CHINA’S financial regulator plans to increase punishment for financial crimes and speed up the time it takes to prosecute them using regulation it calls “with teeth and thorns.”

The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), established last year to oversee China’s US$57 trillion financial sector, said Sunday in a statement on its official WeChat account that the approach would involve zero-tolerance for all illegal behavior and a willingness to “punish the higher-ups, not just the subordinates.”

The NFRA vowed to put into practice the spirit of the Central Financial Work Conference, a two-day meeting attended by top officials including President Xi Jinping late October, to prevent and control financial risks.

“Risks will spread if effective supervision against illegal behavior is lacking,” the statement says.

Li Yunze, NFRA director, used the term “with teeth and thorns” last month in an interview with Xinhua to describe how the NFRA would implement the directions given during the Central Financial Work Conference.

The NFRA said the regulation and strict law enforcement will allow authorities to nip illegal activities in the bud and to catch small problems before they grow into a regional, or systemic, risk.

“If law enforcement is not strict ... illegal activities will be reinvented and banned repeatedly, and market chaos will continue to emerge in an endless stream, which may even lead to the phenomenon of ‘bad money driving out good money,’ endangering financial order.”

As well as speeding up the time it takes to punish illegal financial activity, the NFRA also said Sunday that it will work with other agencies involved in tackling financial crime.

On Friday, the People’s Bank of China also pledged to enhance its market oversight in an effort to strengthen long-term prevention of corruption. The central bank said it will keep a close eye on key issues and targets, and continue to increase the intensity of punishment for any violations and crimes. (SD-Agencies)