Vice chairman Li Chao answered the reporter's questions on the joint release of the notice on further strengthening financial support to prevent and control the the novel coronavirus epidemic situation by the five ministries and commissions
Today, the People's Bank of China, the Ministry of finance, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission and State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly issued the notice on further strengthening financial support to prevent and control the novel coronavirus epidemic situation. Li Chao, member of the Party committee of the CSRC and vice chairman, accepted an interview with the reporter of China Securities Journal.

Reporter: please introduce the background of the announcement and the main work of the CSRC in epidemic prevention and control.
Li Chao: At present, the novel coronavirus epidemic situation affects the hearts of people, and the prevention and control of the epidemic is also at a critical stage. The announcement fully embodies the firm attitude of the financial system to resolutely implement the important directive spirit of general secretary Xi Jinping and the decision making and deployment of the Central Committee and the State Council, and to take the initiative in the implementation of epidemic prevention and control. It is also a concrete action taken by various departments of the financial system to strengthen policy coordination and work synergy and to form joint efforts of joint defense and joint control.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has taken immediate action to enhance the overall situation awareness and overall concept, and made the prevention and control of the epidemic as the primary political task and the most important work. The Party committee of CSRC established a leading group for epidemic prevention and control headed by Yi Huiman, strengthened overall planning and dispatching, mobilized all parties' forces, implemented detailed prevention and control measures, and conscientiously fulfilled the responsibilities of local people. First, we will make arrangements for the response to and opening of the capital market. We promptly studied the policies and measures of the capital market to support the prevention and control of the epidemic. Closely follow up and monitor the operation of the overseas market during the festival, strengthen the analysis and judgment of the domestic market trend after the festival, and make response plans. Supervise and urge all securities fund and futures operating institutions to do a good job in epidemic prevention and control in terms of improving service methods, maintaining business stability, caring for employees, etc. Second, we will work hard to prevent and control the epidemic situation in the CSRC system. Party committees at all levels of the compaction system shall take the initiative to cooperate with the local Party committee and government to strictly implement the requirements of epidemic prevention and control. Third, we should widely mobilize industry forces to participate in mass prevention and control. Organize relevant associations to send proposals to industrial organizations and listed companies, call on all parties in the market to actively fulfill their social responsibilities, support the epidemic prevention and control work through various ways such as donation to the epidemic area, and gather the strong positive energy of the capital market to overcome the difficulties.
In the notice jointly issued by the five ministries and commissions, there are nine measures directly related to the capital market. The general consideration is that, in accordance with all the principles conducive to epidemic prevention and control and promoting the smooth operation of the capital market, special policy arrangements should be made in special periods, market laws should be respected, regulatory flexibility should be reflected, financial support should be provided to regions, enterprises and investors seriously affected by the epidemic as soon as possible, so as to make the supervision of the capital market Warmer.

Reporter: the occurrence of the novel coronavirus epidemic situation has a great impact on the operation of enterprises in Hubei and other areas with serious epidemic. What are the supporting measures of CSRC?
Li Chao: Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus epidemic situation, the production and investment of some industries and enterprises in Hubei and other areas with severe epidemic situation have been greatly affected, especially the liquidity difficulties faced by many small and medium-sized enterprises have increased. In response to these problems, we will increase policy preference, give full play to the function of capital market mechanism, give priority to providing efficient and convenient direct financing services to relevant enterprises in severe epidemic areas, and help them overcome the impact of the epidemic disasters.
First, for the enterprises registered in Hubei and other areas with serious epidemic situation and the enterprises whose funds are mainly raised for epidemic prevention and control, on the one hand, implement the green channel policy for the issuance of corporate bonds and asset-backed securities, optimize the working process, and implement the "special docking and special audit"; on the other hand, in combination with the deepening of the New OTC Market reform, green channels are set up for the listing of related enterprises and the issuance of shares, i.e. report for immediate review, special personnel docking, priority review, and listing (issue) after review.
Second, encourage private fund managers to give full play to their professional advantages and guide more social funds to flow to medical equipment and vaccine drug R&D and production enterprises related to epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic. From now on, Asset Management Association of China will implement the green channel policy for the filing application of private equity funds, venture capital funds and asset management products established by securities and futures operating institutions that invest in the above fields, simplify business processes and improve service efficiency.
In addition, we have also made special policy arrangements for serious epidemic areas such as Hubei with regard to stock pledge financing, securities margin trading and other businesses.

