The banking regulator is soon to issue new licenses to some of the old trust and investment companies, known as "itics" during the Asian financial crisis.

 

The move is designed to change the business model of the former itics from being a little bit of everything in the 1990s to proper trust services offering more diverse financial instruments for corporate and individual clients.

 

Five relatively large former itics are expected to obtain licenses from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), China Daily has learned from the banking watchdog.

 

This is the second batch of former itics to get their new licenses. The first contained just one company, Huabao Trust Corp, formerly known as Huabao International Trust and Investment Corp, which got its new license in April.

 

The five companies in this batch are likely to be Zhonghai Trust & Investment Corp, CITIC Trust & Investment Corp, Zhongcheng Trust & Investment Corp, Ping An Trust & Investment Corp and China Foreign Economy and Trade Trust & Investment Corp. They are still waiting for official confirmation.

 

There were hundreds of itic companies in China in the 1980s and 1990s, serving as "window companies" and investment arms for various government agencies.

 

But poor internal management and subsequent bankruptcy of Guangdong International Trust and Investment Corp, better known as Gitic, caused an investor uproar in Hong Kong in 1998. Since then, most itic companies have remained in the doldrums and have been unable to seek any changes without further government guidance.

 

From 1999 to 2007, China's trust and investment companies have gone through six dramatic rectifications by the government regulator. During this painful process, most companies have gone bankrupt and only a few survived.

 

Until March 2007, when the last rectification was carried out, only around 55 international trust and investment companies were surviving.

 

It was not until March that the CBRC demanded all qualified former itics "return" to the trust service as their business focus - after changing their corporate names and redefining their business scopes.

 

Companies with better assets and better business scopes were asked to file applications for new licenses in two months. For those unable to do so, a grace period of three years is designed to change their ways.

 

(China Daily June 26, 2007)