The LendIt team is excited to return to China for our second annual Lang Di Fintech conference on July 15...
Hexindai, a Chinese fintech company listed on the Nasdaq last Friday; according to the article Chinese firms are getting pressure from investors who want to cash out; tightening regulations are also a factor; Qudian, another firm went public last month and Rong360 may be the next Chinese fintech company to go public; Oliver Wyman reports that the market size for consumer lending will expand to $620 billion by 2020 with a compound annual growth rate of 49%. Source
Tencent has reported plans in a white paper for the development of a blockchain platform; the firm says it plans to use the platform for offering digital asset management, authentication and shared economies, among other services; the firm also says the platform will help it to collaborate with other firms; in its white paper, Tencent also advocates for blockchain development and government integration in China. Source
New regulations slowed the growth of P2P lending in China in 2016; data from P2P001 reports that transaction volume in P2P lending increased by 138% in 2016 to over 2.8 trillion yuan ($403 billion) however that was only half of the transaction volume growth reported in 2014 and 2015; on August 24, 2016 the government issued new requirements for the industry, one of which requires that lenders partner with banks for custodian services; this adds additional costs for lenders and as of the end of 2016 only 7.98% had partnered with a custodian bank. Source
The China Banking Regulatory Authority has mandated that all P2P lenders work with a custodian; a month after the requirement was announced, the majority of industry platforms have still not partnered with a custodian; most Chinese custodian banks do not offer P2P custodian services so the partnerships require added deliberation and communication; a number of new regulations are affecting the industry and it appears Chinese custodian banks will have a significant impact on the future of the industry given the online lenders they choose to partner with for P2P custodian services. Source
The new regulation came from a new state body focused on regulating internet finance; it put a stop to new approvals of offline micro lending companies; companies already in operation may see heavier regulation which has caused drops in the share price of recent IPOs including ZhongAn, Ppdai and Qudian. 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)
Jianpu listed on the NYSE on November 16th under code JT; it is the fourth fintech company to IPO in the US in the second half of 2017; others included Quidian, Hexindai and PPDAI; Jianpu is a subsidiary of Rong360 and has an active user base of 95.8 million; the platform has provided 170,000 financial products in more than 350 cities. Source
Yesterday, we concluded LendIt China 2015 and what a week it has been. The LendIt team was accompanied by delegates...
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)