中國暫停審批網絡貸款公司

China has halted all approvals for new online lending companies, sending a chill through the country’s fast-growing fintech sector, which has produced some of the biggest and most well subscribed offshore listings this year.

中國已停止審批新的網絡貸款公司，使國內快速發(fā)展的金融科技行業(yè)感受到一股寒意。該行業(yè)今年涌現(xiàn)了一些規(guī)模最大、受到最踴躍認購的境外上市交易。

The regulations came from a new state body set up to regulate internet finance. The rules also forbid fresh approvals of offline microlending companies that lend across provinces.

這些規(guī)定來自一個負責規(guī)范互聯(lián)網金融的新的政府機構。規(guī)定還叫停了對線下小額貸款公司跨省放貸的審批。

Existing companies will be allowed to continue operating but may see their operations more heavily regulated.

現(xiàn)有的公司將被允許繼續(xù)運營，但可能會看到他們的運營受到更嚴格的監(jiān)管。

Online lenders have faced criticism for extending loans without proper due diligence, adding to China’s bad-debt troubles. Some online lenders are thinly veiled scammers, offering high interest, short-term loans to vulnerable borrowers and employing unorthodox collection methods, such as demanding nude selfie photographs, as collateral.

在線貸款機構近來面臨批評，被指在沒有進行適當盡職調查的情況下發(fā)放貸款，加劇中國的壞債問題。一些在線貸款機構是幾乎不加掩飾的騙子，向弱勢的借款人提供高息短期貸款，并采用非正統(tǒng)的追討方式，比如要求自拍的裸照作為抵押品。

“[Regulators] are very scared that a lot of these firms have very little internal control and serious oversight as to who they are lending money,” said Christopher Balding, a professor at Peking University’s HSBC Business School.

“(監(jiān)管機構)非常害怕，因為這些公司許多都沒有什么內控機制，對他們向誰放貸也沒有認真的控管，”北京大學匯豐商學院教授克里斯托弗•鮑爾丁(Christopher Balding)表示。

The announcement caused shares for some of China’s biggest fintech companies listed abroad to drop overnight.

《關于立即暫停批設網絡小額貸款公司的通知》導致在境外上市的中國一些最大的金融科技公司股價隔夜下跌。

Chinese online insurer ZhongAn, which raised $1.5bn in an IPO last month in Hong Kong, dropped as much as 4.8 per cent on Wednesday.

中國在線保險公司、9月在香港通過首次公開發(fā)行(IPO)籌得15億美元的眾安(ZhongAn)周三下跌4.8%。

Online microlender Qudian, which raised $900m on the NYSE last month, saw its shares tumble as much as 16 per cent Tuesday in reaction to the news, before recovering. Ppdai, another online microlender that raised $221m on the Nasdaq earlier this month, ended Tuesday down 14 per cent.

在線小額貸款機構、上月在紐約證交所(NYSE)籌得9億美元的趣店(Qudian)，周二在消息傳出后股價一度大跌16%，之后才收復失地。另一家在線小額貸款機構、本月早些時候在紐約證交所籌得2.21億美元的拍拍貸(Ppdai)，周二下跌14%。

The share values of both Qudian and Ppdai were also hit earlier in the month by allegations they had misrepresented their business models.

趣店和拍拍貸的股價在本月早些時候就曾受到打擊，原因是它們被指對自己的商業(yè)模式有不實陳述。

Investors have shown strong interest in fintech despite Beijing’s regulation of the sector, with some of the most valuable IPOs in New York and Hong Kong this year driven by Chinese fintech.

盡管北京方面對該行業(yè)進行監(jiān)管，但投資者對金融科技板塊表現(xiàn)出強烈興趣，今年紐約和香港一些最大的IPO就是由中國金融科技企業(yè)進行的。

Over the past year, companies such as Xiangyuan Culture Group, a Shanghai-listed entertainment and leisure company, and Renhe Pharmacy Group, a Shenzhen-listed firm, announced plans to spin off an online micro-lending unit.

還有一些公司在過去一年宣布了設立在線小額貸款業(yè)務的計劃，如上海上市的娛樂休閑公司祥源文化以及深圳上市的仁和藥業(yè)(Renhe Pharmacy Group)。

China has seen its fintech sector grow rapidly as consumers increasingly turn to online platforms seeking credit. China does not have a standard credit rating system, making it difficult for borrowers and small businesses to receive loans.

隨著消費者越來越多地轉向在線平臺尋求信貸，中國的金融科技行業(yè)迅速成長。中國沒有一個標準的信用評級體系，使得借款人和小企業(yè)難以獲得貸款。

About 40 per cent of consumers in China make payments online, and 14 per cent have gone on the web to borrow money, according to DBS.

星展銀行(DBS)數(shù)據顯示，中國約有40%消費者在網上進行支付，同時有14%上網借錢。

Yet fintech’s fast growth has prompted a reactionary wave from financial regulators, who have tightened scrutiny this year after a spate of fraud and financial collapses within the peer-to-peer lending space. The new oversight body includes China’s central bank and banking regulators.

然而，金融科技的快速增長引發(fā)了金融監(jiān)管機構的反彈。在P2P貸款領域發(fā)生一連串欺詐和財務崩潰事件后，監(jiān)管機構今年加強了關注。新的監(jiān)督機構由中國央行和銀行業(yè)監(jiān)管機構組建。

“These are not companies with natural segues into the lending world so one of the natural worries is no one knows where this money is going,” said Prof Balding.

“這類公司并沒有進入貸款業(yè)務的天然使命，所以人們的一個擔心就是沒有人知道錢的去向，”北京大學匯豐商學院的鮑爾丁教授表示。