China unifies its bond market regulation

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China will unify the regulation of its fast-growing bond market to better address violations in the sector, ending the era of separated and disorderly law enforcement by several agencies.

China's securities watchdog, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), will be the authority responsible for identifying illegal activity, including insider trading and manipulation in transactions of bonds on the interbank and exchange bond markets, and imposing punishment on violators.

The country's central bank, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and its top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) will play a supporting role in the process, according to a document jointly released by the three regulatory bodies on Monday.

The two regulatory bodies will support the work of the CSRC by providing professional advice and helping discover evidence of violations, the statement said.

Currently, different kinds of bonds are regulated by different agencies with different standards, with blurred boundaries between each other.

The move, considered as a substantial step towards unified management of China's bond market, aims to improve the overall regulatory system and help prevent systemic risk, according to the document.

Experts said that a unified and mature bond market, which requires unified, efficient, and authoritative regulation, will provide low-risk investment and financing tools for investors and fundraisers.

China has become the world's third largest bond market, with outstanding bonds worth 83.8 trillion yuan (around 12 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of October.