UPDATE 1-China tightens anti-money laundering rules for financial firms

Rewrites to show the rules were published

SHANGHAI, Jan 26 (Reuters) – China on Wednesday published revised rules designed to strengthen financial firms’ ability to combat money laundering.

The revised rules, which regulates how financial institutions conduct due diligence on clients, and store their identity and trading data, will also bring China more in line with global anti-money laundering (AML) standards, China’s central bank said in a statement.

The new rules apply to non-bank payment companies and wealth management firms in addition to financial institutions covered by previous rules, such as banks, insurers and brokerages.

The rules, which take effect on March 1, were jointly published by the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The revisions were made after soliciting public opinions, the regulators said.

(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Louise Heavens)

((samuel.shen@thomsonreuters.com; +86 21 20830018; Reuters Messaging: samuel.shen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))