Big third-party payment firms, P2P lenders likely to come under PBOC oversight

China’s central bank said it will strengthen regulation of companies engaged in financial technologies or fintech in a bid to prevent risks.

In a report released last weekend, the People’s Bank of China said some financial products offered through internet channels by fintech companies are “systemically important” and hence will be included in its macro-prudential assessment or MPA.

The aim is to prevent cyclical risks and cross-market risk transmission, it said.

Analysts said this is the first time that the PBOC said it will include fintech businesses in its MPA.

Big players in the third-party payment services market and the peer-to-peer or P2P lending market are likely to be included first, they said.

Previously, only big financial i nstitutions, such as banks, brokerages and insurers, who play leading