In response to the dynamic growth and future potential of the P2P lending space for both companies and retail investors, the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) recently announced the creation of Marketplace Lending Committee. Kelvin Teo, CEO and co-founder of Funding Societies was appointed as Co-Chair of this newly-created committee.
P2P Lending: A Growing Sector
The alternative finance industry, or marketplace lending, has become increasingly popular regionally in recent times and has been growing at an impressive pace.
In 2016, Southeast Asia’s alternative finance market grew 363% from 2015 to a value of US$215.94 million, with marketplace business lending amounting to more than half of the market’s value. Further data showed that the market size of Singapore’s marketplace business lending grew almost 10x from US$9.43million in 2015 to $88.4million in 2016.
In 2016, MAS created regulations for securities-based crowdfunding. Funding Societies was one of the first to acquire a CMS license and has grown significantly to become the leading platform in Indonesia as well as Malaysia.
Singapore Fintech Association’s Marketplace Lending Committee
Marketplace Lending Committee aims to represent all marketplace lenders, nurture and build relationships, design and promote good practices, and play a part in ensuring that the industry remains a reliable and viable source of alternative financing for business owners.
The committee is made up of online lenders licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore of the Capital Market Service License.
The Marketplace Lending Committee’s initial tasks are to design and promote best practices, industry guidelines and codes of conduct in a collaborative and open manner. This is to encourage transparency between market participants.
Kelvin Teo, Co-Chair of Marketplace Lending, CEO of Funding Societies, stated:
“Working together, we believe this is the first step towards building a healthy and sustainable marketplace lending industry.”
To find out more about Marketplace Lending committee or the Singapore Fintech Association, please visit their website.
(Images Credit: Singapore Fintech Association)
