The special crackdown on illegal fund-raising is escalating. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing will take measures in different cities.

Data shows that as of July 12, the number of problematic P2P online lending platforms nationwide has reached 2,063, and the total number of platforms (including problematic platforms) is about 4,000, with more than 50% of the platforms collapsing.

Since the launch of the special campaign against illegal fund-raising in mid-April, the number of problematic online lending platforms has hit new highs. In the past two months, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing and other places have successively issued regulatory policies on Internet finance, and the rectification has been gradually upgraded. The industry is facing a deep reshuffle.

Special rectification of chaos continues to escalate

In the first half of the year, e-speed loans and online loans in Guangdong were investigated and punished, and Shanghai's Kuailu Group, Zhongjin Asset, Bingheng Capital, and Jinxing Asset also experienced crises. Industry insiders said that the increase in the number of problematic platforms shows that the regulatory effect has been effectively released and the rectification has achieved phased results. With the continuous escalation of liquidation efforts, the online lending industry will usher in a deep reshuffle.

In fact, since the release of the online lending industry draft for comments in December last year, the P2P online lending industry has entered a stage of policy-driven industry adjustment. The special rectification campaign for Internet finance that began in April further amplified the regulatory effect. Local financial bureaus, economic investigations, industry associations and other forces intervened, and the penetrating regulatory model was accompanied by the introduction of regulations such as information disclosure, product registration, and punishment for violations, which made the platforms that knew they could not escape punishment or lost their development space eager to stop losses and delist.

"The problematic platforms in the first half of the year can be mainly divided into benign exits such as voluntary closure and transformation, and malignant exits such as running away and economic investigation intervention." Jiudouyu CEO Guo Peng said that the problematic platforms that exited benignly were mainly some platforms with average strength. Under the influence of external factors such as tightening regulatory policies and fierce industry competition, these platforms found it difficult to acquire high-quality assets on the asset side due to their lack of experience in finance and risk control. As operating pressure increased, they chose to voluntarily suspend operations.

Guo Peng said that with the continuous improvement of online lending industry supervision, the proportion of benign exits of online lending platforms has continued to increase, which is a sign of the industry's standardized development. The problem platforms with malicious exits are mainly some bad platforms with moral risks and illegal operations.

At present, most of the Internet finance "key cities" have completed the industry risk inspection work within their jurisdictions, and the special rectification is about to enter the core implementation stage of risk elimination. The industry is now in a transition period before the large-scale release of regulatory power.

Policy and regulatory programs are intensively strengthened

As the special rectification storm gradually escalates, Internet finance rectification policies have been accelerated in many places in the past two months.

At the end of May, the Beijing Financial Bureau stated that in terms of industry self-discipline, it will implement the "Beijing model" of "1+3+N" online lending industry supervision. Especially in terms of fund custody, the Beijing Financial Bureau will cooperate with the Beijing Online Lending Association to communicate with commercial banks, hoping to help platforms to deposit funds with banks in batches.

Aiqianjin CEO Yang Fan said that the "Beijing model" gives industry associations greater responsibilities and powers, which can better promote the establishment of a supervision mechanism within the P2P industry in Beijing, forming a dual supervision system of "external supervision + internal supervision". At the same time, the enhancement of the responsibilities of regional industry associations will also help alleviate the problem of limited supervision power of regulatory agencies when facing a large number of P2P platforms, and more effectively discover, evaluate and control the risk points in the online lending industry in Beijing.

On June 2, Jie Dong, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Financial Office, revealed that Shanghai has set up a relevant working group, hoping to carry out the rectification of Internet financial companies in an orderly manner.