Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a revised "Enforcement Guidelines on Commercial Bank Fee-Charging Practices" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines").
The Guidelines refine the identification of违规收费行为 in areas such as syndicated loans, loan commitments, e-banking, and financial advisory services. New prohibitions include: - Fictitious syndicated loan fees - Charging commitment fees alongside loan interest - Forcing clients to issue guarantees for additional fees
Banks must strictly comply with SME classification standards, verify enterprise sizes, and proactively inform clients of fee waivers. If disputes arise, banks must provide proof that the enterprise does not qualify as a small/micro business.
**Four Core Principles for Bank Fees** The Guidelines mandate that fee-charging must adhere to: 1. **Legality**: Compliance with laws and regulations 2. **Voluntary Agreement**: Services must be provided based on mutual consent without tying fees to financing conditions 3. **Separation of Interest and Fees**: Banks must not disguise interest income as intermediary service fees 4. **Service-Value Alignment**: Pricing must reflect actual services rendered, especially for advisory, fund custody, and loan commitment services
**Transparent Pricing Requirements** Banks must prominently display: - Service items and details - Fee standards and applicable clients - Effective dates and complaint channels
New market-adjusted fees or rate increases require three-month advance notice per regulatory rules. Temporary discounts not reflected in price lists must be communicated in writing with clear start/end dates.
**Enforcement of Existing Discounts** Banks must actively implement published preferential policies. Clients must be notified when discounts expire and regular rates resume. For SME fee waivers, banks must verify enterprise size through system controls, client declarations, or third-party data.
**Prohibited Fee Practices** For government-regulated pricing: - Exceeding allowed floating ranges - Unapproved fee items or standards - Premature/delayed implementation of official rates
For market-adjusted fees: - Undisclosed fee items - Rates exceeding published standards - Charging for canceled services - Misrepresenting fees as government-mandated
**Unreasonable Fee Cases** - **Syndicated Loans**: Charging syndication fees for internal branch co-lending - **Loan Commitments**: Collecting commitment fees after disbursing funds - **E-Banking**: Forcing unnecessary digital services on borrowers - **Advisory Services**: Charging for unused AI/big data accounts
Assessment criteria include whether services were: 1. Mandated without client need 2. Activated without proper setup, rendering them unusable
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