Using A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2007 to 2022 as samples, this study explores the impact of supply chain credit financing on corporate violations from a non-regulatory governance perspective. The results show that stable and sufficient supply chain credit financing has a restraining effect on corporate violations. Mechanism identification reveals that supply chain credit financing conveys positive signals through three pathways to constrain corporate violations. Further research finds that quasi-natural experiment regression results confirm the positive policy effect of the “Belt and Road” initiative in enhancing the restraining role of supply chain credit financing on corporate violations. The inhibitory effect of supply chain credit financing on corporate violations is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises and firms with higher supply chain concentration. Analyst coverage exhibits a complementary effect with supply chain credit financing, strengthening its restraining impact on corporate violations. In contrast, executive team turnover shows a substitution effect with supply chain credit financing, weakening its inhibitory effect on corporate violations.