After being interviewed for the second time, Ant Technology Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Ant Group”) has announced the establishment of a working group to fully implement the rectification requirements.
The People’s Bank of China, China Banking Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission, Foreign Exchange Bureau and other financial management departments jointly interviewed Ant Group on December 26 and put forward five rectification requirements.
Including: First, return to the origin of payment, improve transaction transparency, and strictly prohibit unfair competition. The second is to operate personal credit investigation services in accordance with the law and to protect the privacy of personal data. The third is to establish financial holding companies in accordance with the law and strictly implement regulatory requirements to ensure sufficient capital and compliance with related transactions. The fourth is to improve corporate governance and strictly rectify financial activities such as illegal credit, insurance and wealth management in accordance with the requirements of prudential supervision. Fifth, the securities fund business was carried out in accordance with the law, strengthened the governance of securities institutions, and carried out the asset securitization business in compliance.
The Ant Group relies on its subsidiaries Chongqing Ant Merchants Small Loan Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Shangcheng Small Loan”, “borrowing” business entity) and Chongqing Ant Small and Micro Loan Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Small Micro Loan” , “Huabe” business entity) to carry out the asset securitization business of Internet consumer loans.
At present, the two small loan companies of Ant Group are issuing asset securitization products (ie ABS) on the exchange, and they must strictly abide by the business rules of the China Securities Regulatory Commission regarding asset securitization issuance, trading, and information disclosure. At the same time, the exchange, Ant Group needs to provide the registration opinions of the financial regulatory authority on the issuance quota.
“The small microfinance company and Shangcheng Microfinance Company under Ant Technology, as important participants in the consumer finance field, have become important sponsors of the ABS market.” Deng Dawei, vice president of China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., Ltd. According to a financial reporter, the basic assets of ABS products initiated by the two small loan companies of Ant Group are personal consumption loans, which have their own characteristics compared with other types.
He explained that personal consumption loans generally have the characteristics of small single amount, short term, strong homogeneity, and high degree of dispersion, and are one of the types of assets that are more suitable for securitization. At the same time, because there are no guarantee measures such as collateral or guarantee for personal consumption loans, there is no collateral or third-party guarantee to recourse in the event of a default. Therefore, the credit risk of personal consumption loans is higher than that of secured loans.
“However, thanks to the synergy formed by the ant ecosystem and leading risk control technology capabilities, the basic assets of ant ABS products have performed steadily.” Deng Dawei told reporters that the scale of ABS market issuance on exchanges has exceeded 1 trillion this year. Among them, consumer financial assets have become an important basic asset type in the ABS market.
According to him, Ant ABS products have adopted structural designs such as priority/secondary and circular purchase. Among them, the priority/secondary hierarchical structure is the most commonly used method of internal credit enhancement in securitization products. Through the hierarchical design of the securities side, the risk and return characteristics of the underlying assets are redistributed to meet the needs of investors with different risk preferences for securitized products. Up to now, the operation of Ant ABS surviving products is generally stable, and the payment of priority and sub-priority securities is normal.
On November 2 this year, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the People’s Bank of China issued the “Notice on Strengthening the Supervision and Management of Microfinance Companies” and the “Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Microfinance Business (Draft for Comment),” New regulatory requirements have been imposed on small loan companies in terms of rate, joint loans, single-account loan balances, and equity management. Among them, the balance of funds received through the issuance of bonds, asset securitization products and other standardized forms of debt assets shall not exceed 4 times its net assets.
Since the release of the above-mentioned new regulations, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has maintained communication with the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and other departments to strengthen supervision and coordination. On this basis, the China Securities Regulatory Commission instructs exchanges, fund industry associations and other units to strictly comply with the new regulatory requirements and do a good job in the supervision of Ant Group’s asset securitization business in accordance with the law.
“The introduction of new regulations on small loans may have a certain impact on the operation of small loan companies in the short term, but in the long run, it will further standardize the development of the industry and reduce systemic risks. We will also continue to pay attention to the impact of changes in industry policies on small loan companies. The impact of loan company operations.” Deng Dawei said.