Reporter: Recently, there have been continuous reports from institutions. Affected by the epidemic situation, listed companies are facing some new challenges in terms of information disclosure, corporate financing, merger and acquisition. What are the considerations and arrangements of the CSRC?
Li Chao: We have paid close attention to these situations, organized in-depth investigation on the situation of listed companies affected by the epidemic, and actively studied and implemented targeted policies and measures.
One is to study the delayed disclosure of periodic reports. According to the securities law, listed companies need to disclose their annual reports audited according to law before April 30. But at present, affected by the epidemic, some listed companies whose main businesses or audit teams are in Hubei Province may not complete the annual report audit on time. According to the preliminary arrangement, there are more than 60 listed companies registered in Hubei Province. At present, we are actively working with relevant departments to study and demonstrate, comprehensively assess the impact, make proper arrangements according to the development of the epidemic situation, and effectively link up with existing laws, regulations and relevant rules on the premise of legal compliance. In order to support listed companies to do well in epidemic prevention and control and related information disclosure, at present, Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange and national stock transfer companies have set up special service channels to receive communication and consultation from listed companies and listed companies at any time.
Second, for the listed companies that are affected by the audit work and are expected to be difficult to disclose the 2019 annual report on the original appointment date, they can apply to the stock exchange for an extension of the disclosure to April 30, 2020 in accordance with the regulations. If some listed companies are required to disclose the 2019 performance forecast before January 31 (later extended to February 3 due to market closure), or the performance express before the end of February, they may also apply to the exchange for an extension of disclosure. As for whether to postpone the disclosure of the first quarter report in 2020, we are also studying and will make relevant arrangements.
The third is to appropriately relax the time limit related to M&A and restructuring business. Considering that the current epidemic situation in some regions is relatively serious, some M&A and restructuring projects are difficult to update financial information, conduct audit or evaluation, etc., so it is impossible to carry out field investigation and verification in areas with serious epidemic situation, we will appropriately extend the validity period of financial information of administrative license for M&A and restructuring and the time limit for issuing the notice of convening the general meeting of shareholders after the disclosure of the restructuring plan. After in-depth assessment of the specific impact of the epidemic on the restructuring project and full disclosure, the company can apply to the CSRC or the stock exchange for a one-month extension according to the progress of the project; the company can apply for three times of extension at most.

Fourth, reasonably extend the validity period of relevant business licenses such as stock and bond financing. In order to strengthen the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus epidemic situation, effectively reduce the flow and aggregation of people, and block the spread of the epidemic, we will try our best to reduce the impact of the epidemic on the issuer based on the principle of facilitating the administrative counterpart. The time limit for the reply of the issuer's feedback, the time limit for the reply of the notice, the time limit for the termination of the review after the expiry of the validity period of the financial statements and other time limits related to the review of the issuance, as well as the validity period of the refinancing approval that has been issued, shall be suspended from now on. According to the situation of epidemic prevention and control, we will notify the time of resumption of calculation. At the same time, for the issuer whose official approval document of administrative license for public issuance of corporate bonds is about to expire, if it is difficult to complete the issuance within the period of validity affected by the epidemic situation, it may, according to relevant regulations, apply to the CSRC before the expiration of the period of validity of the official approval document of administrative license to extend the period of validity of the official approval document of administrative license.

Reporter: affected by the epidemic, some securities fund operating institutions may not be able to implement the annual report audit work on schedule and the risk control indicators do not meet the regulatory standards. How can the CSRC deal with these problems?

Li Chao: first, it is allowed to postpone the relevant work of the annual report. In consideration of the impact of the epidemic on the audit process, for the securities fund operating institutions in Hubei and other areas greatly affected by the epidemic, they can apply to the local securities regulatory bureau for an extension of 1-2 months to handle the audit, disclosure and filing of the annual report according to the impact of the epidemic; the audit work of the public funds or other assets management products managed by the above-mentioned institutions shall also be compared handle.

