Zhou Shiyu: one of China’s many losers, who invested one million yuan in unlicensed Shanghai online P2P lender
Like many mainlanders, Zhou Shiyu, 40, who works as an executive at a logistics company, got his fingers burned after he invested in an online peer-to-peer (P2P) lender.
He tells DANIEL REN he hopes to recover more than one million yuan (HK$1.2 million) from Shanghai firm Rongyou, which had its assets frozen when the authorities busted Ezubao, China’s biggest P2P business
Why did you invest in Rongyou?
To be honest, it was the high interest rates. It was hard to resist temptation because Rongyou offered interest of more than 13 per cent a year – much more than the deposit income offered by banks. I wanted to maximise investment returns so my family could have a better life.
There were thousands of P2P firms around the country and it was difficult for me to judge whether they were legal or illegal.
I’m not that ignorant, but now I realise I have a lot to learn. I understand that a P2P cannot raise funds for lending money to businesses. It can only act as the middleman between the borrowers and lenders. We were told that collateral and guarantors were being used to help avoid risks, but now I understand that those tools were not enough to cover all the risks.
READ MORE: Chinese police swoop on HK$59 billion ‘record-breaking online Ponzi scheme’
Did anyone tell you how Rongyou carried out its business illegally?
We were told it was an unlicensed firm, but I don’t really understand what happened.
P2P is supposed to help companies obtain funds to do their businesses because banks will not lend them the money.
My friend was working at Rongyou and some other friends also invested in the business. We clearly knew our money was being loaned to legally run firms.
[Rongyou was found to be an unlicensed P2P operator and all its assets were frozen following the collapse in January of Ezubao, China’s biggest P2P player, which the authorities say was involved in a Ponzi scheme involving more than 50 billion yuan raised from more than 900,000 mainlanders.
Two or three of Rongyou’s senior managers have been jailed for up to three years after being convicted of illegally raising funds from the public. But some other top Rongyou officials have yet to face the courts.]
Are you saying that it was unfair to crack down on some P2P firms?
As I see it, if P2P companies can guarantee the safety of the money they received, it’s not right to freeze their assets. There were plenty of media reports that took a positive view about so-called internet finance and said P2P was a good thing. But the authorities have admitted that they are studying the market and making rules to better regulate P2P. Therefore, it is unfair simply to close down unlicensed P2P companies without letting them recover their investments so they can pay back the money to investors.
READ MORE: China’s HK$59 billion online Ponzi scheme: who started it, how did it happen and now what?
They told investors they were still investigating the case and the matter of paying back money was not on the agenda for now. I heard that some legally run borrowers have refused to pay back the money to Rongyou because it was placed under investigation. It looks as if the investigation has delayed repayments because the assets were frozen. I have no idea how much money I will be able to get back, but I am pretty sure that I will eventually suffer losses over my investment.
Rongyou was just one of a number of P2P companies investigated by police. The collapse of Ezubao definitely made the authorities nervous. The authorities are now wary about similar scandals. After all, there are an increasing number of failed P2P businesses. I think the number of defaults will soar in the near future.
Did Rongyou tell you there would be any risk before investing?
Yes, it did. We were told that there were risks, but it was difficult for people like me to understand what the risks entailed. To be frank, finance is beyond my ken. It should be the job of the regulators to tell us clearly what we can and cannot invest in. Unfortunately, our interests were not protected. I am now a victim of this and I know lots of people are suffering from investing in P2P businesses.
If you get your all money back, are you brave enough to invest in a licensed P2P business?
No. I have a feeling P2P is going to be the cause of a financial crisis on the mainland. I think the cases that have been reported so far are just the tip of the iceberg. Nowadays, too many people are engaging in P2P businesses.
If you can’t recover all your money, will you take legal action?
Yes, I think so. I am discussing such a plan with other investors. We might file civil lawsuits against Rongyou and the borrowers. It’s ridiculous some borrowers are inclined not repay money lent to them because they believe it was illegally raised. The laws should protect good people. If companies borrow money then they should pay it back.
