The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has issued a set of fintech ethical standards that seek to better demarcate the relationship between the Chinese tech sector and domestic financial institutions.
On 9 October PBOC issued the “Financial Sector Science and Technology Ethical Guidelines” (金融领域科技伦理指引) (JR/T0258-2022) in order to provide “value concepts and standards of conduct that the financial sector must abide by when engaging in tech activities.”
The Guidelines cover a total of seven areas including:
- Appropriate innovation.
- Data security.
- Inclusiveness.
- Openness and transparency.
- Fair competition.
- Risk prevention and control.
- Green and low-carbon finance.
The PBOC guidelines define fintech as “tech-drive financial innovation”, with the chapter on “Appropriate Innovation” outlining strict requirements for fintech-related activities.
These include:
- Upholding the innate character of fintech as finance.
- Obtaining licenses and qualifications in accordance with relevant provisions for finance-related activities.
- Eradicating use of the term “tech innovation” to muddy the borders between activities and engage in unlicensed operations or operations in excess of business scopes.
- Upholding the principle that “finance is the root, tech is the vessel”
- Demarcating the cooperative relationship between financial institutions and tech companies, with financial institutions directly providing financial services and tech companies providing technical support to financial institutions.