China’s CreditEase Freezes $4.4 Billion Wealth Products as Shadow Banking Risks Reemerge

1. [para. 1] CreditEase, a pioneering Chinese internet-finance firm, has suspended principal and interest payments on fixed-income wealth management products sold by its Heritvest unit. This affects an estimated 30 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) and has revived concerns about shadow banking risks, as reported by Caixin.

2. [para. 2] The suspension was confirmed to Caixin by multiple investors and a representative of U.S.-listed Yiren Digital Ltd., a company controlled by CreditEase founder Tang Ning.

3. [para. 3] An open letter attributed to Tang Ning and circulated among investors stated the company had decided to halt payments. Yiren Digital denied the letter's authenticity but acknowledged that CreditEase had begun winding down the products and had reported the move to regulators.

4. [para. 4] Senior executives at CreditEase and Heritvest have been barred from leaving China and have been summoned to explain the situation to Beijing’s local financial regulators, according to sources familiar with the matter.

5. [para. 5] Investors reported that payment delays had started earlier this year before culminating in the abrupt suspension the previous week.

6. [para. 6] This crisis marks a fresh reckoning for business models that emerged during China’s peer-to-peer lending boom. Industry participants and a former employee indicated that Heritvest’s products were widely suspected of ultimately funding loans facilitated by Yiren Digital.

7. [para. 7] Yiren Digital’s shares fell 14.4% on Friday and another 10.6% on Tuesday. The stock has lost more than 60% of its value this year.