中国银监会发话:将整顿网络小贷公司

Chinese authorities are preparing new rules to reduce risks caused by the rapid growth of online small-loan companies, which have emerged as among the most active lenders in the country following a crackdown on peer-to-peer rivals.

中国有关部门正准备拟定新规，降低网络小额贷款公司快速发展带来的风险。在P2P网贷平台遭到打击后，互联网小贷公司已跻身中国最活跃贷款机构之列。

Chinese companies including Wanda, Ctrip, and LeEco have launched small-loan units over the past year. Earlier this month, said it was spinning off JD Finance, while retaining a share of profits in a deal that valued the lender at Rmb50bn ($7.2bn), mirroring Alibaba’s spin-off of Ant Financial.

过去一年，包括万达(Wanda)、携程(Ctrip)和乐视(LeEco)在内的中国企业纷纷推出了小贷业务。本月早些时候，京东()宣布将剥离京东金融(JD Finance)，这笔拆分交易对京东金融的估值达500亿元人民币（合72亿美元），京东将保留获得京东金融部分利润的权利，这与阿里巴巴(Alibaba)剥离蚂蚁金服(Ant Financial)的交易相似。

While the government has looked favourably on large companies with troves of proprietary data to expand into lending, regulators are growing concerned about a fleet of upstarts with little expertise in risk control. The regulator is considering ways to curb excesses in the small-loans market.

中国政府赞成自身拥有数据的大公司拓展贷款业务，但监管机构对新兴起一批在风险控制方面缺乏专长的公司越来越感到担忧。监管层正考虑采取手段规范小额贷款市场。

“We’ve noticed that some so-called ‘internet small lenders’ or ‘online small lenders’ fundamentally lack a real customer base or real internet technology or big data. They just put out their name and blindly launch their business,” Li Junfeng, director of the financial inclusion department at the China Banking Regulatory Commission, told the small-loan industry association recently.

中国银监会普惠金融部主任李均锋最近向小额信贷协会表示：“有些所谓互联网小贷根本没有实质的客户群体，没有实质的互联网技术，也没有实质的大数据，只是挂了个名，就盲目地进行这样的工作。”

Loans outstanding among China’s 8,673 small-loan companies totalled Rmb927bn at the end of last year, according to government data. That is more than the Rmb673bn outstanding from peer-to-peer lenders, according to Online Lending House.

根据政府数据，截至去年底，中国共有8673家小额贷款公司，贷款余额9273亿元人民币。相比之下，根据网贷之家(Online Lending House)的数据，P2P平台去年末贷款余额为6730亿元人民币。

But even that figure understates the true scale of activity by small-loan companies because these groups are among the most active issuers in China’s burgeoning securitisation market. Securitisation of small-loan assets hit Rmb82bn in 2016, up from Rmb13bn a year earlier, according to data from Wind Info.

然而，即便是上述数字也低估了小贷公司的真实业务规模，因为在中国迅速发展的证券化市场中，小贷公司也属于最活跃的发行者行列。根据万得资讯(WIND Info)的数据，2016年，小贷资产证券化规模为820亿元人民币，一年前为130亿元人民币。

“These large companies want to cultivate new profit sources, and online small loans are a natural entry point,” says Wang Haimei, analyst at Splendid Profit, a fintech consultancy in Shanghai. “By lending upstream and downstream in their industry chains, they can consolidate their business relationships.”

“这些大公司希望培育新的利润来源，互联网小额贷款自然成为一个切入点，”上海金融科技咨询公司盈灿咨询(Splendid Profit)分析师王海梅表示，“通过在行业链的上游和下游发放贷款，他们可以巩固业务关系。”

Dalian Wanda Group — the mall developer that has expanded into movie production, sports and amusement parks — launched a lending app last July. Wanda Online Loans offers collateral-free loans to Wanda’s smaller shopping-mall tenants, with loan approval available in as little as one day. Wanda also offers consumer loans with credit assessments based on customer data from Wanda's hotels, movie theaters, and ecommerce platforms.

