隨著金融行業的快速發展，合規管理在保障金融機構穩健運營、維護市場秩序中扮演著至關重要的角色。為提升金融機構的依法合規經營能力，國家金融監督管理總局（“金融監管總局”）整合《商業銀行合規風險管理指引》、《保險公司合規管理指引》等規定，于2024年12月25日發布《金融機構合規管理辦法》（國家金融監督管理總局令2024年第7號，“《辦法》”），并將于2025年3月1日起施行。《辦法》旨在規范各類金融機構的合規管理，明確合規職責，強化風險防控，推動金融行業健康有序發展。
在《辦法》出臺之前，銀行及保險機構的合規監管規定主要為《商業銀行合規風險管理指引》和《保險公司合規管理指引》。《辦法》拓寬了適用范圍，將由金融監管總局及其派出機構監管的各類金融機構納入其中，包括政策性銀行、商業銀行、保險公司等原本已受規制的機構，還新增金融資產管理公司、信托公司、企業集團財務公司、金融租賃公司、汽車金融公司、消費金融公司、貨幣經紀公司、理財公司、金融資產投資公司、保險公司（包括再保險公司）、保險資產管理公司、保險集團（控股）公司、相互保險組織等機構，并明確金融控股公司、農村合作銀行、農村信用合作社、外國銀行分行和外國再保險公司分公司等機構參照執行。《辦法》通過擴大適用范圍，有助于不同類型金融機構之間合規標準的統一，整體提升金融行業的合規水平。根據《辦法》，“合規規范”不僅涵蓋法律、行政法規、部門規章及規范性文件等外部規范，還包括金融機構為落實監管要求而制定的內部規范。《辦法》將“合規管理”界定為“金融機構以確保遵循合規規范、有效防控合規風險為目的，以提升依法合規經營管理水平為導向，以經營管理行為和員工履職行為為對象，開展的包括建立合規制度、完善運行機制、培育合規文化、強化監督問責等管理活動”，突出強調以經營管理行為和員工履職行為作為規范對象，并在要求建立合規和問責制度的基礎上，還提出“培育合規文化”的目標。對于“合規風險”，《辦法》沿用2005年4月巴塞爾銀行監管委員會在《合規與銀行內部合規部門》中的定義，即“因金融機構經營管理行為或者員工履職行為違反合規規范，造成金融機構或者其員工承擔刑事、行政、民事法律責任，財產損失、聲譽損失以及其他負面影響的可能性”，將風險限定為帶來損失的可能性。為保障合規管理部門的獨立性、客觀性和公正性，《辦法》明確要求建立“防火墻”機制，即合規管理部門及其崗位應當獨立于前臺業務、財務、資金運用、內部審計等可能與合規管理職責存在沖突的部門或崗位，合規管理部門及其工作人員不得兼任與合規管理職責相沖突的其他職務。《辦法》要求金融機構設立合規管理部門，以確保合規管理職責得到清晰界定和有效落實，對于多個部門共同承擔合規管理職責的情況，若職責不存在沖突，則必須指定一個牽頭部門統一協調。即加強合規管理的組織架構，確保合規管理由專職團隊負責，從而提升執行力與責任意識。具體而言，《辦法》將合規管理部門的職責細化為以下五個方面：
4. 首次明確首席合規官的合規核心作用
《辦法》明確首席合規官在金融機構內的合規核心地位，這是我國首次在監管規定中專門突出首席合規官的關鍵作用。具體而言，首席合規官的職責主要包括如下四個方面：
此外，《辦法》采取了一系列有效措施保證首席合規官的獨立性以保障職權的有效行使：
5. 明確董事會、高級管理人員及部門主要負責人職責
《辦法》明確各級人員在合規管理中的職責分工，通過明確職責，《辦法》構建了從董事會到各級管理人員的全方位合規管理框架，為金融機構的合規文化建設與風險防控提供了制度保障，具體而言內容為：
《辦法》將于2025年3月1日起施行，并設置為期一年的過渡期。過渡期內，金融機構需逐項對照《辦法》的要求，確保在過渡期結束前將相關規定融入自身制度和實際操作中。在《辦法》施行前，已設置的首席合規官、合規總監、合規負責人，或作為高級管理人員的總法律顧問，可繼續履行《辦法》中規定的首席合規官和合規官職責。雖然設置了一年的過渡期，結合我們的多年服務各類金融機構的經驗，我們理解，考慮到金融機構適用的法律法規、監管政策和內部集團（公司）治理結構的復雜性，相關部門、崗位、人員、職權的設置及調整所需的決策流程及時間，在一年內實現完全合規其實具有較大挑戰性，如何在規定期限內實現平穩過渡并逐步提高合規水位對于金融機構而言至關重要，就此，我們提出如下建議供業界參考：（1）建議金融機構深入理解《辦法》的具體要求，再結合經驗，對現有合規管理體系進行全面評估，找出與新規要求的差距，并根據差距分析結果，制定詳細的合規策略和實施計劃，明確時間節點、責任分配和資源配置；（2）建議金融機構根據新規要求，調整合規部門的組織架構，確保合規部門的獨立性和權威性，梳理和優化業務流程，完善合規相關制度，確保業務操作符合《辦法》要求；（3）建議金融機構加強合規相關人員的培訓，提升其對《辦法》的理解和執行能力；（4）建議金融機構強化內部控制和監督機制，確保合規風險得到有效控制，建立風險管理和應急預案，以應對過渡期間可能出現的合規風險；（5）建議金融機構加強與監管機構的溝通，及時獲取監管指導，協調內部各部門的合規工作，并持續監測合規狀況，定期評估合規管理體系的有效性，并根據評估結果進行調整。整體來看，《辦法》內容明確且全面，既從多維度覆蓋了合規管理的核心要素，又不失重點，例如設立獨立的合規管理部門，并建立“防火墻”機制以避免利益沖突，確保合規管理工作的獨立性和公正性，同時通過明確部門職責分工，提升了合規工作的執行力，對首席合規官職責的詳細規定，體現了監管的專業性與針對性，明確了董事會、高級管理人員以及各部門主要負責人的合規管理職責，構建了覆蓋全面、層次分明的合規管理體系。《辦法》的發布及實施標志著我國金融行業合規管理邁入新的階段。通過健全的合規管理體系，金融機構不僅能夠有效防范合規風險，提升運營效率，還能增強市場信任，為推動金融行業的健康發展貢獻力量。當然，一年的過渡期對于金融機構而言任務艱巨，就此，我們建議各類金融機構結合法規以及實際情況，制定切實可行的合規管理規劃。Financial Compliance Management: Practices and Insights
—The Analysis of Administrative Measures for Financial Institution Compliance ManagementWith the rapid development of the financial industry, compliance management plays a vital role in ensuring the sound operation of financial institutions and maintaining market order. To enhance financial institutions' ability to operate in compliance with laws and regulations, the National Financial Regulatory Administration ("NFRA") integrated various compliance management guidelines, including those for commercial banks and insurance companies. On December 25, 2024, NFRA issued the "Administrative Measures for Financial Institution Compliance Management" (NFRA Order No. 7, 2024, hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), which will take effect on March 1, 2025. The Measures aim to standardize compliance management across financial institutions, clarify compliance responsibilities, strengthen risk control, and promote healthy development of the financial industry.
II. Five Key Highlights of the Measures
1. Expanding Regulatory Scope of Applicable Financial InstitutionsPrior to the introduction of the Measures, regulatory provisions mainly consisted of the Compliance Risk Management Guidelines for Commercial Banks and the Compliance Management Guidelines for Insurance Companies. The release of the Measures broadens the scope of application to include various financial institutions supervised by the NFRA and its branch offices. This encompasses not only previously regulated institutions such as policy banks, commercial banks, and insurance companies, but also newly added financial institutions like financial asset management companies, trust companies, corporate group finance companies, financial leasing companies, auto finance companies, consumer finance companies, money brokerage companies, wealth management companies, financial asset investment companies, insurance companies (including reinsurance companies), insurance asset management companies, insurance