China cracks down on illegal fundraising

The South China Morning Post reports Chinese authorities will launch a huge crackdown on illegal fund-raising, including in the burgeoning e-finance sector, in light of a series of crimes last year that involved record amounts of money. At a multi-agency meeting attended by 14 ministries and regulators on Wednesday, Beijing said the number of illegal fundraising cases jumped 71% in 2015. The money and people involved rose 57 and 120% respectively – both historic highs. Cases involving over 100 million yuan increased 44% from a year ago. The authorities are targeting private asset management, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, rural cooperatives, private equity and other financing activities.