The Central Bank of China has issued a directive demanding banks and financial organizations in the country to carry out thorough identity verification of their clients' accounts. The aim is to wipe out existing bogus accounts and anonymous or pseudonymous accounts, and stop providing services to clients whose identity is unclear.

 

　　Li Weihua is client manager at the Beijing branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. She says the verification process is not complicated.

 

　　"The verification process is very simple for clients. You only need to bring your bankcard or deposit book and your ID card, and our tellers will take care of everything. And it can be done at any branch of our bank."

 

　　Two types of accounts are major targets to be verified, namely those opened before June 30th 2007, and those opened after the date with non-residential ID certificates. The nationwide verification work is due to end by the end of this year, so all clients belong to the two types should have their accounts verified before that.

 

　　China initiated to put in place a policy of real-name registration on bank accounts in 2004, but it was not effectively carried out until 2007 when the Ministry of Public Security and the Central Bank jointly launched the national residents' information system on June 30th, allowing banks to check clients' information when they opened accounts. And that's why banks now draw the line at June 30th, 2007, for the verification work.

 

　　Lee Jie, a personal deposit manager at China Construction Bank, provides a further explanation.

 

　　"After the system was put into use, when clients wanted to open an account, we were able to compare the information they provided to us with what was registered at the Ministry of Public Security to ensure the information was true and valid. But before that, there might have been accounts opened with forged or fake IDs that we failed to recognize."

 

　　Many have fallen victim to smashing in the past few years, where con artists use cell phone text messages to deliver the "bait" to get you to transfer money to their bank accounts. Most get away easily since their bank accounts are registered under false names.

 

　　Huang Zhen, director of the financial law school at the Central University of Finance and Economics, says the identity verification can largely deter such fraud in the future.

 

　　"If the accounts were opened with real names, it would be much easier for the police to place the case on file and investigate. Real-name registration provides a technical base for preventing and clamping down on financial crimes."

 

　　Huang also says corruption and financial fraud often involve anonymous or pseudonymous accounts, and wiping out these accounts will certainly help curb such crimes.

 

　　"Large numbers of pseudonymous accounts provide windows for corrupt officials and financial criminals to transfer their assets overseas to wherever they escape and hide. wiping such accounts out can lay a solid foundation for anticorruption work. And if we open officials' bank records to the public in the future, we should make sure they don't have any anonymous accounts in the first place. All works will be in vain if they can keep money in such illegal accounts."

 

　　The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China have all started the identity verification work. Banks in Beijing are scheduled to finish checking 70 percent of targeted accounts.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Wang Wei.