According to the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations of Financial Institutions formulated by the People's Bank of China, "financial institutions" include: "(1) commercial banks, urban credit cooperatives, rural credit cooperatives, postal savings and remittance institutions, and policy banks; (2) Securities companies, futures brokerage companies and fund management companies; (3) Insurance companies and insurance asset management companies; (4) Trust and investment companies, financial asset management companies, finance companies, financial leasing companies, auto financing companies and money brokerage companies; (5) Other financial institutions determined and announced by the People's Bank of China. " The legal provisions do not specify whether ATM machines belong to financial institutions.
The Supreme People's Court defined the word "financial institution" in the crime of stealing financial institutions in the Interpretation of Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Theft Cases. Article 8 stipulates that "theft of financial institutions" as stipulated in Article 264 of the Criminal Law refers to the theft of business funds, securities and customers' funds of financial institutions, such as depositors' deposits, bonds and other funds and materials, and the settlement funds and stocks of enterprises, excluding the theft of office supplies and stocks of financial institutions. This regulation does not clearly define whether ATM machines belong to financial institutions.