China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange fined four lenders, including China Minsheng Banking Corp. Ltd. and Industrial Bank of Korea, for violating rules on providing guarantees for loans issued by offshore banks, Caixin reported Dec. 2.

The other two banks are Xiamen International Bank Co. Ltd. and Hong Kong-based OCBC Wing Hang Bank Ltd.

In addition to monetary fines, the regulator ordered a branch of Xiamen International Bank to suspend sales of foreign currency to corporations for three months. A Beijing branch of OCBC Wing Hang Bank was directed to halt all foreign exchange sales for three months. The four banks were fined between 1 million yuan and 8 million yuan, according to the report.

The regulator criticized the banks for their failure to conduct due diligence regarding transaction details, use of funds and debtors' qualifications and repayment abilities.

As of Dec. 1, US$1 was equivalent to 6.62 Chinese yuan.