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Fintech

Chinese P2P giant Lufax dodges valuation bullet

15 June 2018

A mooted private fundraising of more than $1 bln makes sense. With regulatory change coming to peer-to-peer lenders, floating now could upset Beijing, and might only be doable at a bargain price. Abundant venture capital offers a way to keep growing without a distracting IPO.

Hong Kong could teach China tech some manners

14 June 2018

Sina plans a secondary listing in the city, under new rules welcoming Chinese tech outfits traded overseas. In New York, the $7 bln web portal and its peers can issue super-voting stock on a whim and skip annual general meetings. The Fragrant Harbour will be less soft.

UK lawmakers’ TSB intervention is unhelpful

8 June 2018

A British parliamentary committee has called for the bank's boss to be fired, after protracted IT problems. The move risks undermining separate investigations by regulators. Removing Paul Pester now wouldn’t help TSB customers, and could even make the situation worse.

Ant’s $14 bln haul epitomises private excess

8 June 2018

The Chinese fintech group’s eye-popping funding round cements a $150 bln valuation. Ant raised nearly as much as Facebook and GM did in their IPOs, even as tech valuations cool and regulatory risks loom over Jack Ma’s firm. As insiders pile in, public investors may get squeezed.

Ant Financial quacks like a bank

21 May 2018

The Alibaba-linked outfit is pitching itself as more tech than fin to secure a $150 bln valuation. With over 600 mln users relying on it for payments, wealth management and loans, though, Ant is part of the fabric of Chinese finance. Beijing would be wise to regulate accordingly.

PayPal takes $2.2 bln step into physical payments

18 May 2018

The online pioneer is buying iZettle, which provides mobile card readers to small merchants. The valuation is higher than U.S. rival Square, and twice the Swedish group’s mooted IPO value. For PayPal, though, it’s a worthwhile move to expand its appeal to real-world retailers.

Kodak’s lost crypto moment mirrors its decline

10 May 2018

The imaging firm’s partner aims to raise $50 mln in a coin offering to develop a photographic-rights platform. Kodak stock popped over 300 pct when it unveiled the plan in January but it has since lost most of that ground. The ICO hype has faded even faster than film photos did.

SoftBank-backed fintech slaps on smart M&A patch

26 April 2018

Online lender Kabbage is buying analytics firm Orchard, whose investors include Wall Street chiefs Vikram Pandit and John Mack. The deal is more about adding data than revenue, but that shows fintech lenders are starting to put profit and customer retention ahead of rapid growth.

Viewsroom: Fintech’s growing pains

19 April 2018

Upstarts like LendingClub and SoFi need to find ways to keep customers returning – just as traditional banks are fighting back and Goldman Sachs’ digital push into consumer lending takes off. Also: how Malaysia’s prime minister may be re-elected despite the 1MDB scandal.

Blockchain makes online lenders taste own medicine

11 April 2018

The likes of Prosper and SoFi found cryptocurrency technology stealing the limelight at their annual get-together. Traditional banks were once unsure whether to take the hyped upstarts seriously. The maturing fintech players now face a similar dilemma with blockchain.

Fintech outcasts get second life in Silicon Valley

11 April 2018

Former SoFi boss Mike Cagney and ex-LendingClub CEO Renaud Laplanche have new loan ventures after losing their jobs to scandals. Plenty of tech executives have bounced back from failure. But Cagney’s rapid return risks further reinforcing the tech industry’s tin ear on equality.

Ant Financial’s $150 bln worth could grow further

10 April 2018

Its next fundraising could peg the Chinese payment giant at that eye-popping valuation. Getting there calls for art more than science. Throw out traditional methods, stitch together some comparable Western companies and throw in some adjustments, and it needn’t be a stretch.

Fintech lenders will struggle to regain mojo alone

9 April 2018

The likes of LendingClub, On Deck and SoFi want to put recent problems behind them. But their loan books, and earnings, are small. The banks they once dared to threaten have been catching up. Even Goldman is nipping at their heels. A bout of M&A could do them credit.

SoftBank financially engineers banking gravy train

9 April 2018

An $8 bln loan backed by Alibaba shares is the latest wizardry from boss Masayoshi Son. A bevy of banks signed up for a client who has spent $750 mln on fees since 2015. The hyperactivity, ambition and assets mean SoftBank can get support for even the most fiendish of ideas.

SoftBank fills its Indian online shopping basket

4 April 2018

Masayoshi Son's sprawling group invested in Snapdeal then Flipkart. Now it's taking a $400 mln stake in Alibaba-backed Paytm Mall. That exposes it to all the major e-commerce sites up against Amazon. As with SoftBank's similar ride-hailing logic, it could lead to consolidation.

CME stretches to kill NEX bidding war

29 March 2018

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange owner is buying Michael Spencer’s broker for 3.9 billion pounds. Meshing U.S. Treasury futures trading with NEX’s currency and bonds business is a good idea. The hefty premium may deter rival bidders but requires the deal to be perfectly executed.

Michael Spencer tunes up for markets swansong

16 March 2018

The NEX chief executive is in talks to sell the London-based electronic broker to Chicago’s CME. Despite uncertainties caused by Brexit, shareholders have done well since Spencer offloaded the voice-trading unit in 2016. If other exchanges join in, they could gain even more.

Chinese micro-lender’s $100 bln dream is a stretch

12 March 2018

Qudian’s founder CEO Min Luo will forgo his salary until the $5 bln firm tops a $100 bln valuation, bigger than backer Ant Financial. That’s unrealistic for a company trading below its New York IPO price in an industry under intense scrutiny – unless its shareholder turns buyer.

Alibaba’s reunion with Ant Financial is heartening

7 February 2018

Jack Ma’s group will get one-third of his $60 bln fintech unit. This builds on an earlier deal to placate investors after he seized part of the business, blaming foreign ownership restrictions. The move simplifies the duo’s relationship and suggests Beijing’s stance has softened.