China launches probe on banks' wealth management products - paper

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's banking regulator has launched a nationwide probe of banks' wealth management products, the China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified sources.

The inspection by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) is focused on those products that channel depositors' money into a pool of assets, rather than a single account, according to the newspaper. Such products are not transparent and could create room for illegal operations, it said.

CBRC is urging banks to stop selling wealth management products that don't conform to rules by the end of April, the newspaper said.

China has strengthened supervision of its fast-growing wealth management sector since late last year, when one wealth product sold through Hua Xia Bank failed to pay its annualized return.

(Reporting by Samuel Shen and Kazunori Takada; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)