Adjusting personal foreign exchange trading business is not impossible to "exchange"
Our reporter Yao Jin
Recently, the official website of Hua Xia Bank released the "Notice on Suspension of Personal Foreign Exchange Trading", which triggered heated discussions in the market.
Subsequently, Hua Xia Bank issued a clarification statement stating that the suspension of personal foreign exchange trading (foreign exchange against foreign exchange) business was due to system upgrades, and it emphasized that personal foreign exchange settlement and sales business would not be affected.
Personal foreign exchange trading does not mean personal foreign exchange settlement and sale.
Specifically, personal foreign exchange trading refers to the personal foreign exchange business commissioned by individual customers to convert one freely convertible foreign currency into another freely convertible foreign currency based on the international foreign exchange market, such as U.S. dollar exchange for British pound, U.S. dollar exchange The yen, the yen are exchanged for the British pound, the U.S. dollar is exchanged for the euro, and so on.
The business of personal foreign exchange settlement and sale refers to the business of buying foreign exchange in RMB or converting foreign exchange into RMB.
Usually we conduct RMB exchange for current account needs, such as studying abroad, outbound tourism, etc. Each person has an annual quota of 50,000 US dollars (or equivalent) to use.
Personal foreign exchange trading is another matter. For example, Hong Kong dollar exchanges for U.S. dollars, U.S. dollars exchanges for British pounds, etc., which are of a certain investment or even speculative "foreign exchange" nature.
Commercial banks are gradually compressing the personal foreign exchange trading business commonly known as "foreign exchange speculation", but it is easy to cause misunderstandings by users and confuse with the personal foreign exchange settlement and sales business commonly known as "foreign exchange".
"The current international economic situation is complex and the foreign exchange market is volatile. Hua Xia Bank has comprehensively considered customer risk tolerance and other factors to suspend personal foreign exchange trading business, but customers' normal foreign exchange settlement and sales business will not be affected. Later, it will be based on market changes and customers Various service adjustments are needed." Hua Xia Bank President Zhang Jianhua said in response to the incident at the 2021 semi-annual results conference.
China Everbright Bank analyst Zhou Maohua said that the bank’s adjustments to related businesses are equivalent to reminding investors of market risks, reminding them to operate rationally and cautiously, and help reduce irrational speculation in the market.
For foreign exchange investment, there are currently three main types of legal investment channels: one is the purchase of related foreign exchange wealth management products of banks, including personal foreign exchange real trading business transactions, foreign exchange option transactions, and forward foreign exchange settlement and sale business, etc.; the second is investing in B shares; The third is to invest in QDII products.
The suspension of personal foreign exchange trading by Hua Xia Bank this time belongs to the first category mentioned above.
Even so, account-based foreign exchange trading products are also more complicated, and many commercial banks are not doing the same in reducing their “speculation in foreign exchange” business.
For example, among the six major state-owned banks, ICBC raised the investment risk level of foreign exchange business from August 15th, adjusted the risk level of account foreign exchange products to level 5 (R5), and the results of customer risk tolerance assessment requirements were adjusted to aggressive ( C5).
Among them, C5 customers can continue to handle account foreign exchange business at ICBC.
For another example, on July 27, China Merchants Bank closed the new customer signing function for personal two-way foreign exchange trading (non-firm foreign exchange trading).
Starting from August 11th, in accordance with the new version of the agreement, the personal two-way foreign exchange trading business will be gradually closed to customers who meet certain conditions without positions.
"Considering the high risks in the foreign exchange market, China Merchants Bank will further restrict personal two-way foreign exchange trading business in the future. If customers have personal two-way foreign exchange product holding balances, please keep your attention and do a good job in position management, and reduce the holding balance in a timely manner." China Merchants Bank Express.
In fact, the policy and professionalism of foreign exchange investment and financial management are very strong, and the regulatory attitude is also very clear.
In May of this year, the seventh working conference of the national foreign exchange market self-discipline mechanism emphasized that companies should focus on their main business, establish a "risk-neutral" concept, avoid deviating from risk-neutral "foreign exchange" behavior, and do not bet on the appreciation or devaluation of the RMB exchange rate. The bet must be lost.
Not only can financial institutions not help companies "speculate foreign exchange", they should not "speculate foreign exchange" themselves. Otherwise, it will not be conducive to the steady operation of banks and cause exchange rate fluctuations.
It is understood that at present ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, CITIC, China Everbright and other banks have not suspended personal foreign exchange transactions, but generally require appointments for foreign currency exchange at outlets.
Our reporter Yao Jin