Update: China Steps Up Money Laundering Oversight With New Rules

China is broadening its long-standing campaign against money laundering and terrorist financing with new regulations requiring nonbank financial institutions as well as banks to improve supervision and compliance.

Draft revisions to a 2014 rule released Wednesday (link in Chinese) by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), set out detailed guidelines on how institutions should set up internal control and risk management systems to tackle money laundering, including the establishment or designation of a specialized department to handle the issue with a senior manager overseeing the work and ensuring its independence. The rules will also apply to nonbank financial institutions such as third-party payment companies, online microlenders, consumer finance companies and loan companies, many of whom have hitherto escaped the same level of regulatory supervision as banks.