China alert for unrest upon growing risk of further P2P lending failures

Chinese police are preparing for potential social unrest following recent online lending scandals, and as the risk of further problems continues to emerge. According to the SCMP: “Police have been ordered to step up efforts to shut down illegal online lending platforms, closely monitor legal operations and act promptly against suspected criminals…” This follows the collapse of Ezubao, the country’s biggest peer-to-peer online lending platform, which allegedly defrauded about 900,000 investors across the country of more than ¥50bn. Senior Chinese officials have warned that further illegal fundraising schemes were likely to result in a slew of defaults towards the middle of this year as payments fall due.

Security authorities warn of possible defaults mid-year in the online private lending market as short-term loans fall due, sources say