This week’s WeiyangX’s Fintech Review in Crowdfund Insider covers a Reform plan by China to combine the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) & the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) into one entity; Ant Financial struck an agreement with Pakistan’s Telenor Group to acquire 45 percent of Telenor Microcredit Bank for more than $184mn; JD Finance is raising more than $2bn for license acquisition, research and marketing; China is also looking to establish a standardization committee for uses of blockchain technology. Source.
Chinese regulators are preparing new rules that target the businesses of the country's small-loan lenders; recent rules have capped P2P loans at Rmb200,000 ($28,925) for an individual and Rmb1 million ($144,626) for a company however small-loan lenders fall far below these thresholds and regulators fear the companies do not have adequate risk controls; 2016 data shows China has 8,673 small-loan companies with loans totaling Rmb927 billion ($134.1 billion) and this is in comparison to approximately Rmb673 billion ($97.3 billion) outstanding from P2P lenders; China's small-loan lenders are active in the market, offering a range of lending solutions and reporting small-loan asset securitizations of Rmb82 billion ($11.9 billion) in 2016; as the country continues its focus on tightening regulation for China's P2P lending industry, Li Junfeng, director of the financial inclusion department at the China Banking Regulatory Commission, says it will be specifically addressing new regulations that target the country's small lenders. Source
The CBRC issued a warning that the surge in consumer loans could pose a risk to the country's lending system; they noted that lenders should not try to push up the consumer leverage ratio and they should take lessons from the US subprime mortgage crisis; recent reviews of loan books show misuse of loans for housing down payments and banks need to stay closer to lending regulations. Source.
According to a paper by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) blockchain technology should be adopted by China’s secondary loan market; as CoinDesk reports the paper came out of a trip made by the regulator to their counterparts in the UK and France; European banks are putting together a program to test blockchain technology for the issuance of syndicated loans; the CBRC also considers blockchain technology to potentially be helpful for automating compliance. Source.
In this week’s WeiyangX Fintech Review reported by Crowdfund Insider they cover the rumors that the CBRC suspended online lending by private banks; private banks were only permitted to be in operation for the last 3 years and this news is reported to be done because of concerns over stability at the banks; a charity crowdfunding platform, Fenbeichou, was accused of fraud; the PBOC released new rules for mobile payment security including all QR code providers now need a permit. Source.
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
Chinese regulators have issued new guidance for P2P lenders in further efforts to regulate China's fintech industry; the new guidance requires P2P lenders to register with the government which will also help regulators to build an industry database for development of future regulation; regulators involved with the new guidance include the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. Source
Crowdfund Insider reports on regulatory developments in China's financial services sector; provides some additional insight on the CBRC's newly released document outlining ten high priority risks; according to Crowdfund Insider the chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), Xian Junbo, has now been placed under investigation as the country seeks to regulate the financial services industry overall. Source
Crowdfund Insider provides a roundup of news occurring in China's alternative finance market; the China Banking Regulatory Commission has released more details on its guidance for online lending partnerships with custody banks; also noteworthy is the potential initial public offering in the US by China Rapid Finance. Source