China Securities Association Drafts New Conduct Rules for IPO Sponsors

The draft's most pointed provision treats AI output as a tool that cannot stand in for the sponsor's own judgment, a signal that regulators see automation creeping into gatekeeping work without a matching rise in accountability. Extending the conflict-of-interest net to pre-investment before approval and benefits after termination targets the gray zones where sponsorship economics can quietly distort diligence. Whether the industry's feedback softens those retrospective-benefit clauses is the open question.