China orders banks to improve legal compliance

China's top banking regulator ordered lenders on Thursday to do more to improve in-house risk controls after auditors discovered a series of irregularities. "The frequent occurrence of major cases has become a serious problem, damaging the image of banks," Liu Mingka chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said.
The agency posted the statement after Liu met five state-owned banks. The CBRC said it had found 53 illegalities at the banks in the first half of 2007, involving 385 million yuan. For any case involving 1 million yuan ($132,600) or more, managers should also be held responsible, the CBRC said.