China's securities watchdog released a temporary regulation on supervision of securities houses in the assets management business, a move that will help curb irregularities and encourage fair competition in the sector.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced the regulation on Thursday, setting up standards on asset management services of securities companies, including thresholds on market entries, exact business spheres, codes of practice and liabilities in risk management.

The rules, to take effect next February, say qualified securities houses can either provide asset management services specially designed for one specific client or launch collective investment funds for groups of investors.

But they cannot make any promises of minimum returns to the clients or use other misleading promotion methods to sell their products.

Those who want to provide collective funding projects should have minimum net assets 500 million yuan (US$60 million) and have no criminal records. The new regulation offers clearer standards and adds more liabilities on asset managers, clarifying the designs of such investment projects. Many are gaining popularity among securities companies who are exploring new products and income resources, experts said.

Some securities companies have tried to win over more customers by exaggerating their returns and playing down risks. The concern over irregularities made the CSRC temporarily ban such business in the securities houses in May.

A spokesman said following the announcement of the new rule, a few pilot securities companies would be approved to launch private funding projects soon. More detailed rules regarding such business will be released soon to further facilitate practices and supervision.

Such rule-designs will help build up a good market in the overall asset management business, said Zhao Xinyu, an official of the China Asset Management Company, a Beijing-based fund management company that is also a direct competitor to asset managers in securities houses.

"Now we can compete on an equal basis,'' he said.

So far, 70 of 132 securities companies in China have opened asset management services. It is estimated that about half of the 132 will pass the new threshold.

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