Publications
Publications
- February 2021
- HBS Case Collection
China Rapid Finance: The Collapse of China’s P2P Lending Industry
By: William C. Kirby, Bonnie Yining Cao and John P. McHugh
Abstract
China’s peer-to-peer (P2P) lending industry had over 3,000 platforms at its height in 2015. China Risk Finance (CRF) was one of the country’s P2P success stories. With over 1 million borrowers using CRF’s platform, it raised $60 million in its 2016 IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. Yet the pace of P2P’s rise spooked financial regulators, sparking a crackdown on the industry that would lead to its demise in China. This B case tracks CRF’s tumultuous attempts to salvage its business in the face of sudden and sweeping changes to the rules governing its industry as well as the lengths to which the Chinese government went to ensure the stability of its financial system, even at the expense of its development.
Keywords
Financial Services; P2P Lending; Government And Business; Regulation; Finance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; China
Citation
Kirby, William C., Bonnie Yining Cao, and John P. McHugh. "China Rapid Finance: The Collapse of China’s P2P Lending Industry." Harvard Business School Case 321-124, February 2021.
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