Laws of the People's Republic of China

China Securities Regulatory Commission

Opinions of the China Securities Regulatory Commission about Tightening Several Internal Control Measures for the Business Departments of Securities Companies

ZhengJianJiGouZi [2003] No. 261

December 15th, 2003

All securities companies:

With a view to regulating the brokerage of securities companies, strengthening the management of the securities business departments, preventing risks effectively and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the investors, in accordance with the relevant provisions in the Securities Law of the People's Republic of China and the Guide to the Internal Control of Securities Companies, it is hereby to put forward the opinions about tightening the internal control of the securities business departments as the following:

I.

To strengthen the personnel management of the securities business department

1.

The responsible persons of the securities business department, the computer section of the securities business department and the section of finance shall be directly appointed and administered by the head office, and a direct and effective channel shall be established between the head office and the aforesaid persons.

2.

The responsible persons of the finance section and the computer section of a securities business department shall be liable for supervising and controlling the legal operations of the securities business department. A securities company shall intensify the annual evaluations of the responsible persons of the securities business departments, the computer sections and the section of finance of the securities business departments, and shall report the results to the institutions dispatched by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (hereinafter referred to as CSRC) where the securities business departments are located for archival purposes before the end of April of the next year.

3.

The posts of the responsible persons of the securities business departments, the computer sections of the securities business departments and the sections of finance shall be regularly shifted within the range of a securities company, and the shift period shall not exceed 3 years at most. As for a securities business department that has already adopted the way of centralized transactions, the shift period may be appropriately extended to 5 years upon the approval of the institution dispatched by the CSRC where the securities department is located. The other important posts of the securities business department shall, according to the specific circumstances, be shifted within the range of the securities business department in a planned way. The first to-be-shifted posts shall be taken by the persons who have already been on the aforesaid posts for more than 3 years.

For a securities company that really has difficulties to shift the posts among the trans-province and trans-district securities business departments, it may refrain from shifting the posts, but it shall conduct on-the-spot audit on each of the relevant securities business departments every year, and shall submit an audit report for archival purpose to the head office and the institution dispatched by the CBRC where the securities business departments is located.

4.

Where the responsible person of a securities business department or the responsible person of the finance section of the securities business department leaves his (her) post, the head office of the securities company shall conduct audit on him (her). The audited person shall not leave his (her) post, before the audit is completed. The audit shall include, but not be limited to, the information about whether the securities business department has ever misappropriated the bonds of its clients or not, whether it has illegal financing or not, whether it has operations beyond its business scope or not, the complaints of its clients and the treatments, and the responsibilities of the to-be-audited person in these regards.

5.

A securities company shall adopt the mandatory holiday system to the responsible persons of the securities business departments, the computer sections of the securities business departments, the finance sections and the sections of clients. During the period of mandatory holidays, the supervision and inspection department of the securities company may conduct on-the-spot audit on the work they are liable for. For the securities business departments under no post shift system, they shall combine the mandatory holiday system with the on-the-spot audit.

6.

A securities company shall strengthen the management of the foreign affairs archives involving the persons who take the key posts of the responsible persons of the securities business departments. The copies of the passports and identity cards held by the responsible persons of the securities business departments, the computer sections of the securities business departments, the finance sections and the sections of clients shall be submitted to the institution dispatched by the CSRC where the securities business department is located for archival purposes. Their contact information (including but not limited to the mobile phone numbers, fixed telephone numbers and e-mails), family address and other information shall be submitted to the institution dispatched by the CSRC where the securities business department is located for archival purposes as well.

II.

To specify the setup of posts and the responsibilities of the securities business departments

1.

A securities company shall establish perfect the post responsibility system and normative business operation procedures for the securities business departments. It shall specify the tasks, grant each post with corresponding responsibilities and functions and build a working relationship of cooperating with one another, supervising one another and restricting one another.

2.

A securities company shall actively develop the mode of centralized transactions to control the internal risks of the securities business departments and decrease the posts that need direct human intermediaries. The key posts of a securities business department shall establish two-person responsibility system. The posts directly involving the fund, portfolio, important blank vouchers, seals and safety technologies of information system shall establish two-person responsibility system. The posts involving the clients' depositing and drawing money, the transfer of the clients' transaction settlement fund, depository trust and cancellation of designated transactions shall establish the two-person responsibility system, that is to say, one shall be liable for the handling of the aforesaid operations and the other for re-examination.

3.

