to set a good example to standardize the corporate governance structure; Thirdly, we should set an example in compliance management and risk control.

 

Keynote speech by Vice-President Chen Yuan (Online)

 

Kong Dan, Chairman of CITIC Reform and Development Research Foundation and Advisor of China Corporate Governance 50, delivered a speech. He pointed out that the financial industry has developed better ideas and frameworks on corporate governance over the past 40 years, and financial regulation has kept pace with the times. But there were also serious problems in corporate governance and financial regulation in the financial sector that needed to be improved, so this meeting was of particular importance.

 

Mr. Kong Dan’s speech

 

Su Ning, former deputy governor of the People's Bank of China and former chairman of China UnionPay pointed out in his speech that in state-owned enterprises, the board of directors and the Party group represented the interests of the owners, while the executive group actually represented the interests of the operators. It was necessary to establish a good governance structure while emphasizing the leadership of the Party.

 

Mr. Su Ning’s speech

 

Li Xiaoxue, former secretary of the China Securities Regulatory Commission for Discipline Inspection and former vice president of China Association of Listed Companies, pointed out that legally, independent directors were not the representatives of major shareholders. Instead, they participated in corporate governance from the perspective of corporate interests and social responsibility.

 

Mr. Li Xiaoxue’s speech

 

Li Kemu, former Deputy Party Secretary and Vice Chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, pointed out that there was a strong correlation between corporate governance and financial supervision. Strengthening financial supervision was indispensable to the improvement of corporate governance in the financial industry. The two aspects complemented each other. From the perspective of financial supervision, the effective implementation of supervision was directly related to the soundness of corporate governance.

 

Mr. Li Kemu’s speech

 

The Conference released the China Financial Sector Listed Companies Governance Sub-index Report No.1 (2020) , which was presided over by Professor Gao Minghua, Director of the Research Center for Corporate Governance and Enterprise Development of Beijing Normal University and Executive Director of the Academic Committee of China Corporate Governance 50. The report was China's first report on corporate governance in the financial sector. The report calculated six indexes, namely, protection of rights and interests of small and medium-sized investors, board governance, entrepreneurial capability, financial governance, voluntary information disclosure and executive compensation, analyzed the problems and risks existing in the governance of listed financial companies, and put forward targeted policy suggestions.

 

Professor Gao Minghua also proposed initiatives on behalf of CITIC Reform and Development Research Foundation and the China Corporate Governance 50 to establish the Professional Committee of Financial Enterprise Corporate Governance of China Corporate Governance Forum of 50. The purpose was to study and improve the corporate governance mechanism of financial enterprises, effectively guarantee financial stability, and promote the modernization of national governance system and governance capacity.

 

Professor Gao Minghua issued a report on corporate governance in the financial sector

 

Ms. Shao Ziqin, Chief Non-bank Financial Analyst of CITIC Securities Research Department, introduced the corporate governance experience of CITIC Securities. She pointed out that the securities industry was facing great opportunities for development, but also faced great challenges, and hoped to make our securities companies internationally competitive through a series of corporate governance policies including equity incentive.

 

Ms. Shao Ziqin’s speech

 

Guo Mingshe, Vice President and Secretary General of China Council for the Promotion of Development Finance and a member of China Corporate Governance 50 presided over the expert discussion.

 

Ms. Guo Mingshe presided over the meeting

 

Liu Jipeng, Dean of Business School of China University of Political Science and Law, and Academic Member of China Corporate Governance 50 , pointed out that the generation mechanism of independent directors needed to be further reformed and improved, and the appointment of the board of directors should be changed to be selected by relevant associations from qualified talent pool of independent directors, so as to improve the professional and supervisory role of independent directors.

 

Professor Liu Jipeng’s speech

 

Bi Jiyao, Vice President of the China Academy of Macroeconomic Research at the National Development and Reform Commission, pointed out in speech that more efforts should be made to combine financial supervision with corporate governance, and to transform regulatory requirements into corporate self-discipline through the improvement of corporate governance. Only in this way can financial risks be fundamentally eliminated.

 

Mr. Bi Jiyao’s speech

 

Chen Weidong, President of Research Institute of Bank of China, pointed out in his speech that we should pay attention to the "hidden"and "one dominant" problem. Some shareholders controlled a large number of banks so shareholder identity was difficult to penetrate. Some shareholders in the financial sector had stakes so high with Action-Partners that they have become the largest "hidden" shareholder.

 

Mr. Chen Weidong’s speech

 

Niu Wenxin, chief researcher of China Economic Weekly, People's Daily, pointed out that while introducing new technologies such as the Internet and artificial intelligence into the real economy, there was a problem of technological fraud and a regulatory vacuum, and the technological capabilities of regulators needed to be greatly improved.

 

Mr. Nu Wenxin’s speech

 

Huang Zhen, Professor of Law School, Central University of Finance and Economics, said that under the background of fintech, we should fully mobilize and apply technological innovation and institutional innovation to realize the integration and coordinated development of compliance technology and supervision technology under the background of strong supervision, especially the application of block chain technology.

 

Professor Huang Zhen’s speech

 

Leng Yunsheng, Senior researcher of China Securities Financial Research Institute, Responsible Person of Corporate Finance Department said that it was necessary to establish the ecological system of governance step by step in practice, such as the responsibility of the governing body, the control of insiders, the positioning of the board of directors, the senior management and the professional committee.

 

Mr. Leng Yunsheng’s speech

 

Teng Yue, General Manager of the Investment Department of Siyuan He Investment Company, said that foreign countries have begun to gradually shift from ESG to IR (Comprehensive and Integrated Reporting System). We needed to know more about international and foreign norms and responded to the changes of globalization.

 

Mr. Teng Yue’s speech

 

Bao Jie, Founder of WenYin Internet company, pointed out that It was necessary to discuss how to combine artificial intelligence to build an intelligent disclosure framework, so as to promote the intellectualization of corporate governance.

 

Mr. Bao Jie’s speech

 

Summing up the meeting, Guo Mingshe pointed out that we needed to establish an institutional system for risk early warning, disposal and accountability, so as to make our active exploration and contribution to the modernization of China's governance system and capacity.

 

Chu Xuping, Former Director of the Research Center of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and Executive Director of the Academic Committee of the China Corporate Governance 50; Xu Gang, Founder and CEO of MSCI Dongcheng Investment Management Center in Beijing and Member of the China Corporate Governance 50；Professor Zhao Jing and Meng Qingbin, Business School of Renmin University of China; Ai Renzhi, Vice President, Chief Valuer, United Credit Ratings; researchers of CITIC Reform and Development Research Foundation and other 50 guests also participated in the meeting.

 

The scene of the meeting

 

Provided by Research Center for Corporate Governance and Enterprise Development, Beijing Normal University