China orders audit of $3-T trust industry – Bloomberg News

China’s top auditor is conducting a review of the $3-trillion trust industry, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

China’s trust industry has been a key part of the country’s shadow banking business, which helps channel deposits into risky investments via products often designed to dodge capital or investment regulations.

For the past month, China’s National Audit Office has been inspecting the books of at least 20 trust firms to gauge the risks they pose to financial stability, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The firms are being asked to report on their risky loans to developers and any plans to dispose of them, the report added.  Akriti Sharma