Smart Pay electronic payment fined for violating foreign exchange management regulations

Blue Whale News, February 25 (Reporter Huang Yujie)Recently, the Shenzhen Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange recently announced an administrative penalty decision. Zhifu Electronic Payment Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as Zhifu Electronic Payment) was given a warning and fined 44,000 yuan for violating foreign exchange registration management regulations.

According to the penalty decision, Zhifu electronic payment violated the relevant provisions of the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Simplifying and Improving Foreign Exchange Management Policies for Direct Investment (Hui Fa [2015] No. 13). The notice requires relevant market entities to submit stock equity data on domestic direct investment and overseas direct investment at the end of the previous year through the capital account information system of the foreign exchange bureau before September 30 of each year. Market entities that fail to comply with regulations will be subject to business control, and banks will not be allowed to handle foreign exchange business under capital for them.

Smart Pay electronic payment failed to submit relevant data on time, resulting in the foreign exchange bureau controlling it in the capital account information system. Although the company later updated the data and submitted a letter of explanation to the foreign exchange bureau, it was still subject to administrative penalties for violating foreign exchange management regulations.

The penalty is based on Article 48 of the “Foreign Exchange Management Regulations of the People’s Republic of China”, which stipulates that institutions that violate foreign exchange registration management regulations can be fined up to 300,000 yuan, and individuals can be fined up to 50,000 yuan.

Zhifu Electronic Payment was established in 2007 with a registered capital of 101 million yuan. The major shareholder is Zhifu Technology Group Co., Ltd., with a shareholding ratio of 93%. The company obtained a payment license issued by the central bank in 2012 and was successfully renewed in 2017 and 2022. After the payment license was changed, the business type of smart payment electronic payment was changed from Internet payment to Class I savings account operation.