groups (holding) companies, and mutual insurance organizations. It explicitly requires financial holding companies, rural cooperative banks, rural credit cooperatives, foreign bank branches, and foreign reinsurance company branches to implement these regulations accordingly. By incorporating a broader range of financial institutions into a unified compliance management system, the Measures effectively expand regulatory coverage. This not only promotes uniformity in compliance standards across different types of financial institutions but also enhances overall industry compliance levels.2. Clarifying Compliance Management Related DefinitionsThe Measures clarify that "compliance norms" encompass not only external regulations such as laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules, and normative documents, but also internal regulations established by financial institutions to implement regulatory requirements. The Measures define "compliance management" as "management activities conducted by financial institutions aimed at ensuring adherence to compliance norms and effectively preventing compliance risks, oriented towards improving legal compliance operations management, targeting business management behaviors and employee performance behaviors, including establishing compliance systems, improving operational mechanisms, cultivating compliance culture, and strengthening supervision and accountability." This definition emphasizes business management and employee performance behaviors as regulatory targets, and proposing "cultivating compliance culture" as an objective beyond establishing compliance and accountability systems. Regarding the concept of "compliance risk", the Measures adopt the definition from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's "Compliance and the Compliance Function in Banks" (April 2005), defining it as "the possibility of financial institutions or their employees bearing criminal, administrative, civil legal responsibilities, property losses, reputational losses, and other negative impacts due to violations of compliance norms by financial institutions' business management behaviors or employee performance behaviors," limiting risk to the possibility of losses.3. Establishing Efficient and Independent Compliance Management DepartmentsTo ensure the independence, objectivity, and fairness of compliance management departments, the Measures explicitly require establishing "firewall" mechanisms: the compliance management departments and positions should be independent from front-office business, finance, funds utilization, internal audit, and other departments or positions that may conflict with compliance management responsibilities.The Measures explicitly require financial institutions to establish compliance management departments to ensure compliance management responsibilities are clearly defined and effectively implemented. In cases where multiple departments share compliance management responsibilities, if there are no conflicts in responsibilities, a lead department must be designated for unified coordination. This provision strengthens the organizational structure of compliance management, ensuring compliance management is handled by dedicated teams, thereby enhancing execution and responsibility awareness.The responsibilities of the compliance management department are detailed in the following five aspects:
4. First-time Clarification of the Core Compliance Role of Chief Compliance OfficerThe Measures clarify the compliance core position of the Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) within financial institutions, marking the first time in China that regulatory provisions specifically highlight the key role of the CCO. The CCO's responsibilities can be divided into four aspects:
The Measures adopted a series of effective measures to ensure the independence of CCO and guarantee the effective exercise of their authority:
5. Clarifying Responsibilities of the Board of Directors, Senior Management, and Department HeadsThe Measures clearly define the division of responsibilities among various levels of personnel in compliance management. By clarifying these responsibilities, the Measures establish a comprehensive compliance management framework that spans from the board of directors to various levels of management. This framework provides institutional support for the development of a compliance culture and risk prevention within financial institutions. Specifically, the content includes:III. Suggestions and Expectation
