Exclusive: China’s Banks Told to Stop Taking Liberties With ‘Agreement Deposits’

A banking industry body overseen by China’s central bank wants banks to stop offering a deposit product to clients other than the insurers, the national social security fund and certain pension funds it was designed for, in a bid to curb their reckless competition for deposits, Caixin has learned.

The body, the self-discipline mechanism for market interest rate pricing, has issued a notice requiring banks to follow the rules that govern the product, known as an “agreement deposit” (协议存款), several sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.