China to tighten rules on cash management products

SHANGHAI: China’s banking regulator plans to tighten rules on so-called cash-management products (CMP), according to people familiar with the matter, impacting an estimated US$2 trillion worth of the investments.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission aims to treat CMPs similar to money-market funds by limiting pricing and restricting where and for how long the inflows can be invested, the people said, asking not to be identified as the deliberations are private. CMPs are ultra-liquid, high-yield instruments just like money-market funds, but are issued by banks while the latter are sold by asset managers.