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Recently, the People's Bank of China publicly solicited opinions on the "Interbank Bond Market Bond Issuance Management Rules" (hereinafter referred to as the "Rules"). The "Rules" consist of 28 articles and strengthen the regulation of bond issuance behavior from three dimensions: issuers, underwriters, and investors. The deadline for feedback is November 15, 2026.
In the drafting explanation of the "Rules", the central bank stated: "Bond pricing is the core link in bond issuance. It concerns whether the bond market can accurately allocate financial resources to the real economy, and it is also an important prerequisite for achieving high-quality development of the bond market." To implement the central government's main line of strengthening supervision, preventing risks, and promoting high-quality development, further clarify the responsibilities of all parties, and strengthen regulation, the People's Bank of China formulated these "Rules".
The "Rules" focus on three dimensions. First, regulating issuers' issuance pricing behavior. This includes prohibiting issuers from subscribing to, or in disguised form subscribing to, bonds they issue themselves, and stipulating that no person may directly or indirectly assist an issuer in subscribing to or in disguised form subscribing to bonds it issues itself; prohibiting issuers from interfering with investors' subscription decisions or disrupting pricing through rebates and other means; clarifying pricing requirements for different bond issuance methods; and pushing issuers to optimize the selection mechanism and standards for underwriting institutions to improve the quality of bond underwriting services.
Second, regulating underwriters' underwriting behavior. This includes prohibiting low-price underwriting and stipulating that underwriting fees must not be significantly lower than the fair industry level; prohibiting prior commitments on bond bid prices or issuance prices (interest rates); regulating practices such as firm commitment underwriting and entrusted bidding and payment; strengthening internal control requirements such as conflicts of interest and information barriers at underwriting institutions; and enhancing market-based restraint mechanisms such as information disclosure.
Third, regulating investors' subscription behavior. This includes prohibiting investors from submitting false bids; prohibiting deliberately large declarations and cancellations that disrupt bond issuance prices (interest rates) and allocations; and prohibiting bids at prices significantly lower than fair market prices for the purpose of interfering with prices.
The "Rules" also set clear prohibitions on insider trading, benefit transmission, and other behavior, and require standardization of issuance processes such as book building, as well as strengthened supervision and management of the issuance pricing link.
Zhang Lin, deputy director of the Far East Credit Research Institute, believes there are three new policy messages in the "Rules": First, "assisting parties" are included in the prohibited items, making clear that no person may directly or indirectly assist an issuer in subscribing to or in disguised form subscribing to bonds it issues itself, so private funds, asset management plans, capital intermediaries, and other channel parties are no longer blind spots; second, book-building venues are required to record the entire inquiry, adjustment, and pricing decision process and form tamper-proof records; third, a closed regulatory loop for the central bank is established, covering front-line monitoring, self-discipline management, administrative supervision, and unified enforcement, with the power to order rectification, conduct regulatory talks, and even impose administrative penalties.
From a market perspective, the most direct change brought by the "Rules" may be in the competitive logic of the underwriting business. Industry insiders pointed out that some institutions previously regarded underwriting business as an "entry point" to leverage other client business, rather than obtaining reasonable returns through professional services. In the view of Zhang Xu, chief fixed income analyst at Everbright Securities, the Central Economic Work Conference held in December 2025 had already listed deepening the rectification of "involution-style" competition as a key task for 2026 economic work, and low-price competition in the bond underwriting field is precisely a concrete manifestation of this governance target in the financial market.
"We believe the reshaping of the competitive logic of the underwriting industry by the new rules will be concentrated in three aspects. First, the weight of price in competition will decline systematically; second, after the optimization of issuer selection mechanisms, the comparison standard will shift from a single fee rate to comprehensive service capability, and market share will further concentrate in institutions with outstanding pricing, research, and sales capabilities; third, as distorted pricing behavior such as prior price commitments and rebates recedes, issuance rates will more fully reflect market supply and demand and credit risk, and the price discovery function of the bond market will be repaired and strengthened," Zhang Xu said.
As for why supervision and guidance were strengthened recently, some analysts believe this stems from the current stable market environment. Data shows that in 2025, the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors supported more than 2,300 enterprises in issuing debt financing instruments totaling 10.1 trillion yuan, exceeding 10 trillion yuan for two consecutive years; in the first quarter of 2026, there were no new substantive default entities in the credit bond market. Good market stability has provided relatively ample buffer space and also provided an institutional foundation for the interbank bond market to serve the financing needs of the real economy with higher quality in the future.
"In the short term, these rules will help curb improper competition and benefit transmission in the primary market and improve the fairness and traceability of issuance pricing; in the medium and long term, the standardization of the issuance and underwriting links in the interbank market will improve bond pricing efficiency and investor confidence, and serve the high-quality development of the bond market," Zhang Lin said.
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