陸金所尋求10億美元融資 Lufax rides P2P boom with $1bn funding bid
China’s largest online peer-to-peer lender, Lufax, is seeking $1bn in new funding at a valuation of $15bn-$20bn, as growth continues to surge across the internet finance sector.
中國互聯網金融行業繼續保持快速增長的節奏。作爲國內最大的個人對個人(P2P)網貸平臺，陸金所(Lufax)正在尋求10億美元的新融資，這將使其估值達到150億至200億美元。
If successful, the funding would underline the rapid growth of the sector this year. In April, Lufax raised $500m at a $10bn valuation.
如果陸金所成功完成此輪融資，將可凸顯出該行業今年以來增長有多快。該公司剛在4月融資5億美元，公司估值在當時達到100億美元。
Online banking and P2P lending has developed rapidly in China amid a push by Beijing to expand financing for consumers and small businesses. Upwards of 2,000 companies operate in China’s P2P lending milieu.
在政府鼓勵擴大對消費者和小企業融資的背景下，中國網上銀行及P2P貸款行業迅速發展。目前中國P2P貸款領域有超過2000家公司。
Lufax is the largest, a subsidiary of China’s Ping An Insurance, which is Lufax’s largest shareholder.
陸金所是最大的一家。它是中國平安保險(Ping An Insurance)的子公司，平安也是陸金所最大的股東。
Others are Ouyeel, a unit of Shanghai Baosteel Group that provides financing for steel traders; and Small Entrepreneur, part of China Merchants Bank — the country’s sixth-largest lender — which focuses on wealth management.
其他機構有寶鋼集團(Shanghai Baosteel Group)旗下爲鋼材交易商提供融資的歐冶雲商(Ouyeel)、中國第六大銀行招商銀行(China Merchants Bank)旗下專注財富管理領域的小企業e家(Small Entrepreneur)等。
P2P lending has grown quickly in the past two years, with loans outstanding reaching Rmb209bn by the end of June, according to E-Lending House.
近兩年P2P貸款行業迅速發展。根據E-Lending House，截至6月底，該行業未清償貸款達2090億元人民幣。
In addition to the growth in P2P lending, a number of online banks and lenders have been created this year — such as Tencent’s Webank, Alibaba’s Mybank and Ant Financial’s Sesame Credit.
除了P2P貸款領域發展迅速以外，今年還涌現出一些網絡銀行和貸款機構——比如騰訊(Tencent)的微衆銀行(WeBank)、阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的網商銀行(Mybank)，以及螞蟻金融(Ant Financial)的芝麻貸(Sesame Credit)。
The government is keen to encourage lending to small and medium-sized borrowers, many of whom do not have credit histories. Analysts estimate the number of Chinese consumers who are financially active but without access to credit to be 500m.
中國政府鼓勵向中小規模的借款人放貸，其中很多貸款者沒有信用紀錄。分析師預計，在金融上表現活躍但沒有信貸渠道的中國消費者有5億之多。
Lufax, which started four years ago has emerged as the leader due to innovative credit rating techniques.
憑藉創新性的信用評級技術，4年前創辦的陸金所已經發展成爲行業的領頭羊。
In P2P lending, borrowers are matched with investors, who are encouraged to put their money into the loans due to higher returns than they could get at state banks.
在P2P貸款領域，借款方被與投資者匹配，後者被鼓勵將錢投入放貸，因爲他們所得到的回報高於國有銀行利息。
However, the state is also wary of the fast growth in online finance, which is largely unregulated and the risks of systemic crises may be high. Since 2007, 370 P2P lending platforms have failed in China, of which 270 failed in the past year, according to research by Morgan Stanley and Wangdaizhijia, a Chinese research group.
然而，國家也很警惕網絡金融的快速發展，該領域基本不受監管，發生系統性危機的風險可能會很高。據摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)和中國研究機構“網貸之家”的調查顯示，自2007年以來，中國有370家P2P貸款平臺倒閉，其中270家是在過去的一年中倒閉的。
In July, the government made the first stab at regulating internet finance when 10 agencies, including the central bank, the banking regulator and the securities regulator jointly issued guidelines that provide an official definition of “internet finance” and specify which agencies are responsible for regulating which types of internet financial institutions.
7月，中國政府首次嘗試規範互聯網金融，央行、銀監會、證監會等10家機構聯合發佈指導意見，提出了“互聯網金融”的官方定義，並明確了各機構負責監管的互聯網金融機構類型。
Estimates for the size of the industry vary but Goldman Sachs figures suggest that sector loans grew from Rmb6bn to Rmb83bn between 2012 and 2014.
對於該行業規模有多大，衆說紛紜，但高盛(Goldman Sachs)的數據表明，在2012至2014年期間，該行業的貸款規模從60億元人民幣增長至830億元。
