On December 20, Financial Associated Press reported (Reporter Liang Kezhi) that as the year-end approaches, many banks have announced structural adjustments to cope with next year's competitive landscape.

Two days ago, Bank of Nanjing announced that in order to better create value and promote high-quality development, it will undergo structural adjustments, including the establishment of a Technology Finance Department and a Retail Crediting and Credit Card Department; the Small Enterprises Finance Department will be renamed as the Inclusive Finance Department (Rural Revitalization Finance Department), and the Investment Banking Department will be renamed as the Investment Banking and Strategic Clients Department, among others.

On December 16, MINSHENG BANK's Board of Directors approved the proposal "On Adjusting the Setting of MINSHENG BANK's Credit Card Sub-center"; on October 21, MINSHENG BANK's Board of Directors had just agreed to adjust the resolution on the departmental settings of the head office. It is understood that MINSHENG BANK will merge the Real Estate Finance Department and integrate it with the Strategic Customer Department; the functions of Technology Finance and Investment Banking Management will be further merged into the Corporate Business Department.

A senior person from MINSHENG BANK's branch in a southern city stated to the Financial Alliance that, from a grassroots perspective, the recent head office restructuring encourages cross-domain operations to improve efficiency and comprehensive services. Mergers will be conducted for some businesses or departments that are expected to reduce in scale or have unclear output ratios. For example, the Investment Banking Department has basically been abolished.

Financial Associated Press reporters noted that this round of year-end organizational changes has two characteristics: first, the integration of head office departmental functions is evident in its intention to reduce costs and improve efficiency; second, specialized departments for the five key topics are being established.

Just in mid-November, CM BANK also completed a round of organizational adjustments. The former president of CM BANK's Corporate Finance Headquarters, Hou Weirong, was appointed as the general manager of the Institutional Customer Department and the Retirement Finance Department, with the position of president of the Corporate Finance Headquarters being canceled. The former president of the Foshan branch, Li Yunbo, took over as the new general manager of the Corporate Finance Headquarters.

Zeng Gang, director of the Shanghai Financial Laboratory, told Financial Associated Press that as the Statistics and assessment mechanisms for Retirement Finance and Technology Finance mature within banks, just like Inclusive Finance, the other four key topics could be optimized through management tools, leading to the establishment of specialized departments that may even become dedicated institutions.

There are both advancements and retreats; the core aim is to reduce costs and increase efficiency to preserve profits.

Facing a decline in net interest margins, reducing costs and increasing efficiency has become an important direction for banks' structural adjustments since the beginning of the year.

Ping An Bank announced in January the reform of the divisional system that has been implemented for ten years, merging the original six major industry divisions to form a Strategic Customers Department, while reducing the number of headquarters departments from 43 to 32, and also abolishing three retail area sales promotion departments.

In this year-end adjustment, the Bank Of Nanjing also has similar intentions: the Investment Banking Department is renamed as the Investment Banking and Strategic Clients Department, and the Private Banking Department is renamed as the Wealth Management and Private Banking Department; the Retail Basic Customers Department will be abolished.

In conjunction with the merging of the Real Estate Finance Department by MINSHENG BANK in November, it will be integrated with the Strategic Clients Department; the functions of coordinating Technology Finance and Investment Banking Management will be further merged into the Corporate Business Department.

It can be seen that the concentration of headquarters functions and business in banks is a major trend in the industry.

However, while shrinking certain businesses, the inclination towards credit cards and Technology Finance is also quite evident. For instance, Bank Of Nanjing has newly established a Retail Crediting and Credit Card Department, similar to MINSHENG BANK's adjustment of the Credit Card Sub-Center on December 16, indicating that retail credit may become one of the focus points for banks next year.

In the 2025 outlook report for the banking industry, Dongxing expects that corporate credit demand may remain stable next year, while retail loans may maintain low growth in the early stages of recovery. It is predicted that in 2025, the increase in credit will remain basically at the same level as this year (19 trillion) with a growth rate of about 7.4%; the new social financing will be 33 trillion, with a growth rate of about 8%.

Five major articles specifically set up Institutions or accelerate expansion.

This time, Bank Of Nanjing will also rename its small enterprises financial department to Inclusive Finance Department (Rural Revitalization Financial Department), and newly establish a Science and Technology Innovation Financial Department, which is expected to lead the Technology Finance Sector.

The reporter from Financial Associated Press noticed that in late August, Wang Jiang, the deputy director in charge of daily work at the Central Financial Committee Office, wrote in People's Daily that it is necessary to improve and enhance the Statistical standards and assessment and evaluation systems in key areas such as the financial 'five major articles', effectively utilize the role of assessment and evaluation as a guide to better serve the real economy.

Zeng Gang, director of the Shanghai Financial Laboratory, stated to Financial Associated Press that the assessment of the five major articles first has unified Statistical standards corresponding to the assessment and evaluation systems, and then, on this basis, constructs an incentive and constraint mechanism to ensure that credit resources can substantively support the five major articles. In this regard, inclusive finance is relatively mature.

According to regulatory data, by the third quarter of 2024, the loan balance issued to inclusive small and micro enterprises has reached 32.9 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate consistently maintaining above 14% since the second quarter of 2018.

In addition to inclusive finance, the specialization of Technology Finance is becoming more mature in the banking system. Recently, in a relevant financial technology forum, representatives from Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and Bank Of Beijing stated that their head office has already established a primary department for Technology Finance, and exclusive branches for Technology Finance have also been established at the grassroots level to enhance the service for Technology Finance.

According to Xue Min, assistant president of the Shenzhen branch of Industrial Bank, this year, Industrial Bank also upgraded its organizational structure and established a Technology Finance (Shenzhen) center in Shenzhen, focusing on expanding key technology industry customers as a direct management institution.

However, Zeng Gang believes that the business scale of banks' five major articles also affects the specialized operation and assessment; although there are external regulatory requirements, the internal business volume is indeed too small or just starting, making it objectively difficult to immediately form specialized departments. Different banks will have differences, and it is expected that both regulations and banks will adopt a gradual approach, establishing one as they mature.