去年7月，大连万达集团(Dalian Wanda Group)推出一款贷款APP。万达网络信贷公司(Wanda Online Loans)向万达较小规模的商场租户提供无抵押贷款，贷款最快一天就可获批。万达还提供消费贷款，信贷评估基于来自万达酒店、影城和电商平台的客户数据。大连万达是商场开发商，业务已扩大到电影制作、体育和游乐园。

Ctrip, the online travel agency, offers loans to Chinese tourists who must show proof of a minimum level of bank deposits in order to obtain travel visas. Haier, the home appliance maker, offers loans to online appliance retailers and street-side mobile phone shops.

在线旅行社携程向需要提交银行存款达到一定金额的证据才能获得旅游签证的中国游客提供贷款。家电制造商海尔(Haier)向互联网家电零售商和街边手机门店提供贷款。

Mr Li said the CBRC is preparing new regulations to address rising risks in the industry and advised provincial authorities to exercise caution in approving new online lenders in the meantime.

李均锋表示，银监会今年正在研究网络小额贷款的相关指导意见，各地有关部门在此之前要慎重批设这类贷款机构。

Traditional, offline small-loan companies are restricted to lending within their home provinces where they know local businesses. But provincial governments have approved a new wave of online small-loan companies in recent years. These new online groups are not subject to regional restrictions, opening the door to new risks.

传统的线下小贷公司只能在本省范围内发放贷款，而它们了解当地企业。但最近几年，各省地方政府批准了一批网络小贷公司。这些新的网络公司不受区域限制，这向新的风险敞开了大门。

Fenqile, whose name translates as ‘Installment Payments Joy’, targets students with an army of 50,000 part time sales staff at 3,000 universities. Its website acts as an ecommerce platform that allows customers to buy cell phones, clothes, or holiday travel on credit, even without credit history or a parent’s permission. Its slogan is ”Love what I love, don’t wait”. The company declined an interview request.

“分期乐”(Fenqile)把目标对准学生，有5万名兼职销售人员分布在3000所大学。该公司的网站是一个电商平台，允许消费者贷款购买手机、服装或度假旅游产品，甚至不需要信用纪录或父母许可。其口号是“爱我所爱不等待”。该公司拒绝了记者的采访请求。

Online small-loan approvals have become a valuable commodity amid aggressive enforcement of new rules on P2P lending announced last year. The rules cap P2P loans at Rmb200,000 for an individual and Rmb1m for a company. They also forbid peer-to-peer lenders from operating “fund pools” that allow platforms to fund payouts on maturing investment products with inflows from new product sales.

去年颁布的P2P贷款新规得到了有力执行，网络小贷牌照已变成一种宝贵资产。新规将P2P贷款的个人贷款上限规定在20万元人民币，企业贷款上限为100万元人民币。它们还禁止P2P贷款机构开展“资金池”业务，这种业务让P2P平台能够利用发售新产品的资金流入来偿还到期的投资产品。

The goal of the ban on fund pools is to force P2P groups to serve as pure intermediaries that match investors with loans. Yet fund pools have been crucial to enabling these platforms to offer products with both short maturities and high yields. By contrast, small-loan companies rely on their own capital to fund loans, which means they have greater freedom to manage liquidity.

资金池禁令旨在迫使P2P机构充当将投资者与贷款匹配的纯粹的中介机构。然而，资金池对于这些平台提供期限短收益高的产品至关重要。相比之下，小贷公司依赖自有资金提供贷款，这意味着他们有更大的自由管理流动性。

“Without fund pools, it’s unlikely that peer-to-peer companies can be profitable, but online small loan companies don't have this kind of a limit,” says David Wu, executive director for financial service risk at EY in Shanghai. “In China, once the government starts limiting approval of something, it becomes a scarce resource. The message is very clear: this is worth something.”

“没有了资金池业务，P2P公司不太可能盈利，但网络小贷公司就没有这种限制，”安永(EY)驻上海的金融服务风险执行总监吴大维(David Wu)表示，“在中国，一旦政府开始限制批准某种东西，它就会变成稀缺资源。其中的意思非常清楚：这东西值得干。”