China regulator publishes rules on mutual fund trading fees

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on Friday published rules to regulate mutual fund trading fees, set to take effect on July 1, 2024.

The rules aim to enhance the management of securities trading fees, standardize the allocation of trading commissions by fund managers and safeguard the legal rights of fund shareholders, the CSRC said in a statement.

The enactment of the regulations marks the completion of the second phase of the fee reform initiatives in the country's public fund industry.

The first phase, which concluded at the end of October 2023, focused on systematically reducing the management and custody fees for actively managed equity products.

According to the 2023 data, the new regulations are expected to reduce the annual total of stock trading commissions for public funds by 38 percent. The measures taken in the first two phases of the fee reform are projected to save investors approximately 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) annually in costs.