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
Yirendai announced the appointment of Dr. Yichuan Pei as chief credit officer; Dr. Pei was recently vice general manager of Ping An Bank in Shanghai; "Dr. Yichuan Pei is a highly regarded credit expert with extensive experience in the financial industry. We warmly welcome him to join our senior management team. With Dr. Pei assuming his roles as chief credit officer, we are very confident to further enhance our market leading capabilities of credit underwriting and risk management," said Ms. Yihan Fang, chief executive officer of Yirendai. Source
Shanghai Securities News reported on market statistics and a continued commitment by Chinese authorities this week to manage fraudulent financing activities in the country; 5,197 new criminal cases were reported in 2016 involving 251.1 billion yuan ($36.5 billion); Yang Yuzhu, a Chinese regulatory director involved with a meeting of regulators, says, "The cases severely destroyed the order of financial markets."; in 2016 China approved the arrest of over 9,000 people on suspicion of illegal solicitation of public deposits and it prosecuted over 14,000; regulators plan to continue with enforcement action; they are also considering prohibiting organizations and individuals from publishing investment-related advertisements and are requesting provincial governments to closely examine potential illegal funding activities from May to July. Source
Sources report that Chinese online property and casualty insurance company Zhong An is planning for an initial public offering (IPO) in China; the firm was founded by Alibaba's Jack Ma, Tencent's Pony Ma and Ma Mingzhe from Ping An Insurance Group of China; a primary product for the firm is e-commerce shipping insurance which accounts for approximately 50% of the business; currently the firm's major shareholders include Ant Financial with 16% and Tencent Holdings Ltd. with 12%; in 2015 it reported a valuation of $8 billion and it currently plans to raise an additional 2 billion yuan ($290 million) to help it prepare for the IPO. Source
Innovate Finance is encouraging the creation of two new fintech hubs in Bahrain and the UAE; Innovate Finance's CEO Lawrence Wintermeyer spoke on the potential benefits of a fintech hub for Bahrain on Monday at the FinTech Enterprise Excellerate (E2) conference; while in Bahrain, Innovate Finance will also meet with Bahrain fintech regulators; later in the week Innovate Finance plans to meet with fintech supporters in the UAE. Source
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
What Banking For The Unbanked Means For You PPP spotlights shortcomings in credit unions’ small-business push Splitit is quickly adding...
Personal loans increased in Australia in March with credit card applications decreasing by approximately 4%; peer-to-peer personal loan borrowing is reportedly a factor driving personal loan applications which increased by 13.5% in March; according to the senior general manager of consumer products at Equifax, "The growth in personal loans has, in large part, been driven by newer lenders who cater to consumers' increasing demand for an online experience." Source
Chinese conglomerate HNA has reported it will buy a 25% stake in Old Mutual's US asset management unit; HNA will pay approximately $445 million; following the sale, Old Mutual will own 26% of the US asset management business, a decrease from 51%; Old Mutual is expected to also sell the remaining portion of the company with a number of offers from strategic buyers and private equity groups; HNA has been increasingly adding financial services companies to its portfolio with recent acquisitions including Deutsche Bank and Anthony Scaramucci's SkyBridge Capital. Source
Chinese regulators are preparing new rules that target the businesses of the country's small-loan lenders; recent rules have capped P2P loans at Rmb200,000 ($28,925) for an individual and Rmb1 million ($144,626) for a company however small-loan lenders fall far below these thresholds and regulators fear the companies do not have adequate risk controls; 2016 data shows China has 8,673 small-loan companies with loans totaling Rmb927 billion ($134.1 billion) and this is in comparison to approximately Rmb673 billion ($97.3 billion) outstanding from P2P lenders; China's small-loan lenders are active in the market, offering a range of lending solutions and reporting small-loan asset securitizations of Rmb82 billion ($11.9 billion) in 2016; as the country continues its focus on tightening regulation for China's P2P lending industry, Li Junfeng, director of the financial inclusion department at the China Banking Regulatory Commission, says it will be specifically addressing new regulations that target the country's small lenders. Source