National Internet Finance Association (NIFA) of China on August 30 released ICOs risk alerts; the Association highlights two kinds of risks: 1) some projects raise money in the name of ICO with misguided publicity and this may lead to illegal fundraising; 2) the assets of some ICO projects remain unclear and the information disclosure is far from sufficient. Source (Chinese)
Dianrong and FinEX Asia have launched Asia's first fintech asset management platform; established in 2017, FinEX Asia connects Asian investors with US consumer lending assets, such as credit card loans, giving Asian investors access to a diverse portfolio of US consumer credit investments; FinEX Asia's fintech solutions offer risk modeling capabilities, blockchain data security, performance monitoring and secondary marketplace liquidity. Source
Chinese fintech company QuantGroup has filed an IPO application with the SEC, planning to raise $200 million from IPO; QuantGroup will start evaluating the needs of potential investors in as early as September; JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley are working as the financial advisors for this IPO. Source (Chinese)
Caixin reports that China's relevant regulators will take measures on ICOs; before ICOs are included into the nation's legal framework, it cannot be ruled out that regulators will ban such activities; People's Bank of China and China Securities Regulatory Commission are now discussing the measures. Source (Chinese)
The new private equity fund will invest in internet and other technology investments including artificial intelligence and internet finance; China Life will contribute up to 5.6 billion yuan ($840 million) and Baidu will contribute up to 1.4 billion yuan ($210 million); investments will focus on middle to late stage financing and according to Reuters will have a "significant association" with China. Source
ICOINFO, one of China's largest ICO exchange platforms, announces the suspension of new project launches, awaiting relevant regulatory rules; users will not be able to add value to their accounts during the suspension. Source
China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) is now consulting some blockchain companies on ICOs, China Business News exclusively reports; now it is in the phase of collecting suggestions and having discussions; CSRC will particularly keep tabs on the fraud projects that raise money in the guise of cryptocurrencies and ICOs. Source (Chinese)
HNA is one of China's most ambitious private conglomerate investors, investing $45 billion in global deals in the last three years with high profile deals including the buyout of Anthony Scaramucci's SkyBridge Capital, and multi-billion dollar stakes in Deutsche Bank AG and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.; Bloomberg reports on how the business is financed; its findings show a network of capital providers including a number of shadow bank lenders as well as trusts and asset managers resulting in over $10 billion of unlisted shares pledged to non-bank lenders and interest rates from shadow bank financings that far exceed benchmark rates from bank loans and bond issuances; Bloomberg reports additional details on HNA's financing structure and shadow banking loans as well as the shadow banking platforms it currently operates as subsidiaries. Source
CB Insights outlines five tech giants' notable investments, partnerships and M&A moves in the Southeast Asia region; the five tech giants included in the article are Alibaba, Ant Financial, Tencent, Didi Chuxing and JD.com; the article highlights Ant Financial's investments in Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia, as well as its strategic partnerships throughout Southeast Asia. Source
The China Banking Regulatory Commission has released new rules on disclosure requirements for online lenders; new rules additionally require online lenders to disclose the information of "compensation", which is the money that third parties pay for the loans that cannot be paid back by borrowers; stricter rules in terms of information disclosure will help investors to know the operational conditions of online lenders better. Source (Chinese)