Chinese lenders are moving into Southeast Asian countries to explore new opportunities in lightly regulated countries; according to Global Times, over 50 Chinese lenders have already launched overseas operations in countries like Indonesia and Cambodia; current entrants include well known names like CreditEase, Lufax and jimu.com; some lenders are opening up subsidiaries while others are focusing on partnerships with local companies. Source
First proposed in June and recently signed by Governor Cuomo the 7 person task force will be focused on reviewing online lending activities in NY; the task force will be chosen by the governor, president of the senate and speaker of the assembly; they will report their findings on small business and consumer lending back to the governor. Source.
While the full English report is still in the works KPMG releases their annual Fintech 50 for China; China has become one of the most important fintech markets in the world as some of the largest companies are from the market; they are also one of the most diversified markets as they have leading companies in insurtech, payments, regtech and online lending. Source.
Online lender SoFi closed their 12th securities for $769mn of private student loan notes; total issuance in 2017 reached $6.9bn which was up from $4.2bn in 2016; the deal featured 38 investors and joint lead managers were Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs; SoFi is in the top ten of ABS issuance in 2017 as they continue to utilize the markets better than any other online lender. Source.
We are winding down the year and approaching the time when the news cycle starts slowing down and everyone begins...
Discover Financial Services CEO David Nelms stated, “It really takes a decade of experience going through cycles to understand how to use credit bureau information to have good predictions…The funny thing is they’re not making money, even in a great cycle.”; Nathaniel Hoopes, executive director of the Marketplace Lending Association provided his own comments on the manner and how marketplace lending is putting pressure on credit card issuers and other traditional lenders. Source
Lend Academy shares recent initiatives from Barclays and PNC Financial Services as traditional banks move into the online consumer lending space. Source
With regulatory changes in China the online lender LexinFintech scaled back their IPO target from $500mn to $120mn; the company is looking to IPO next week and is offering 12 million shares at a price range of $9 to $11; recent IPOs by Chinese fintechs like Qudian have seen a significant drop in value after the regulatory push in China. Source.
While hosting their first investor day the online lender again cut guidance for profits and shares fell to record lows; “The last 18 months have been among the most challenging of my career, but my conviction has never wavered: consumer credit is a data problem that a technology-driven marketplace is well positioned to solve,” CEO Scott Sanborn said at the investor day; Lending Club has had is share of issues and new entrants like Marcus have begun to crowd the market; not all investors are put off by the news, Chinese investor Shanda said he was keeping the faith in the lender as they recently made a big investment. Source.
Junheng Li, founder of an independent research firm focused on Chinese companies provides an update on lending in China with the recent news of tightening regulation. Source