陆金所IPO因监管原因推迟

Lufax, one of China’s largest peer-to-peer lenders and online wealth managers, has delayed its highly anticipated initial public offering and may push back the listing until next year, several people familiar with the matter said.

几位知情人士表示，中国最大P2P银行及网上理财公司之一陆金所(Lufax)推迟了备受期待的首次公开招股(IPO)，其上市或许会推迟至明年。

The delay of the flotation for regulatory reasons will put a damper on Asia’s equity capital markets this year after Ant Financial Services also decided to hold off its listing until, at the earliest, the last quarter of 2018, the FT reported last month.

这一因监管原因而导致的上市推迟将继蚂蚁金服(Ant Financial Services)之后，为今年的亚洲股权资本市场再次浇上一瓢冷水。此前，据英国《金融时报》上个月报道，蚂蚁金服也决定将上市推迟，其上市最早得到2018年最后一季度才会启动。

Lufax, which is controlled by Ping An Insurance, was valued at $18.5bn after a round of fundraising in early 2016. Ant, an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, was last valued at $60bn. The listing was projected to raise up to $5bn and was one of most followed capital market events of 2017.

陆金所由平安保险(Ping An Insurance)控股，在2016年初的一轮募资后，其估值曾达到185亿美元。蚂蚁金服则是中国电子商务巨头阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的一个附属公司，最后一次估值达到600亿美元。陆金所的上市预计要筹集最高50亿美元，是2017年资本市场最受关注的活动之一。

Lufax declined to comment.

陆金所拒绝置评。

While the companies never sent official timelines for the listings, the two IPOs, as well as that of Zhong An Online Property and Casualty Insurance, were watched by many bankers hoping for a blockbuster Asian IPO calendar in 2017, following a lacklustre 2016.

尽管上述企业从未发布官方上市时间表，这两宗IPO交易以及众安在线财产保险股份有限公司(Zhong An Online Property and Casualty Insurance)的IPO受到了许多银行人士的关注，他们希望在2016年的低迷之后，2017年会迎来亚洲IPO的爆发。

Global IPO volume fell 32 per cent in 2016 to $133bn, the lowest activity since 2012, according to Dealogic. Last year’s largest public listing globally was Postal Savings Bank of China’s $7.5bn flotation.

根据Dealogic的数据，2016年全球IPO规模下滑32%至1330亿美元，活跃性是2012年以来的最低程度。去年，全球最大规模的公开上市是中国邮政储蓄银行(Postal Savings Bank of China)75亿美元的上市。

A lack of clarity from regulators on China’s online wealth management industry has held back the Lufax IPO, several people familiar with the company said.

多位熟悉陆金所的人士表示，阻止陆金所上市的，是监管机构对中国网上理财行业模棱两可的态度。

“For Lufax, the regulation is like a time-bomb,” said one banker familiar with the company’s situation. “Nobody knows what it’s going to do.”

一位熟悉陆金所情况的银行人士表示：“对陆金所来说，监管就像一枚定时炸弹。没人知道它会做什么。”

China’s online finance industry has been hit with a wave of regulatory change this year.

今年，一轮监管变革沉重打击了中国在线金融行业。

The market has been rocked by billion-dollar scams over the past two years that have prompted ordinary people to take to the streets in protest. More than half of the country’s peer-to-peer lenders, or online platforms that connect lenders and borrowers outside of the banking system, are expected to be pushed out of the market by new rules.

过去两年的几起规模数十亿美元的骗局震撼了这一市场，令普通人走上街头举行抗议。中国逾半数P2P银行（即在银行体系外为借方和贷方建立联系的在线平台）预计会被新规定挤出市场。

One incident in particular has led to increased uncertainty for companies such as Lufax that sell investment products on online platforms.

有一个事件尤其加大了陆金所等在网上平台销售投资产品的企业的不确定性。

In December, a Chinese company called Cosun Group defaulted on $45m in high-yield bonds that were sold on one of Ant Financial’s online platforms. Documents used in the distribution of the bonds were later found to be fake.

去年12月，一个名为侨兴集团(Cosun Group)的中国企业发行的4500万美元高收益债券出现违约，这些债券是在蚂蚁金服其中一个网上平台销售的。债券发行过程中所用文件后来被发现造假。

While the case presented no systemic financial risk, it led to questions about who takes responsibility for products sold on third-party platforms such as Ant’s. China’s financial watchdogs have grown increasingly sensitive to cases where retail investor cash is at stake, and new rules are expected to lead to increased scrutiny for financial products marketed to retail investors online.

尽管该案并未带来系统性金融风险，它引发了这样的质疑：在诸如蚂蚁金服这样的第三方平台销售的产品，该由谁来负责。中国金融监管机构对于散户现金面临风险的案子越来越敏感，新规定预计会加强对面向网上散户的金融产品的审核。

Lufax management was thinking about the impact of the new regulation when it put its IPO on hold, said people close to the group.

与陆金所关系密切的人士表示，陆金所管理层推迟IPO时正在考虑新监管规定的影响。

Ant Financial’s IPO was also put on hold this year because it has yet to receive regulatory approval for the transaction, several people familiar with the deal said last month. To list overseas and take on foreign ownership, Ant would require a waiver from Beijing.

上个月，几名熟悉蚂蚁金服IPO交易的人士表示，蚂蚁金服今年也推迟了IPO，是因为它还未获得监管机构对该交易的批准。要想在海外上市并由外资持股，蚂蚁金服或须获得北京方面的豁免。

Ant owes its current structure as a Chinese company to the controversial spin-off of its core business, online payment platform Alipay, by founder Jack Ma in 2011.

蚂蚁金服之所以会有现在这种中资企业结构，是2011年其创立者马云将在线支付平台支付宝(Alipay)这个核心业务剥离的有争议行为导致的。

The move, which triggered a public spat with Yahoo, a big Alibaba shareholder, was necessitated by new Chinese government rules restricting foreign ownership of third-party payment services, which meant Alipay had to change its ownership structure.

这一曾引发与阿里巴巴大股东雅虎(Yahoo)公开争端的举措，必要性出自中国政府限制外资持股第三方支付服务的新规定。这一新规定意味着支付宝不得不改变其所有权结构。