Uncover the "inner ghost" to eliminate financial security risks
Anti-corruption in the financial sector enters the "deep water zone", leading cadres of supervisory departments frequently fall off
● This year is the final year of the battle to prevent and resolve financial risks. The communiqué of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection put forward the need to "deepen anti-corruption work in the financial sector"
● The financial supervisory department is the “gatekeeper” in the financial field, and has quite concentrated powers in the access and related management of financial institutions. Once the financial supervisor abuses supervisory power, it will seriously disrupt the financial order and even threaten financial security
● Discipline inspection and supervision agencies notified the leading cadres of the financial supervision department, reflecting the party Central Committee's firm determination to resolutely investigate and punish corruption in the financial sector.
But fundamentally speaking, it is necessary to promote the reform of financial supervision system and mechanism, realize the institutionalization and normalization of supervision, optimize the power structure, and reduce the breeding space of corruption.
□ Reporter Chen Lei
□ Trainee reporter Liu Ziwei
In September of this year, Zhou Wenjie, deputy director of the Shanghai Supervision Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, went down-one more person was added to the list of leading cadres investigated and punished by the financial supervision department.
According to statistics from reporters of the Rule of Law Daily, from January to September this year, the website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection successively notified eight leading cadres of the financial supervision department.
This year is the closing year of the battle to prevent and defuse financial risks. At the beginning of the year, the communique of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection proposed to "deepen the anti-corruption work in the financial sector."
Experts interviewed by a reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" said that the financial regulatory authorities are the "gatekeepers" in the financial sector and have fairly concentrated powers in terms of access and related management of financial institutions. Once financial regulators abuse their regulatory powers, they will seriously disrupt Financial order even threatens financial security.
Experts believe that the notification of the disciplinary inspection and supervision organs to the leading cadres of the financial supervision department reflects the firm determination of the Party Central Committee to resolutely investigate and punish corruption in the financial sector.
But fundamentally speaking, it is necessary to promote the reform of the financial supervision system and mechanism, realize the institutionalization and normalization of supervision, optimize the power structure, and reduce the breeding space for corruption.
Deepen anti-corruption in the financial sector
Several officials sacked
Zhou Wenjie is a native of Zhuji, Zhejiang. He just turned 49 in September this year.
According to his resume, Zhou Wenjie joined the Shanghai branch of the People's Bank of China in 2001. At the age of 32, he transferred to the former Shanghai Banking Regulatory Bureau and served as deputy office director and director, and director of the State-owned Bank Supervision Division.
In April 2016, Zhou Wenjie took office as the former Deputy Director of the Shanghai Banking Regulatory Bureau.
Two and a half years later, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission reformed its institutions, and Zhou Wenjie served as the deputy director of the newly formed Shanghai Supervision Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.
In June of this year, Zhou Wenjie also attended the press conference of the Shanghai Municipal Government as the Deputy Director of the Shanghai Regulatory Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.
Three months later, on September 14, the website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that Zhou Wenjie was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and was undergoing disciplinary review and supervision and investigation. The Shanghai Commission for Discipline Inspection is responsible.
As a leading cadre of the financial supervision department, Zhou Wenjie's fall was not an isolated case.
The first leading cadre of the financial supervision department to be notified this year was Qi Xinzheng, the former party secretary and director of the Fujian Supervision Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.
At about 19:30 on January 16, the website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection reported that Qi Xinzheng was "double-opened."
It is worth noting that at noon on the day of the announcement, the communiqué of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was announced, which proposed "deepening the anti-corruption work in the financial sector."
Qi Xinzheng’s resume shows that he was the former party secretary and director of the Ningxia Regulatory Bureau of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, and the former director of the Jiangsu Regulatory Bureau of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.
In July 2019, Qi Xinzheng, who was then Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Fujian Supervision Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, fell.
It is understood that he is the first leading cadre of the financial supervision department to fall down after the establishment of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. The agencies responsible for investigating him are the Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision Group of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the Jiangsu Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection.
In April this year, the case of Qi Xinzheng suspected of accepting bribes was designated by the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Procuratorate, and the Nanjing Municipal People’s Procuratorate filed a public prosecution.
The notice issued by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission showed that Qi Xinzheng used his power to seek benefits for others, borrowed large sums of money from personnel of supervised institutions; used the convenience of his position to seek benefits for financial institutions, enterprises and individuals and received huge amounts of property.
The report stated that Qi's New Deal “has abused supervisory power for personal gain, turning the defender of the financial order into a disruptor, seriously damaging the authority and seriousness of supervision”.
