DOI: 10.14457/tu.the.2016.764
title: Comparative view on the market access supervision over foreign banks in China and Hong Kong

description: In recent years, with the deepening of economic and financial integration in the world, as well as the impact from China’s “One Belt One Road “strategy, more transnational banks intend to access China markets for doing business, and therefore the voices for opening China’s domestic markets are high.  At the same time, due to the impact of the worldwide financial crisis in 2008 as well as rapid innovation in the financial area, regulators recognize that it is necessary to conduct innovation, development, and even reform in banking supervision. These two main backgrounds jointly lead to the research topic of the thesis, namely, foreign bank market access supervision.The thesis is first based on an economic view, respectively listing the pros and cons in terms of foreign bank market access supervision. It considers the pros- the benefits for financial industries for domestic countries and also the opportunities for foreign banks- and the cons, mainly caused by the transmission of risk due to foreign bank tans-nationalization. Therefore, the pros can be leveraged by further opening the market while the cons can be avoided by strengthening supervision. Then the thesis moves to a legal perspective, conducting a general analysis and defining the concept of foreign bank market access supervision, and briefly introducing the four major sectors regarding foreign bank market access supervision, including the supervisory regime, the legislative system, access conditions, and access procedures.Based on this discussion, the thesis conducts a detailed introduction and analysis of mainland China’s foreign bank market access supervision, including its banking supervisory regime, legislative pattern, legal requirements and the procedures of foreign bank market access. China has adopted a decentralized supervisory regime in terms of banking supervision, having three main regulators in this sector; the laws regulating foreign bank market access are separated and have different criteria from laws regulating domestic banks; the legal requirements for foreign bank market access are strict, having critical restrictions and prohibitions regarding foreign bank business operations; and the legal procedures of foreign bank market access are not effective enough.Then the thesis moves to another jurisdiction, Hong Kong, conducting an introduction to Hong Kong’s foreign bank market access supervision based on a comparative perspective with mainland China. Hong Kong has adopted a centralized supervisory regime in banking supervision, having a sole regulator to undertake both banking supervisory functions and the functions of a central bank. Compared with mainland China, Hong Kong has a highly organized and structured code to regulate the banking industry including banking market access, which applies to both domestic banks and foreign banks. Regarding the legal requirements for foreign bank market access, Hong Kong treats foreign banks the same as local banks without any restrictions or prohibitions, and the legal procedures of foreign bank market access are more effective compared with mainland China.Based on a comparison between mainland China and Hong Kong, the thesis outlines four main issues of foreign bank market access supervision in mainland China, including its decentralized supervisory regime, disorganized supervisory legislative system, strict business access restrictions, and unreasonable access procedures. Taking the reference from Hong Kong’s advanced experience, the thesis then proposes solutions in response to these issues, such as to further improve the current supervisory regime, integrate a dual-legislative system, further open financial markets and relax restrictions and simplify access procedures.