The People’s Bank of China (“PBC”) Shanghai Head Office; all branches and business management departments and all central sub-branches in provincial capital cities (capital cities of autonomous regions) and the central sub-branches of the People's Bank of China in Dalian, Qingdao, Ningbo, Xiamen and Shenzhen; all state-owned commercial banks and joint-stock commercial banks; and Postal Savings Bank of China,
According to the spirit of the Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Issuing the Provisions on the Main Functions, Internal Structure and Staffing of the People's Bank of China (No. 83 [2008] of the General Office of the State Council), the Plan on the Pilot Reform of the Fiscal Treasury Management System as approved by the State Council, and other provisions and documents, the duty of accreditation of agent banks for the centralized collection and payment of local treasuries shall be delegated to the branches of the People's Bank of China. We hereby notify the relevant issues as follows:
I. Application
The branches of the People's Bank of China shall, according to the needs of development of centralized collection and payment of the treasuries at the corresponding level, issue notices on the accreditation in the form of bank letter to the commercial banks within their respective jurisdictions, specifying the conditions, materials and deadline for application, etc.
To file an application, one shall meet at least the following conditions: legally holding a Financial License; legally holding a business license and passing the annual inspection; having abundant funds which are in good status and having strong risk control ability and good business performance; having plenty of widely distributed business outlets, which are able to meet the needs of centralized collection and payment of local treasuries; the fund transfer system being able to ensure that the real-time receipt of funds within the bank; the information system being able to timely, completely, and accurately reflect the information of centralized collection and payment of the treasury under commission; having safe, stable and reliable fund transfer system and internal network; and having normative internal management, sound internal control system, strict operating rules and confidentiality measures.
II. Accreditation
(1) The branches of the People's Bank of China shall strictly examine the application materials submitted by commercial banks, and conduct comprehensive assessment thereon by adopting quantitative and qualitative indicators.
The quantitative indicators shall include full consideration to the safety, liquidity and efficiency of funds, and coverage of outlets of the applicant banks, etc. The qualitative indicators shall include consideration to the construction of information system, agency experience in treasury business, external evaluation, service pledges of banks, etc.
(2) The branches of the People's Bank of China may set up expert examination groups for the accreditation of agent banks for the centralized collection and payment of local treasuries.
An expert examination group shall be composed of 5 or more members in odd numbers, with the president or the vice president in charge of the treasury work acting as the head of the group and the person in charge of the treasury department serving the deputy head, and the members shall be composed of the staff members of the treasury department, the legal affairs department and the relevant departments of the bank.
(3) A branch of the People's Bank of China shall, under the principle of openness, fairness and impartiality, issue the result of accreditation in the form of a bank document after examination, and send a copy of the result of accreditation to the relevant public finance department at the same time.
III. Agreements
Where an accredited commercial bank is finally selected as an agent bank for the centralized payment of the local treasury, the branch of the People's Bank of China shall conclude a payment clearing agreement with it, stipulating the rights and obligations of both parties, the liabilities for breach of contract, and other relevant issues.
For a commercial bank which fails to be accredited by a branch of the People's Bank of China or fails to conclude a payment clearing agreement with a branch of the People's Bank of China, the branch of the People's Bank of China shall be entitled to refuse its fund clearing business.
For a commercial bank which has been selected as an agent bank for the collection of non-tax revenue of the local government, the branch of the People's Bank of China may, in light of the local actualities, decide whether to conclude the relevant business agreements with it.
IV. Supervision
The branches of the People's Bank of China shall establish and improve its supervision mechanism for the handling of business by the agent banks for the centralized collection and payment of local treasuries, and perform supervision and administration according to law.
For the violations of laws and regulations by an agent bank for the centralized collection and payment of local treasury in the handling of business, the branch of the People's Bank of China shall impose punishment according to the relevant provisions and agreements. If the circumstances are serious, the branch of the People's Bank of China shall revoke its accreditation by issuing a bank document, rescind the relevant agreements, and advise the relevant public finance department to cancel its qualification as an agent.
V. Other Issues
The treasury departments of the branches of the People's Bank of China shall undertake the specific work of accreditation of agent banks for the centralized collection and payment of local treasuries.
For the areas where the branches of the People's Bank of China and the local public finance departments jointly select agent banks for the centralized collection and payment of local treasuries through public bidding or other means, the branches of the People's Bank of China shall not conduct the accreditation of agent banks for the centralized collection and payment of local treasuries separately, but they still need to conclude clearing agreements with the agent banks for the centralized payment of local treasuries.
This Notice shall be implemented on the date of issuance. Before the implementation of this Notice, if any branch of the People's Bank of China has failed to examine the qualification of the agent bank for the centralized collection and payment of local treasury, or has failed to conclude a payment and clearing agreement with the agent bank for the centralized payment of local treasury, it shall make up the relevant formalities according to the requirements of this Notice.
The branches of the People's Bank of China shall forward this Notice to the relevant commercial banks within their respective jurisdictions.
The People's Bank of China
December 21, 2009