According to statistics from reporters of the Rule of Law Daily, from January to September this year, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission notified a total of 8 leading cadres of the financial supervision department, of which 3 persons from the Inner Mongolia Supervision Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission were notified.
Zhuang Deshui, deputy director of the Research Center for Integrity Construction of Peking University, said in an interview with a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily that the investigation and punishment of the leading cadres of the financial supervision department is an integral part of the anti-corruption in the financial field. Has entered the "deep water zone".
Song Wei, a professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing and director of the Center for Integrity Research, said that in the context of financial anti-corruption, the leading cadres of the financial regulatory authorities have frequently fallen off the ground, reflecting that corruption in the financial sector is still prone to occur and the financial regulatory authorities have greater powers. And supervise many financial enterprises, so it has a relatively high risk of corruption.
"These cases also reflect to a large extent the Party Central Committee's firm determination to resolutely investigate and punish corruption in the financial sector, especially the firm determination of the financial regulatory authorities." Song Wei said.
In Zhuang Deshui's view, financial regulatory agencies are the "gatekeepers" in the financial sector, guarding the intensive resources and funds in the financial sector. They have major responsibilities but are also vulnerable to corrosion.
Once financial regulators have corruption and abuse their supervisory power, they will seriously disrupt financial order and even threaten financial security.
"Since the beginning of this year, so many leaders of financial supervision departments have sent out a strong signal that the anti-corruption work in the central financial sector is real. The purpose is to use high-pressure anti-corruption to rectify corruption in the financial supervision field, uncover the'inside ghosts' of the supervisory authority, and eliminate financial security. Hidden danger.” Zhuang Deshui analysis believes that the anti-corruption in the financial field extends to the financial supervision field, holding down the “life gate” of corruption in the financial field and hitting the “seven inches” of corruption in the financial field.
Serious departure from the original intention of supervision
Use power for personal gain and be hunted
After the Qi Xinzheng was "double-opened", on April 29 this year, the website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection published the news that Liu Jinming, the former party committee member of the Inner Mongolia Supervision Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, was "double-opened".
According to the report, Liu Jinming “accepts long-term travel and banquets arranged by senior management of banking institutions”, violates integrity and discipline, accepts property from others for a long time, and illegally buys shares in banking institutions for profit; uses the convenience of his position to seek benefits for regulated institutions and related personnel and receive huge amounts. property.
The notification also stated that Liu Jinming, as a party member and leading cadre of the financial supervision department, has lost his ideals and beliefs, abandoned his original mission, is not loyal and honest to the party; seriously deviated from the original intention of financial supervision, abandoned his supervisory responsibilities, and was “close to” and “clear” to the supervised institution. "Regardless of distinction, willing to be "hunted", willing to be an "inner ghost", and arbitrarily letting go of the brutal expansion of the regulated institutions, boosting financial risks; destroying the atmosphere of the supervisory team and the political ecology of the supervisory institution, resulting in a "double" in team management and business supervision. fall".
Two months later, Jia Qizhen, former party committee member of the Inner Mongolia Supervision Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, was also "double-opened."
The notice issued on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission stated that Jia Qizhen “violated regulations and interfered in financial institutions’ fund lending matters” and used supervisory authority and convenience to provide financial institutions’ market access, supervisory ratings, project contracting, job promotion, and work arrangements. Others seek benefits and receive huge amounts of property.
"As a leading cadre of the party member of the financial supervision department, Jia Qizhen has lost his ideals, convictions and principles of party spirit, has a distorted view of power, is not loyal to the party, and is not honest. Regulatory agencies have brutally expanded, illegally operated in violation of laws and regulations, and supervision has been seriously under-regulated." The notice stated.
The leading cadres of the financial supervision department who were "double-opened" this year include Wang Li, the former inspector and deputy director of the Qinghai Provincial Local Financial Supervision Administration.
According to the report on the website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Wang Li is economically greedy. He regards state-owned financial enterprises as his personal “cash box” and sets up a “small treasury” to withdraw funds at will for personal use, and illegally use state-owned funds. Misappropriating for other purposes to seek benefits for others; abuse of power and use of the convenience of position to engage in power and money transactions, use power for personal gains, illegally accept huge amounts of property, and severely pollute and damage the Qinghai Bank’s operations in loan issuance, project construction, and employee recruitment. Political ecology and development environment.
Zhuang Deshui believes that according to the language of the notification, the corruption problem of the financial supervision department is directly related to the operating characteristics of the supervisory power, the institutional mechanism, etc., especially the financial supervision is a very special administrative power. In the closed "kingdom" of the financial field, The approval of financial funds and the allocation of financial resources have considerable say.
