美財政部警告網貸平臺商業模式脆弱性
The US Treasury Department has warned of the fragility of the business models of a new crop of online lenders, a day after revelations of alleged mis-selling of loans at Lending Club shook confidence in the sector.
就在有報道稱Lending Club涉嫌不當銷售貸款產品、動搖網貸行業信心的一天之後，美國財政部就一大批新網貸平臺商業模式的脆弱性發出了警告。
A white paper released on Tuesday represented the first attempt by a US regulator to produce a framework for supervising an industry which sprang up in the wake of the financial crisis. Operating under a patchwork of state and federal rules, online lenders such as SoFi and OnDeck Capital have grown rapidly. They have been winning over consumers and small businesses by claiming to provide faster cash at better rates than the lumbering brick-and-mortar lenders.
週二發佈的一份白皮書，代表着美國監管機構首次試圖建立一個框架，來監管這個在金融危機後突然興起的行業。依照碎片化的州和聯邦規定運營的網貸平臺，比如SoFi和OnDeck Capital，已迅速發展起來。它們一直在爭取消費者和小企業客戶，自稱比起笨重的實體銀行，自己放款的速度更快、利率更低。
In the paper, more than nine months in the making, the Treasury noted that much of the innovation from the upstarts had been positive. But it added that many of the new platforms — some 400 or so in the US, at the latest estimate — had no experience of operating “through a complete credit cycle”. It warned of deterioration in the loans they are selling on to individual and institutional investors.
美國財政部在這份醞釀了9個多月的文件中指出，這些創業型企業的許多創新是積極的。但它補充稱，許多新平臺——最新估算數字顯示美國有大約400家——並沒有“在一個完整的信用週期下”經營的經驗。美國財政部警告稱，它們銷售給個人和機構投資者的貸款，質量正在惡化。
“New business models and underwriting tools have been developed in a period of very low interest rates, declining unemployment, and strong overall credit conditions,” the Treasury said. “Higher charge-off and delinquency rates for recent vintage consumer loans may augur increased concern if and when credit conditions deteriorate.”
“新的商業模式和審批手段是在利率很低、失業率下降和整體信用環境強勁的時期研發出來的。”美國財政部表示，“近來優質消費者貸款的沖銷率和拖欠率升高，或許預示着信用環境惡化時會出現更大的麻煩。”
Online lenders have had a tougher time in recent months. Tighter credit markets and rising delinquencies among the riskiest classes of borrower have fed fears that sources of funding will dry up, potentially forcing platforms to pull down their shutters.
近幾個月，網貸平臺的日子變得更爲艱難。信用市場趨緊，加上風險最高類別借款人拖欠率升高，助長了人們對資金來源將會枯竭的擔憂，網貸平臺可能會因此被迫關門。
Such concerns were magnified this week after Lending Club — the former sector favourite — booted out its chief executive over alleged mis-selling of loans and lack of disclosure on a personal investment. Shares in the San Francisco-based company collapsed on Monday and continued to fade on Tuesday as brokers issued “sell” notes, bringing the two-day price decline to about 38 per cent.
本週，該行業最受青睞的平臺Lending Club將其首席執行官趕下臺，原因是後者涉嫌不當銷售貸款產品和未披露一項個人投資。這起事件加劇了人們的上述擔憂。週一，這家總部位於舊金山的公司股價大跌。由於券商的報告提示“賣出”，週二該公司股價繼續下跌，兩個交易日的累計跌幅約爲38%。