The securities business department shall adopt a reasonable system of separate responsibilities. The keeping of cash and portfolios shall be separate from the record keeping of accounts.

(a)

The preservation of important blank vouchers, blank contracts, blank letters of authorization and significant seals shall be separated from the register and use of them. No seal may be affixed to any blank voucher, contract or letter of authorization in advance, the head office of a securities company shall regularly check the securities business department about its using, registering and managing of documents. The securities company shall specify the power and procedures for the use of various kinds of seals, and shall perfect the responsibility system for the preservation, use and register of seals.

(b)

A securities business department's front office transactions shall be separated from its back office settlements;

(c)

The confirmation of faults and losses shall be separated from that of cancellation after verification;

(d)

The duties of the computer personnel, the accounting personnel and other operating personnel shall not be overlapped.

III.

Strengthening the centralized management of the clients' transaction settlement funds

1.

Each securities business department may only open not more than 5 special savings accounts for clients' transaction funds;

2.

A securities business department shall transfer to the head office of the securities company at least 70% of the clients' transaction settlement funds;

3.

The head office of the securities company shall regularly and irregularly check the clients'' transaction settlement funds of a securities business department, and shall make pressure tests by transferring the total amount of the clients' transaction settlement funds of a securities business department to the head office of the securities for the time being. For the securities business departments without adopting the post-shifting system, the securities company shall conduct at least one pressure test every month.

IV.

To establish perfect securities business department audit system and to tighten the audit

1.

A securities company shall establish a real-time monitoring system and a risk pre-warning system, which shall be able to monitor the activities involving large sums of money and the transactions, and be able to give warnings in the event of abnormal fund flow and transactions.

2.

The audit section of a securities company shall in principle conduct one on-the-spot audit to the operations of the securities business department every year (or every two years at most, but shall conduct at least one to the securities business departments without adopting the post-shifting system). The institutions dispatched by the CSRC may require the securities companies to increase the number of audits according to their legal operations.

3.

A securities company shall submit the issues discovered in auditing securities business departments to the institution dispatched by the CSRC where the securities business department is located, shall submit the audit reports on all business departments to the head office of the securities company for archival purposes, and shall, by the end of April of each year, submit the overall audit information about the securities business departments in the previous year and the main issues found by it to the institution dispatched by the CSRC where the securities company is located.

4.

The securities company shall combine the audit results with personnel evaluations to establish a corresponding punishment system, and shall severely punish various illegal acts in violation of the laws and regulations.

V.

Other requirements

1.

A securities company shall establish a fast response mechanism to the serious emergencies arising in a securities business department. In the case of a serious accident, if a securities business department is unable to do normal transactions because of technological failure, natural disaster, difficulties to honor the fund or any other reasons, it shall immediately report to the head office of securities company and the institution dispatched by the CSRC where the securities business department is located and shall report to the relevant department of the local government. After the accident is completely handled, a report on the handling of the accident shall be submitted to the aforesaid departments.

2.

The head office of a securities company shall establish a special department to pay regular return visits to the important clients.

3.

A securities business department shall hang its Securities Operating Institution Operation License and Business License in an eye-catching place. It shall clearly express in the risk disclosure statement and the contract texts given to the investors that it has no right to sign any business contract with an investor beyond the operation scope of the Securities Operating Institution Operation License, and the investor shall sign its name for confirmation.

4.

A securities business department shall put the complaint telephone number, fax, e-mail of the head office of the securities company and other relevant information in an eye-catching place of its business office so that the complaints of the investors can be reflected and handled in time.

5.

A securities company shall set down specific securities business department internal control system according to its own actual circumstances, which shall be submitted to the institutions dispatched by the CSRC where the securities company is registered and where the securities business department is located.

6.

Where the securities operating institutions fail to complete the business separation, they shall carry out by referring to the requirements of the present Opinions.

7.

With regard to the requirements for the internal control of the securities business departments subordinated to a securities company with an overall centralized transaction system, the CSRC shall formulate separately.

Before February 29th, 2004, each securities company shall, in light of the present Opinions, make a post-shifting plan and submit the plan to the institution dispatched by the CSRC where the registration place is located. In case the institution dispatched by the CSRC where the registration place is located raises no objection upon examination and approves the plan, the securities company shall, before March 31st, 2004, submit its post-shifting system and plan to the supervision department of the CSRC for archival purposes, and shall send a copy to the institution dispatched by the CSRC where each of its securities business departments is located. The Securities companies shall earnestly carry out the post-shifting system and plan.