Microlenders’ Debt Sales Slump as Crackdown Bites

Sales of debt backed by consumer loans, one of the main fundraising channels used by China’s online lenders to expand their business, have slumped in the wake of a government clampdown on the country’s unruly microlending industry.

Sales of such products, known as asset-backed securities (ABS), slid to 11.7 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) in December 2017 after hitting a record high of 51.2 billion yuan in November, according to data provider China Securitization Analytics (CSA). No ABS backed by consumer loans have been issued so far this year, the data show.