HNA Group has a diverse portfolio of investments in a wide range of industries spanning from hotels to electronics and airlines; the Chinese-based company has now reported significant investment in the financial services industry with recent deals focused on the SkyBridge hedge fund platform, New Zealand lender UDC Finance and a 3% stake in Deutsche Bank; the investments from HNA follow encouragement by Beijing in global investments; they also reflect China's growing middle class and the expected demand for broadened investment options among Chinese consumers. Source
Ant Financial is building a new platform for selling money market funds online; it is also introducing "Fortune Accounts" which will sell a broad range of investment products to Chinese consumers through its wealth management app; the first companies to partner for the Fortune Accounts are Bosera Funds, Aegon-Industrial Fund, Tianhong Fund, China Southern Fund and CCB Principal Fund with more companies to be added in June when the platform launches; Ant Financial says it plans to only develop technology to improve platforms for financial institutions, branding itself as a techfin company with no plans to develop its own financial services. Source
Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission has entered into a cooperation agreement with the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to establish a framework to help each other develop the fintech industry; the two regulators will work together on information sharing, innovation projects and referrals of fintech firms seeking to enter one another's markets. Source
Chinese regulators are considering custodian requirements for bitcoin to help mitigate effects from its market risks; the custodian support appears to be welcomed by platforms and investors in China; overall, Chinese regulators are taking a more active role in bitcoin market activity as Chinese investors increasingly account for a majority of bitcoin's trading volume. Source
The report, "Payment: The Ecosystem Gateway" is the first one in Goldman Sachs' "The Rise of China FinTech" series; the report focuses on the emergence of new electronic payment methods, as payment is a crucial gateway to most other services, and this is where the innovators have gained the strongest footholds in China. Source (Chinese)
Investors in China are increasingly looking for an unbiased, lower cost option for managing their wealth; robo advisors are beginning to fill that void; the new firms are helping the non ultra rich access markets and helping the wealthy allocate their money without fear of a broker who is thinking of the corporate firm; though the data on robo advisors in China is currently thin, China Merchants Securities Co. believes that assets managed by robo advisors will reach over $750 billion by 2020. Source
Tala CEO Shivani Siroya not only points to the idea of building trust to grow a customer base but also belief in her instincts.
ICICI Bank, one of the “Big Four” banks of India introduced banking services on WhatsApp just three months ago; the...
The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) has issued a new guidance document titled, "Guiding Opinions on Risk Prevention and Control in the Banking Sector"; the document targets banking institutions and their risk prevention efforts related to internet finance businesses; it focuses on ten types of high priority risks and emphasizes the requirement that P2P lenders partner with a custody bank; in addition to further details on broad market rectification it also includes emphasis on student lending and microloan businesses. Source
Fang Fan has reportedly disappeared leaving investors unable to withdraw their funds from eight P2P lending platforms managed by Fan and controlled by Beijing Qiyuan Fortune Network Technology Co. in China; the platforms' investors are now unable to withdraw over 1 billion yuan ($145 million) in funds; platforms operated by Fang Fan included cmtouzi.com, naipinglicai.com, zaodianlicai.com, wanerjialicai.com, qianguan360.com, lexinglicai.com, xjinfu.com and huoniu360.com; cmtouzi.com continues to operate with a plan to provide investment withdrawals for investors. Source