China is seeking to further standardise the issuance of debt by local governments with the launch of a new set of self-regulatory standards.
The National Debt Association of China (中国国债协会) (NDAC) released the “Local Government Bond Credit Rating Operations Self-regulatory Standard Guidelines” (地方政府债券信用评级业务自律规范指引) on 3 March.
According to NDAC the goal of the new guidelines is to “strengthen self-regulation of operations by local government bond credit ratings agencies, and further standardise local government bond credit ratings operations.”
The new guidelines will “guide the standardised development of ratings agencies, strengthen self-restraint in ratings operations, maintain the excellent operating order of the ratings market, and expedite the healthy development of the local government bond market,” said a representative from NDAC.
NDAC said that the next step will be to research and formulate accompanying regulatory measures and implementation by-laws, strengthen coordination and cooperation with credit ratings regulatory departments, operations regulatory departments as well as other self-regulatory associations including those for the interbank market and securities sector.
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