China will soon be rolling out new licensing requirements for p2p lenders; The system will kick off in April with approvals slated to come at the end of this month, but many lenders aren’t aware of the filing process; in 2016 and 2017 many p2p lenders shut down and according to data there are around 2,000 remaining; it is expected that many of the 2,000 will not pass the new requirements; the new rules won’t allow platforms to guarantee loan payments and also limit loans to individuals and businesses; it will also require that platforms use custodian banks. Source
While speaking at the Asian Financial Forum Jiang Yang, vice chairman of China's Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said that fintech should serve the broader economy, not a select few; two markets mentioned in the talk included p2p lending and cryptocurrencies as they are two of the most popular areas of fintech in China; while Mr. Yang stated that fintech has provided more convenience they should not ignore risks like money laundering and financial crime; he also stated that regulators can play a key role to ensure these new tools are used properly and are widely adopted. Source.
A new study has found that borrowers in China are taking out loans from multiple platforms; of 61 online lenders in the study, 44% of their customers borrowed from multiple sources; it is difficult to prevent against this since p2p lenders don’t have access to all of the credit data of their borrowers and there is no centralized place for platforms to share data; the study was done by the Beijing Internet Finance Industry Association. Source
Innovative Finance Individual Savings Accounts or IFISAs has the potential to see millions pour into UK P2P lenders from retail investors; Samir Desai, CEO of Funding Circle, tells the FT, “We have done lots of surveys and a huge proportion of the base told us they would like to put all of the money they invest with us through the ISA.”; the IFISAs were approved in April 2016 but the big P2P lenders in the UK have just started to offer them. Source.
The Federal Reserve released a report saying that P2P loans resemble predatory loans; the report cautions on the industry’s rapid origination growth and rising defaults; they also say the industry as a whole has the potential to destabilize consumer balance sheets; the research also shows taking out a P2P loan hurts credit scores and credit card balances increase; the report also points to the benefits of taking out a loan as well. Source.
Longfin is a micro-cap company that is listed on the Nasdaq; the company offers foreign exchange as well as financing to small businesses; recently they acquired micro lender Ziddu.com which provides smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain; now the company is looking to make contracts available for p2p lending, warehouse finance, structured products and FX or OTC derivatives. Source
The EU is working on a license for crowdfunding and p2p platforms to operate across multiple countries across Europe; the aim is to simplify the work required in each specific country to operate; AltFi shares perspectives from multiple platforms in Europe on the plans for a license. Source
RateSetter saw pre tax losses jump to $31mn from $7.1mn due to a bad loan to an advertising company; RateSetter also saw revenues jump by 38 percent as well as increases in customers and borrowers; the bad loan was absorbed by the lender as they explained it fell outside their credit policy and it was unfair to put the losses on their investors. Source.
A recent report titled Three Myths About Peer-to-Peer Loans by the Federal Reserve of Cleveland makes some dubious claims about the marketplace lending sector; Lend Academy shares information from the report and questions the data provided. Source
The Financial Times’ Lex column explains that the P2P market in the UK can learn a great deal from the 2016 experience in the US; as lenders continue growing and look to achieve scale they should be careful to not overdo it; while troubles have occurred in the UK they have not reached the same level and lenders need to be sure to preserve credit quality. Source.