The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission ("CBIRC") has recently issued the Guidelines on Data Governance for Banking Financial Institutions (the "Guidelines"), effective immediately from the issue date.
Encompassing 55 articles in seven chapters, the Guidelines contain major contents as follows. The first is clearly specifying the structure of data governance and permitting the establishment of a post of chief data officer in accordance with actualities. The second is boosting the efficiency of data management and data quality, and explicitly stating that regulatory data shall be covered under data governance, with concrete requirements set out in certain articles. The third is setting forth major requirements on fully realizing the value of data, adding that banking financial institutions shall incorporate data application into the entire business process, ranging from business operations, risk management to internal control, stressing requirements on the enhancement of data aggregation capability and the evaluation of new products, and effectively evaluating and dealing with the impact of certain business, such as major mergers and acquisitions and asset divestitures, on data governance capability. The fourth is tightening supervision and administration and making clear regulators' regulatory responsibilities, regulatory approaches and regulatory requirements.