On December 27th, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange issued three supporting regulatory documents for the reform of the foreign exchange industry, and guided the self regulatory mechanism of the national foreign exchange market to release three industry guidelines and norms, forming a "1+6" reform system together with the "Management Measures for Bank Foreign Exchange Industry (Trial)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures") released in 2023. In order to better promote cross-border trade and investment and financing facilitation, prevent cross-border capital flow risks, in December 2023, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange issued the "Measures" to promote the reengineering of commercial banks' foreign exchange business processes and further enhance their foreign exchange development capabilities. Since the implementation of the Measures one year ago, as of the end of November 2024, the number of banks participating in the reform of the development industry has increased from 4 to 10, including large commercial banks, joint-stock banks, and foreign-funded banks. The business scope has covered 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government) and 5 planned cities. More than 15000 households, including small and medium-sized enterprises and private enterprises, have been included as high-quality customers by participating banks, and the average processing time for enterprise foreign exchange business has been shortened by 50% to 75%. The Measures clarify for the first time in legislative form the principle of "due diligence exemption" for banks' foreign exchange business. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange has successively organized the trial operation of relevant work mechanisms in Guangdong and Shanghai, achieving good results. With more banks participating, the reform of bank foreign exchange expansion has entered the stage of improving quality and expanding coverage. Among the three supporting regulatory documents issued this time, the "Provisions on Due Diligence Exemption for Foreign Exchange Business of Banks (Trial)" clarifies the application of due diligence exemption and the requirements for the appeal and evaluation process, guides the evaluation work of bank cases, clarifies due diligence standards, and regulates the exemption situations of banks; The "Management Measures for Foreign Exchange Risk Trading Reports of Banks (Trial)" and the "Data Collection Standards for Foreign Exchange Risk Trading Reports of Banks (Trial)" focus on foreign exchange risk trading reports, clarify the specific requirements for banks' reporting scope, channels, disposal processes, and information collection technology paths, and promote banks to establish a sound monitoring system for foreign exchange risk trading, achieving both "flexible" and "manageable" management. The three industry guidelines and standards revolve around three aspects: customer due diligence standards, customer foreign exchange compliance risk level classification standards, and methodology for building foreign exchange risk transaction monitoring systems, forming industry standards for reference. Li Bin, Deputy Director and spokesperson of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, stated that the introduction of a series of supporting systems aims to promote the standardized and efficient implementation of banking reform. We should pay attention to coordinating risk prevention and convenience promotion, balancing the cost of bank development with the overall policy benefits, not relaxing the risk bottom line, and not engaging in excessive risk. We must adhere to the principle of "coming from the market and going to the market", fully summarize the reform experience of four pilot banks including Bank of China in the early stage, and sort out and form development requirements that are in line with the logic and operational practices of bank management. To maintain flexibility and flexibility, and leave room for continuous improvement in the future, considering that the transition between new and old business models of banks requires a certain transitional period, three systems including customer due diligence guidelines will be released by the national foreign exchange market self-discipline mechanism in the form of industry standards as "best practices" for industry reference. The next step is to facilitate policy transmission, guide banks to improve the process design and system construction of key reform links, and ensure the effective implementation of reforms. Organize and expand in an orderly manner, guide banks that voluntarily participate in the reform to accelerate their start-up when conditions are ripe, guide banks that have already implemented the expansion reform to expand to more branches according to the principle of 'mature one, start one', expand the coverage of foreign exchange expansion reform, and benefit more enterprises. Strengthen risk monitoring, rely on reform to comprehensively expand the scope and network of foreign exchange business risk monitoring, guide banks to tap into the potential of technology empowerment, better play the role of risk 'probes', and ensure higher levels of financial openness with higher levels of risk prevention and control Li Bin said. (New Society)