Shanghai took the lead in creating a self-discipline mechanism for the personal foreign exchange franchise industry.

In order to implement the requirements of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange for risk prevention, strengthened supervision, and promotion of high-quality development, and to promote the healthy and sustainable development of the personal foreign currency exchange franchise industry in Shanghai, on March 19, the Shanghai branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange guided the establishment of the first national self-discipline cooperation group for the personal foreign currency exchange franchise industry. They aim to explore a self-discipline regulatory development model and enhance the modernization level of financial governance. Firstly, they will focus on the actual situation in Shanghai and strengthen governance at the source. By 2025, the total exchange volume of exchange franchise institutions in Shanghai will reach 220 million US dollars, serving 566,000 people and playing an important role in foreign payment services in Shanghai. While the industry is developing, some institutions also have risks. The self-discipline cooperation group aims to elevate the overall compliance level of the industry by formulating a self-discipline covenant and upholding the "three bottom lines" of compliant operation, fair competition, and customer rights protection. Secondly, they will promote the industry's transformation from passive regulation to active standardization. The self-discipline cooperation group will establish a rotation leader system, peer exchange and supervision, fair complaint handling, and unified industry information dissemination and public opinion management. They will adhere to the principles of "contractualization, lightweight, pragmatic win-win," and push the industry towards transforming from "passive compliance" to "active self-discipline" through a spirit of contract to achieve self-management and mutual improvement within the industry. Thirdly, they will organically integrate risk prevention and development promotion. The self-discipline cooperation group will build an industry ecosystem of information sharing, co-regulation of behavior, shared risk prevention, and collaborative development. They will conduct regular compliance training, complaint analysis, risk alerts, etc., to create a secure, efficient, and convenient exchange service system. By fully leveraging the positive effects of the foreign exchange market, they will provide high-quality cross-border financial services support for the development of Shanghai's real economy and the construction of an international financial center.