The Measures are scheduled to take effect on March 1, 2025, with a one-year transition period. During this period, financial institutions must systematically review and align with the requirements of the Measures, ensuring that relevant provisions are incorporated into their internal policies and practical operations before the transition period ends. CCO, Compliance Directors, Compliance Officers, or General Counsels serving as senior management personnel appointed before the implementation of the Measures may continue to perform the duties of CCO and Compliance Officer as stipulated. Although a one-year transition period has been set, based on our years of experience serving various financial institutions, we understand that considering the complexity of applicable laws and regulations, regulatory policies, and the internal governance structures of financial institutions and their parent companies, the decision-making processes and time required for setting up and adjusting relevant departments, positions, personnel, and responsibilities, achieving full compliance within one year presents a significant challenge. How to achieve a smooth transition within the prescribed time frame and gradually improve compliance levels is crucial for financial institutions. In this regard, we offer the following recommendations for the industry’s reference:(a) We recommend that financial institutions thoroughly understand the specific requirements of the Measures. Based on this understanding and leveraging experience, they should conduct a comprehensive assessment of their existing compliance management systems, identify gaps between the current system and the new regulatory requirements, and, based on the gap analysis, develop a detailed compliance strategy and implementation plan. This plan should clearly define timelines, responsibility allocation, and resource distribution.(b) We recommend that financial institutions adjust the organizational structure of their compliance management departments in accordance with the new regulations, ensuring the independence and authority of the compliance function. They should sort and optimize business processes, improve compliance-related systems, and ensure that business operations comply with the Measures requirements.(c) We recommend that financial institutions enhance training for compliance-related personnel to improve their understanding of the Measures and their ability to implement them effectively.(d) We recommend that financial institutions strengthen their internal control and supervision mechanisms to ensure effective management of compliance risks. They should establish risk management and emergency response plans to address potential compliance risks during the transition period.(e) We recommend that financial institutions strengthen communication with regulatory authorities to obtain timely regulatory guidance. They should coordinate compliance efforts across internal departments, continuously monitor compliance status, and regularly assess the effectiveness of their compliance management systems. Based on the evaluation results, adjustments should be made as necessary.Overall, the Measures are clear and comprehensive, covering core elements of compliance management from multiple dimensions while maintaining focus. For example, establishing independent compliance management departments with "firewall" mechanisms to avoid conflicts of interest ensures the independence and impartiality of compliance management. By clarifying departmental responsibilities, it enhances compliance work execution. The detailed specifications for CCO reflect regulatory professionalism and specificity. The clear delineation of compliance management responsibilities for the board of directors, senior management, and department heads establishes a comprehensive and hierarchical compliance management system. The issuance and implementation of the Measures mark a new phase in China's financial industry compliance management. Through a sound compliance management system, financial institutions can effectively prevent compliance risks, improve operational efficiency, and enhance market trust, contributing to the healthy development of the financial industry.Indeed, the one-year transition period presents a challenging task for financial institutions. Therefore, we recommend that various types of financial institutions, in conjunction with applicable regulations and their actual circumstances, develop practical and feasible compliance management plans.