"Once the financial regulatory power loses effective supervision and restriction, corruption is prone to problems, which will cause serious harm to the entire financial field, the operation of the financial system, and financial security." Zhuang Deshui said, "At the same time, we need to pay attention to facing With extremely scarce financial supervision resources, some regulated objects also use various means to "encircle and hunt" in order to drag the financial supervision power into the quagmire of corruption."
In Zhuang Deshui’s view, corruption in the financial sector is also related to the international situation. After all, financial corruption is a common problem faced by all countries, and once corruption occurs in the financial sector, whether it is corruption in financial regulatory agencies or financial institutions, it will be contagious. Proliferate to other areas.
According to Song Wei's observation, the language used in these announcements reflects the characteristics of corruption in the financial sector. Among them, there are issues that highlight the power characteristics of financial regulatory agencies and issues that are common to other areas.
For example, financial regulatory authorities have fairly concentrated powers in terms of access and related management of financial institutions, with a long regulatory chain and multiple links.
Promote institutional reform
Remove the cancer of financial corruption
This year is the final year of the battle to prevent and resolve financial risks.
At the beginning of this year, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection made arrangements to "deepen the anti-corruption work in the financial sector." Resolutely punishing corruption in the financial sector has become one of the key tasks of discipline inspection and supervision agencies at all levels.
"While severely punishing and forming a deterrent, the financial system has also combined the system shortcomings and regulatory loopholes exposed in typical cases to secure the system cage and standardize the operation of power." The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and State Supervision Commission website published an article.
One of the "institutional cages" is the "Measures for the Exchange of Cadres in Dispatched Organizations of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission" formulated by the Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision Team of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission to assist the organization of personnel departments: While resolutely implementing the exchange and avoidance of party committee secretaries and disciplinary committee secretaries, the party committee of the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission is promoted from bureau to bureau Analyze on a person-by-person basis, and avoid timely communication with the team members who have been the “second in command” for a long time.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission is also increasing its endogenous anti-corruption efforts.
On May 26, the person in charge of the relevant department of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission stated that the current anti-corruption struggle in the financial sector is still severe and complicated. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission will focus on investigating and punishing the problems of interest transmission and regulatory failure behind major risk events, especially the disruption of regulatory order and market order. Anyone that causes major losses of state-owned financial assets or even induces risky events shall be severely punished.
At the same time, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission also proposed to improve the management system and resolutely manage the issue of "financial native products".
Insist on taking bribes and bribery investigations together, resolutely eliminate the "black triangle" of corruption in which regulators, financial institution employees, and unscrupulous business owners collude with each other, and cut off the interest chain of "encircling hunting" and being willing to be "encircled hunting".
Promote the construction of a clean financial culture, repair the political ecology of the financial system, and continuously improve the internal driving force of financial anti-corruption.
On July 20 this year, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission held the 2020 mid-year work forum and disciplinary inspection and supervision work meeting, emphasizing the need to fully implement the deployment of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, adhere to no restricted areas, full coverage, and zero tolerance, and deepen the financial sector Anti-corruption work, and resolutely punish the corruption behind major financial risks.
On the same day, Zhang Anshun, former party secretary and director of the Shanxi Supervision Bureau of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and was subject to review and supervision.
An ensuing question is how to solve the corruption problem that occurs in the financial supervision department?
In this regard, Zhuang Deshui suggested that the top-level design of the financial sector should be carried out first, and the solution of corruption in the financial sector, including financial supervision departments, should be treated within the framework of the modernization of the governance system of the country’s governance system, and the reform of the financial sector’s systems and mechanisms should be promoted. Cut off the “cancer” of corruption in the financial sector, learn from advanced international financial management experience, and use modern information technology to strengthen the supervision of financial regulatory powers, so that financial regulatory authorities can return to the standard of financial “gatekeepers”; secondly, public financial resources in the financial sector During the allocation process, accept the supervision and restriction of the public, so that finance can truly serve the national economy and the public, rather than serving a few special interest groups. Third, we must strengthen the construction of leading cadres of financial supervision departments and raise the barriers to entry. There is zero tolerance for those who violate laws and disciplines, and the financial regulators are restrained by a high-pressure anti-corruption situation.
Song Wei suggested that firstly, we must further improve the power operation disclosure system, disclose relevant information and links of various regulatory powers, and reduce the opportunities for black box operation; secondly, use information technology to strengthen the re-supervision of financial regulatory agencies and promote the institutionalization of supervision And normalization, especially strengthening the supervision of leading cadres; third, we must promote the reform of the financial regulatory system and mechanism, optimize the power structure, and fundamentally reduce the breeding space for corruption.