SEC Releases Major New Regulations, Officially Effective May 1st

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Reporter | Cui Wenjing, Li Yuchen

Editor | Jiang Shiqiang, Wu Yanling

On March 13, the China Securities Regulatory Commission officially released the revised “Guidelines for Content and Format of Information Disclosure for Publicly Offered Securities Investment Funds No. 2—Periodic Reports” (hereinafter referred to as the “Guidelines”).

On the same day, the Asset Management Association of China issued the “XBRL Template for Securities Investment Fund Information Disclosure” (hereinafter referred to as the “XBRL Template”). Both documents will take effect from May 1, 2026.

It is understood that the “Guidelines” are normative documents for public fund information disclosure, consisting of 3 chapters and 36 articles. The revisions mainly focus on four aspects: integrating the periodic report disclosure system, clarifying key points for different reports, implementing higher-level legal requirements, and defining the self-regulatory management主体 for information disclosure.

Compared to previous rules, the most notable change in the revised public fund disclosure regulations is: reducing short-term performance disclosure requirements and adding medium- and long-term performance disclosure requirements. Fund managers are no longer required to disclose short-term performance for the past month in annual, semi-annual, and quarterly reports; instead, they must now disclose medium- and long-term performance data for the past 7 and 10 years.

Meanwhile, for actively managed equity and hybrid products, indicators such as investor profit share and turnover rate are also included in the disclosure scope.

The XBRL Template also requires fund managers to disclose related information such as stock turnover rate, long-term performance, and profit investor ratio simultaneously.

New Requirements for Disclosing Medium- and Long-term Performance over the Past 7 and 10 Years

Performance evaluation and short-term disclosure have been viewed as key barriers to institutional long-term value investing. The biggest highlight of the “Guidelines” revision is precisely this—replacing short-term performance disclosure with medium- and long-term performance disclosure requirements.

Previously, fund managers needed to disclose short-term performance for the past month in annual, semi-annual, and quarterly reports. Now, this monthly short-term performance no longer needs to be disclosed. Instead, fund managers are required to disclose medium- and long-term performance over the past 7 and 10 years.

This adjustment aims to guide the industry to focus more on the concepts of “long-term investment and value investing,” reducing excessive attention to short-term gains.

Additionally, the new rules require fund managers to disclose the proportion of profitable investors for actively managed equity and hybrid funds over the past year in annual and semi-annual reports, promoting greater emphasis on investors’ actual interests and enhancing their sense of gain.

Introduction of Turnover Rate Disclosure

Including stock turnover rate in the disclosure scope is another major highlight of this revision.

In response to the high turnover rates observed in some actively managed equity and hybrid funds, this revision emphasizes improving the stability of investment behaviors. There have been market voices suggesting that high turnover rates conflict with value and long-term investment principles and may lead to poor long-term returns for investors.

Therefore, the Asset Management Association of China requires fund managers to disclose stock turnover rate data for relevant products during the reporting period in annual reports through the XBRL Template.

This move aims to strengthen the transparency of investment behavior, urging fund managers and fund managers to adopt more cautious and rational investment approaches, correct overly aggressive behaviors, and guide the industry back to the fundamentals of “long-term and value investing.”

Systematic Integration of Disclosure Rules

Another feature of this revision is the systematic integration of the existing normative documents for annual, semi-annual, and quarterly reports.

Specifically, the new “Guidelines” merge the “Content and Format of Information Disclosure for Securities Investment Funds No. 2” (annual report), No. 3 (semi-annual report), and No. 4 (quarterly report) into a single normative document. It retains specific disclosure requirements tailored to each type of periodic report while updating the content and format requirements based on higher-level legal provisions and industry practices.

Notably, the “XBRL Template” is explicitly reclassified from a “normative document” to a “self-regulatory rule” of the Asset Management Association of China.

Once revised, the system will form a disclosure framework of “departmental regulations + normative documents + self-regulatory rules,” maintaining clarity and authority while enhancing flexibility and adaptability.

Additionally, many redundant disclosure contents have been removed to reduce industry burden and improve the quality of information disclosure.

Public Fund Disclosure Quality Reaches a New Level

Last May, the CSRC officially released the “Action Plan for Promoting High-Quality Development of Public Funds,” which emphasizes comprehensive display of medium- and long-term performance, benchmark comparisons, and investor profit and loss information.

Earlier, on January 30, to implement the “Action Plan” and strengthen transparency, the CSRC solicited public opinions on this “Guidelines.”

The reporter notes that compared to the draft for comments, the final release of the “Guidelines” shows little change in structure and content, mainly some wording adjustments. For example, in the clause about the CSRC’s authority to develop expandable business report language (XBRL), the basis was changed from “the Guidelines and disclosure activities” to “the ‘Disclosure Measures,’ the Guidelines, and disclosure activities”; “obligation to prepare” was changed to “information preparation obligation,” etc.

Based on the content adjustments and market feedback during the consultation period, overall market evaluation of the rule revision is positive, viewing it as an important step in implementing the “Action Plan” to strengthen transparency.

Some industry experts believe that the issuance and implementation of the “Guidelines” will further improve the standardization and transparency of public fund information disclosure, deepen the foundational institutional framework of the industry, and lay a solid foundation for long-term high-quality development.