Second, we should appropriately relax the relevant regulatory standards. If a securities operating institution is unable to supplement its net capital in time due to the impact of the epidemic, or is unable to dispose of relevant businesses or assets in time in order to relieve the liquidity difficulties of customers affected by the epidemic, resulting in the relevant liquidity and other risk control indicators not meeting the regulatory standards, the company shall explain the relevant situation, study and grant exemption after being evaluated by the local securities regulatory bureau, and make full adjustment as the case may be to guide its steady operation. In addition, for areas with more severe epidemic, after taking effective measures to prevent risks and conflicts of interest and reporting to the local securities regulatory bureau in advance, the securities fund operating agencies can make appropriate and flexible arrangements in terms of job rotation, isolation and balance, process control, etc.

In a word, the CSRC will continue to support securities fund management institutions to supplement capital and optimize liquidity arrangements. Securities fund management institutions should also proceed from the overall situation, uphold professional spirit, give full play to professional advantages, and jointly maintain the smooth operation of the market.


Reporter: after the outbreak of the epidemic, many listed companies in Hubei are facing difficulties in operation, declining profitability and increasing financial pressure. What measures does the CSRC take to reduce the burden on enterprises?

Li Chao: after the outbreak, the CSRC paid close attention to the operation and actual difficulties of Listed Companies in Hubei Province. We fully supported the listed companies in Hubei Province to resume production as soon as possible and ease the operation pressure. The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges decided that, on the basis of reducing the initial listing fee and annual fee of listed companies last year, they would exempt the annual listing fee of Hubei listed companies in 2020, and the annual listing fee and initial listing fee of new listed companies in Hubei in 2020, so as to effectively serve the economic recovery and healthy development of Hubei region. The National Stock Transfer Company decided to exempt the initial fee and annual fee of newly listed companies in Hubei Province, which is seriously affected by the epidemic, and the annual fee of listed companies in 2020 in this region, so as to help listed companies to tide over the difficulties. In addition, in view of the actual difficulties encountered by the futures operating institutions in Hubei Province in this epidemic, the futures exchanges decided to exempt the annual membership fees and seat use fees of the members of the futures companies in Hubei Province this year, so as to help the futures companies in the front line of fighting against the epidemic ease the operating pressure.

Reporter: what are the next steps of the CSRC in strengthening financial services and maintaining the smooth operation of the market?

Li Chao: at present, the situation of prevention and control of epidemic situation caused by novel coronavirus is still complex and severe. In addition to the implementation of the above-mentioned nine measures, CSRC will further strengthen the supervision and guidance of each exchange, China Settlement, industry institutions, etc., effectively dispatch financial resources, and ensure the smooth and orderly operation of capital market infrastructure and smooth and convenient financial services. First, we will strengthen the relevant infrastructure services. It is required that the stock and futures exchange, China Settlement and the national stock transfer company do a good job in personnel allocation, system operation and maintenance and technical support, improve the emergency response mechanism for all kinds of emergencies, and ensure the normal and orderly operation of business links such as issuance, trading, clearing and settlement. Optimize the business process of securities issuance and listing, encourage online submission of issuance materials, remote filing and registration, and improve service efficiency. Second, we will strengthen the protection of basic financial services. To guide the securities fund and futures operating institutions to do a good job in cleaning and disinfecting the business places and actively guide investors to take more off-site trading activities in order to prevent the spread of the epidemic and protect the health of investors. Third, we will strengthen investor services and protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors. We will further unblock the channels for investors' letters and visits, and urge industry institutions to provide good services, guide investors to view the impact of the epidemic rationally and objectively, and adhere to the concept of long-term investment and value investment.

The CSRC will continue to fully implement the requirements of the deployment of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adhere to the combination of strengthening epidemic prevention and control and maintaining the stable and healthy operation of the capital market, organize and mobilize all forces of the CSRC system and the market, strengthen confidence and work together in the same boat, with a more firm attitude, more powerful measures and more active actions, and spare no effort to do a good job in epidemic prevention and control. At the same time, based on the overall situation, we should make solid preparations for the smooth opening of the capital market, strengthen public opinion guidance and expected management, promote the stable operation of the market, and play a due role in winning the prevention and control of the epidemic, and make positive contributions.