As the transition period for the "Measures for the Administration of Compliance of Financial Institutions" approaches, the banking sector is entering a critical window for establishing its compliance systems. On March 4, CBHB announced that its board of directors had reviewed and approved a proposal to appoint President Qu Hongzhi to concurrently serve as Chief Compliance Officer. His term in this dual role commenced on that date and will continue until the expiration of his current term as President. Qu Hongzhi currently holds the positions of Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Executive Director, President, and Chief Compliance Officer at CBHB.
This personnel arrangement is a significant move by CBHB to actively respond to regulatory policies and strengthen its compliance governance framework. In December 2024, the National Financial Regulatory Administration issued the "Measures for the Administration of Compliance of Financial Institutions," which explicitly require financial institutions to establish a Chief Compliance Officer position at the headquarters level. The measures stipulate that this role should be classified within the senior management hierarchy and permit it to be held concurrently by the President or other senior executives. These measures officially take effect on March 1, 2025, with a one-year transition period granted. With the deadline now imminent, major banks are accelerating the implementation of the relevant systems.
In fact, since the beginning of 2026, the banking industry has witnessed a wave of concentrated appointments for the Chief Compliance Officer role. In late February, several banks, including China Construction Bank, Bank of Lanzhou, Bank of Communications, China Zheshang Bank, and Qingdao Rural Commercial Bank, successively announced the completion of their Chief Compliance Officer appointments, marking a substantive advancement phase for the restructuring of compliance management architectures. Among these, CBHB, along with Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Zheshang Bank, and Jiangyin Rural Commercial Bank, have all assigned the role to their respective Presidents. Industrial Bank, Bank of Ningbo, and China Everbright Bank have appointed Vice Presidents to concurrently hold the position. Ping An Bank has assigned it to an Assistant President, while Bank of Communications has arranged for its Chief Risk Officer to take on the additional responsibility.
It is widely believed within the industry that having the President or other top executives serve concurrently as Chief Compliance Officer represents a "high-level allocation," reflecting the paramount importance banks place on compliance and internal control work. Previously, several industry experts pointed out that the establishment of the Chief Compliance Officer role is not merely about fulfilling regulatory requirements but signifies a deep-level restructuring of banks' internal governance and risk prevention systems. Integrating the compliance lead into the senior management echelon helps enhance the authority and independence of the compliance function, promoting the genuine integration of compliance requirements into business processes and operational decision-making. Against the backdrop of continuously strengthened financial risk prevention, this institutional arrangement is set to profoundly influence the operating models and sustainable development paths of the banking industry from the perspectives of organizational structure, decision-making mechanisms, and cultural development.
From major state-owned banks to city commercial banks, rural commercial banks, and even village and township banks, the organizational upgrade of compliance management is progressing orderly across the entire industry. This signals that China's banking sector is accelerating its transition from "formal compliance" to "substantive compliance"—where compliance is no longer confined to the institutional level but is gradually embedded into business frontlines and decision-making cores, becoming a crucial safeguard for driving high-quality development.
For CBHB, the ongoing refinement of its compliance governance system, alongside steady business development, will provide a more solid institutional foundation for its future growth. Public information shows that as of the end of September 2025, CBHB's total assets reached 1.9 trillion yuan, with total liabilities of 1.79 trillion yuan. From January to September 2025, the bank achieved a net profit of 4.988 billion yuan. Its capital adequacy ratio stood at 10.88%, with a tier-1 capital adequacy ratio of 8.99% and a core tier-1 capital adequacy ratio of 8.09%.
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