Lack of information transparency is the most noticeable characteristic of the current domestic bank-launched wealth management market, stated a report published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) over the weekend.

Six domestic and foreign-funded banks, including HSBC, Citibank, Hang Seng Bank, East Asia Bank, Everbright Bank and China Merchants Bank, are being blacklisted for non-transparent operations of their wealth management products.

Due to the lack of information, investors have no idea about the operations of the products they buy and when their investment returns are zero or negative, they will voice strong complaints about these banks.

Banks do not have detailed information on their wealth management products on official websites nor do they include statements on yield to maturity, investors said.

Yin Jianfeng, an official from the Financial Research Institute of CASS, said that investors have the right to know where their money is invested. In case of emergencies, they have the right to redeem their money in advance, just as fund investors do. China still does not have clear regulations regarding information disclosure for wealth management products.

For more details, please read the full story in Chinese (http://www.bbtnews.com.cn/news/channel/political39889.shtml).

(China.org.cn March 3, 2008)