China's fintech sector is growing with new technologies and companies developing solutions for payments, loans and online investing; Forbes provides details on the market and discusses challenges; while the market has been conducive to new innovation, tighter regulations could be a factor and a lack of skilled workers could also affect the market's development. Source
Chinese P2P lender Dianrong is looking to implement blockchain across their entire company to enhance transparency and security for their customers; this is in addition to a recently announced partnership with Taiwan-based Foxconn to launch a blockchain startup called Chained Finance; according to CoinDesk Dianrong's blockchain plans are detailed on their website and they explain using an ethereum-based solution designed to facilitate tamper-proof loan contracts, donations to charity and credit management; Dianrong is also rumored to go public sometime in the near future, though IPO talk has been discussed for a few years. Source
Chinese online lender Dianrong has reported plans for a merger with Quark Finance; the merger will create a broadened set of credit offerings; Dianrong is known as the "Lending Club of China" and Quark Finance offers a range of financial services for consumers and small business owners. Source
SenseTime has raised $60 million to support artificial intelligence technology development for the firm; SenseTime provides face recognition technology services to over 300 companies and also offers text, vehicle and image recognition; the firm's recent $60 million funding round was led by Shanghai-based Sailing Capital International. Source
Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and Tencent are leading e-commerce market growth, seeking to do everything from cloud computing to digital payments; the Chinese market infrastructure is also helping their business growth and their business models are rivaling comparative US companies; Jack Ma's Alibaba is expanding rapidly in the global markets with partnerships and acquisitions and Tencent is following closely with numerous acquisitions as well; investment bank Goldman Sachs estimates China's online retail market to double in size by 2020 to $1.7 trillion and aggressive market expansion from Alibaba and Tencent appears to be successfully supporting that estimate. Source
Chinese online consumer lender Yirendai has announced progression toward securitization of a portfolio of consumer loans; the firm has transferred an existing trust fund of RMB300 million ($43.6 million) used to fund loans on its platform to Bohai International Trust Co., Ltd., and the firm has completed the issuance of asset-backed securities in the amount of RMB300 million through private placements. Source
New York-based commercial real estate developer Tishman Speyer has partnered with CreditEase Wealth Management to invest $1.4 billion in China and other countries within the next three years; according to Tang Ning, CreditEase founder and CEO, the partnership will focus on long-term development, providing clients with globalized and diverse portfolios. Source
Alibaba payment affiliate Ant Financial has announced the acquisition of helloPay; the company is based in Singapore and will help support Alipay's strategic growth initiatives in Southeast Asia; its primary payments focus is on serving e-commerce platforms; helloPay will be rebranded as Alipay following the acquisition. Source
Pi Capital International LLC has advised Money360 on a $250 million structured debt facility; the funding comes from a financial institution in South Korea; Pi Capital was able to facilitate the transaction through its global alternative capital network. Source
Marvelstone Capital is working with fintech startup Smartfolio to develop a robo advisor solution for family offices; it will target family offices based in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and India; the robo advisor solution is being designed as a hybrid service for family offices with less than US$1 billion in AUM however Marvelstone will also market to family offices with AUM of US$1 billion to US$10 billion; it plans to launch the new solution in the third quarter of 2017. Source