The Cosun Group has told investors it will be defaulting on $45 million worth of corporate bonds issued to investors through online platform Zhao Cai Bao; the online platform is run by Ant Financial Services Group, an affiliate of China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.; the bonds should be insured by Zheshang Property and Casualty Insurance Co. Ltd. however China Guangfa Bank is claiming the insured documents are fake; Ant Financial is working to help investors receive the insurance payouts for the bonds and says Zheshang Insurance has no reason to refuse payment which should have been made within three days of default. Source
Sources have reported that Zhongan is no longer considering an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong or the US due to a shifting market perspective; international interest and competitive pressures are cited as the main factors for the change in the IPO strategy; the insurance company was planning for an IPO in Hong Kong or the US sometime in the first few months of 2017; the China listing will likely delay the offering and the firm has not disclosed its new timing. Source
The court case for Ezubao has begun in Beijing; Ezubao and affiliated companies will be on trial for fraudulent investment of approximately 60 billion yuan ($8.6 billion); Ezubao's owners, Yucheng Holdings and Yucheng Global, were highly involved with the investments and will be on trial along with numerous other people associated with the fraudulent investment activities. Source
Chinese internet finance business, Lufax, is developing an online trading platform for Chinese investors that will allow them to invest in assets anywhere in the world; the firm is the world's second largest financial technology company; the trading platform it is developing will launch in 2017 and seeks to meet a demand from Chinese investors to diversify away from a depreciating yuan. Source
Greenland Financial is expected to report a profit after one year of business; the internet finance company is a newly developed business unit of Greenland Group which is known for its focus on real estate; Greenland Financial offers three main services 1) a wealth management platform with various investment products 2) professional asset allocation and wealth management services and 3) a cloud platform for internet technology and data analysis services; contributing to the success of China's real estate conglomerate, Greenland Financial's president, Yang Xiaodong, had the following comments about the company and its future growth: "The company's revenue and profit will double each year over the next two to three years. I am confident about that. And I hope after three years, the company will seek listing on the capital market." Source
The Cosun Group has issued notice that it would be defaulting on its high yield debt products equal to $45 million; Cosun raised $166 million through the Ant Financial platform and is now unable to meet obligations on a portion of that amount; this leaves investors asking when they will be repaid; Ant Financial is pressing to ensure repayments are made and has stated they would help pay legal bills if investors decide to sue; the fintech giant does not share the blame as they view themselves as a platform for investors to allocate capital, but they also understand the Ant Financial name carries weight and want to help make sure there is a resolution. Source
Asia fintech specialist Henri Arslanian from PricewaterhouseCoopers provides insight on Asia's fintech market; innovation and rapid adoption are factors that have helped China to be a global leader in fintech; support from Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent continue to be drivers of infrastructure growth; in Asia, demonetization and the India Stack project, which includes biometric data for consumers, are also increasingly helping the region's fintech growth; regtech is also an increasingly important trend across the region. Source
The Hong Kong-listed company is, according to one banker at HSBC, the answer to Facebook, WhatsApp, Spotify, Kindle and ApplePay, but all under one roof; based in Shenzhen, considered the Silicon Valley of China, they employ 3,000 people where over half are focused on research and development; they also have a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio; they are one of the top three companies in China and have successfully expanded worldwide with apps like WeChat. Source
New regulations in China tightening controls on P2P lenders will now require P2P lenders to partner with a custodian bank; Chinese banks are not eagerly partnering with the alternative lenders as fraud has been rampant in the industry; less than 5% of the country's 2,534 P2P lenders currently have a partnership with a custodian; custodians will add another layer of authentication for the P2P lending industry since they have high standards for money transfer and safekeeping; currently none of China's big four banks have partnered with P2P lenders for custodian services; smaller banks are getting involved and bank to platform relationships are taking on various forms. Source
A report from WDZJ and yingcanzixun.com titled, "2016 China Online Lending Monthly Report (Nov.)" provides insight on China's online lending market in November; says online lending originations reached a new monthly high of CNY 200 billion in November; total historical origination volume of over CNY 3 trillion; 2,454 platforms with eight new businesses and 98 entering suspension or closing down. Source