Chen Wei accumulated losses of over 489,400 yuan ($71,154) from lending platform Jiedaibao, operated by Renrenxing; the Chinese platform facilitated transactions between borrowers and lenders, allowing lenders to set their own interest rates and manage their own credit lending strategies; Renrenxing managed oversight of the platform including responsibility for collections; Chen's strategy was to borrow from platform lenders at low rates and lend to borrowers at higher rates, benefiting from the difference; Chen initially reported success but then increased borrower defaults led to losses of over 489,400 yuan ($71,154); Chen was subpoenaed by Jiedaibao for the funds he owed; Jiedaibao later dropped the case but Chen is now suing Renrenxing for the money owed from borrowers; more than 30 users have now filed court cases against Renrenxing for payments totaling over 22.5 million yuan ($3.27 million); new regulations have now been instituted to stop intermediaries from offering protection against losses. Source
Dalian Wanda Group is a Chinese multinational conglomerate and the world's largest private property developer and owner; it is rumored that the Wanda Group may be interested in acquiring European bank ownership to build out its financial division; current financial businesses include an investment company and Aeon Life Insurance; speculators report the Wanda Group would face challenges acquiring a European bank due to regulatory constraints around banking industry involvement. Source
Bank account applicants must now have assets at the bank averaging 5 million yuan ($730,000) per day over the past three months, this threshold is an increase from 50,000 yuan ($7,280); the changes are being enacted to help restrict capital outflows and ease depreciation of the yuan; sources also report that the Bank of China has taken steps to set additional terms for restricting capital outflow; China Construction Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have reported they have no intention to implement similar rules. Source
China has developed a new Chinese village called Yuhuang Shannan which it has designed for the hedge fund community; a quiet village an hour from Shanghai offers a newly designed community tailored to the hedge fund industry with local office space, an elementary and an after work club for financiers; the number of hedge funds has been increasing in China and 1,000 hedge funds and private equity funds are registered in the village with assets under management of approximately 580 billion yuan ($84 billion); it's likely that hedge funds could become more prevalent in China and the village is receiving ongoing support from the government which currently includes a 30% tax bill subsidy. Source
SoftBank is a telecommunications and internet focused business with its headquarters in Japan; the firm has announced it will be acquiring asset manager Fortress Investment Group for $3.3 billion; SoftBank owns and invests in a range of internet and digital businesses; the acquisition follows a previous collaboration between SoftBank and Fortress on a new $100 billion Vision Fund; Fortress will be run independently from SoftBank after the acquisition and will be led by existing Fortress principals Pete Briger, Wes Edens and Randy Nardone with close collaboration on the Vision Fund. Source
Singapore software-as-a-service company Lenddo has announced a new data partnership with Experian to support financial inclusion in Indonesia and Vietnam; the partnership will provide data analytics technology for Experian's Consumer Financial Inclusion Indexing platform; through the combined services of Lenddo and Experian, underserved banking consumers will gain access to financial services including remittances, savings, credit and wealth management services. Source
Hexindai sees credit market opportunity in China worth 10 trillion RMB ($1.46 trillion); provides insight on the market in their featured blog post; with high net worth clients primarily served by traditional channels the firm is targeting the country's underserved population; says new and evolving technologies will be a factor helping emerging service platforms like P2P online lending gain market share. Sponsored Blog Post
HNA Capital is a private Chinese company gaining market attention in recent weeks for its acquisition of Anthony Scaramucci's Skybridge Capital and interest in acquiring more asset management businesses including Old Mutual's asset management division; the company has been acquiring assets now worth $145 billion with revenue of $45 billion annually; HNA Capital sees a market opportunity for asset management businesses with market volatility expected during the Trump administration and more investors shifting to actively managed strategies. Source
Nuoyuan Technology is optimistic about financial innovation in China and globally; the firm is growing its business in China and through its subordinate business, Nuoyuan Online Platform, offers a service that connects borrowers with lenders; Nuoyuan Online has now helped to finance over 5 billion RMB and has over 600,000 users; in their featured blog post they discuss the global market for fintech innovation and their expectations for the future. Sponsored Blog Post
New Zealand-based marketplace lender Harmoney has announced the launch of its services in Australia; the firm has opened an office in Brisbane and plans to begin with $200 million in capital to lend; the firm has also signed agreements for institutional funding for the next three years; rates will start at 8.99% and the firm will offer loans from $5,000 (USD$3,829) to $35,000 (USD$26,801). Source