中國銀監會發話:將整頓網絡小貸公司

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.

中國有關部門正準備擬定新規，降低網絡小額貸款公司快速發展帶來的風險。在P2P網貸平臺遭到打擊後，互聯網小貸公司已躋身中國最活躍貸款機構之列。

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.

過去一年，包括萬達(Wanda)、攜程(Ctrip)和樂視(LeEco)在內的中國企業紛紛推出了小貸業務。本月早些時候，京東()宣佈將剝離京東金融(JD Finance)，這筆拆分交易對京東金融的估值達500億元人民幣（合72億美元），京東將保留獲得京東金融部分利潤的權利，這與阿里巴巴(Alibaba)剝離螞蟻金服(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.

中國政府贊成自身擁有數據的大公司拓展貸款業務，但監管機構對新興起一批在風險控制方面缺乏專長的公司越來越感到擔憂。監管層正考慮採取手段規範小額貸款市場。

“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.

中國銀監會普惠金融部主任李均鋒最近向小額信貸協會表示：“有些所謂互聯網小貸根本沒有實質的客戶羣體，沒有實質的互聯網技術，也沒有實質的大數據，只是掛了個名，就盲目地進行這樣的工作。”

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.

根據政府數據，截至去年底，中國共有8673家小額貸款公司，貸款餘額9273億元人民幣。相比之下，根據網貸之家(Online Lending House)的數據，P2P平臺去年末貸款餘額爲6730億元人民幣。

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，即便是上述數字也低估了小貸公司的真實業務規模，因爲在中國迅速發展的證券化市場中，小貸公司也屬於最活躍的發行者行列。根據萬得資訊(WIND Info)的數據，2016年，小貸資產證券化規模爲820億元人民幣，一年前爲130億元人民幣。

“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.”

“這些大公司希望培育新的利潤來源，互聯網小額貸款自然成爲一個切入點，”上海金融科技諮詢公司盈燦諮詢(Splendid Profit)分析師王海梅表示，“通過在行業鏈的上游和下游發放貸款，他們可以鞏固業務關係。”

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，大連萬達集團(Dalian Wanda Group)推出一款貸款APP。萬達網絡信貸公司(Wanda Online Loans)向萬達較小規模的商場租戶提供無抵押貸款，貸款最快一天就可獲批。萬達還提供消費貸款，信貸評估基於來自萬達酒店、影城和電商平臺的客戶數據。大連萬達是商場開發商，業務已擴大到電影製作、體育和遊樂園。

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.

在線旅行社攜程向需要提交銀行存款達到一定金額的證據才能獲得旅遊簽證的中國遊客提供貸款。家電製造商海爾(Haier)向互聯網家電零售商和街邊手機門店提供貸款。

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.

李均鋒表示，銀監會今年正在研究網絡小額貸款的相關指導意見，各地有關部門在此之前要慎重批設這類貸款機構。

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.

傳統的線下小貸公司只能在本省範圍內發放貸款，而它們瞭解當地企業。但最近幾年，各省地方政府批准了一批網絡小貸公司。這些新的網絡公司不受區域限制，這向新的風險敞開了大門。

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.

“分期樂”(Fenqile)把目標對準學生，有5萬名兼職銷售人員分佈在3000所大學。該公司的網站是一個電商平臺，允許消費者貸款購買手機、服裝或度假旅遊產品，甚至不需要信用紀錄或父母許可。其口號是“愛我所愛不等待”。該公司拒絕了記者的採訪請求。

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.

去年頒佈的P2P貸款新規得到了有力執行，網絡小貸牌照已變成一種寶貴資產。新規將P2P貸款的個人貸款上限規定在20萬元人民幣，企業貸款上限爲100萬元人民幣。它們還禁止P2P貸款機構開展“資金池”業務，這種業務讓P2P平臺能夠利用發售新產品的資金流入來償還到期的投資產品。

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.

資金池禁令旨在迫使P2P機構充當將投資者與貸款匹配的純粹的中介機構。然而，資金池對於這些平臺提供期限短收益高的產品至關重要。相比之下，小貸公司依賴自有資金提供貸款，這意味着他們有更大的自由管理流動性。

“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.”

“沒有了資金池業務，P2P公司不太可能盈利，但網絡小貸公司就沒有這種限制，”安永(EY)駐上海的金融服務風險執行總監吳大維(David Wu)表示，“在中國，一旦政府開始限制批准某種東西，它就會變成稀缺資源。其中的意思非常清楚：這東西值得幹。”