SHANGHAI, November 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Dianrong.com today announced that Mr. Francis Leung, the "Father of China Stock" and CVC Greater China Chairperson, has officially joined the Dianrong.com board. His presence on the board will further contribute to Dianrong's recent growth.
Leung, the "Hong Kong Rainmaker," is an experienced global banker. In the 80s, Leung founded Peregrine Investments Holdings which later became BNP Peregrine. In the 90s, he was regarded as the "Father of China Stock" for his success in helping a large number of mainland companies list in Hong Kong.
In recent years, he has been a successful independent investor, investing in leading internet companies including HRChina.com, 360buy.com and 91.com. Leung is good at discerning potential blockbusters at an early stage, even during the depths of the financial crisis, Leung invested in and introduced several leading VC's to 360buy.com and this year helped them list in the US.
Leung didn't hesitate to add Dianrong to his portfolio: "Internet finance's core essence still centers on financing; constant product innovation, better customer service and strong risk management are crucial. All these need a powerful team that can take advantage of technological innovations. Dianrong has the most capable management team and most powerful technology platform in the industry. This is why I am especially optimistic about Dianrong."
Mr. Soul Htite, CEO and Founder of Dianrong.com, expressed his welcome to Mr. Leung's joining the Dianrong board.
Soul continued that Dianrong's guiding principles inherited from Lending Club, the largest P2P platform in the world, remain unchanged: help individual and small business clients with low-cost financial services while returning high profits to investors.
Kevin Guo , Co-CEO and Co-Founder added: "Leung is familiar with financial innovations and believes in Dianrong.com with its understanding of regulations and policies. This understanding gives us an advantage in ensuring product and business model compliance … This is why without hesitation he chose Dianrong.com as his only investment in the P2P industry."
Early last month, Dianrong.com and Hong Kong Sun Hung Kai jointly announced a long-term investment and strategic partnership. They will work together to develop the Hong Kong and mainland China markets, and see that Dianrong.com grows into the leading company in the emerging P2P industry.
Also last month, Dianrong.com announced it will build a P2P platform together with Bank of Suzhou. This is the first partnership between a traditional bank and the mature P2P platform in China, and as such is a milestone for P2P businesses in China.
About Mr. Francis Leung
Born in Hong Kong in 1955. Attended Hong Kong Rosaryhill School and later obtained an MBA from the University of Toronto in Canada.
In 1987, Leung decided to leave Citigroup and founded Peregrine Investments.
In 1988, Leung became Managing Director of Peregrine Investments and received great support from Chinese magnates including Li Ka-shing and Larry Yung.
The red chip listings in the early 90s, in 1996 Peregrine Investments became a listed company, selling 300 million RMB capital stock for a market valuation of RMB 20 billion, thus becoming the largest investment bank in the Asian region excluding Japan.
In 1998, affected by the Asian financial crisis, Peregrine Investments went through liquidation and was acquired by BNP Paribas to form BNP Peregrine. Leung remained CEO until 2001, when he became Vice Chair.
In 2001, Leung joined Citigroup as the Chair and Managing Director of Salomon Smith Barney's Asia business.
In 2006, Leung left Citigroup and became the Greater China Chair at CVC, the internationally leading private equity group.
Mr. Francis Leung has been described as one of the 25 most influential persons in the Asia Pacific capital market, and won the Best Banker award in 2000, among other awards and distinctions.
About Dianrong.com
Dianrong.com is an online lending platform based in Shanghai, China, where members can borrow and lend money among themselves at better interest rates. Borrowers can get loans significantly below market rates, and lenders can earn returns well above those of bank deposits and other traditional fixed-income investments.
Dianrong.com was founded in 2012 by the co-founder and former Head of Technology of Lending Club, Soul Htite, who joined efforts with Kevin Guo, a PE fund partner and lawyer from Shanghai. Dianrong.com's proprietary and state of the art technology gives Dianrong.com a huge advantage over traditional banks by reducing the cost of underwriting, loan servicing, customer acquisition, account management, regulatory compliance, and reporting. Better rates and better returns are now a reality in China.
Dianrong.com is backed by Northern Lights VC, a leading China-focused venture capital firm. On October 8, 2014, it announced its investment from and strategic partnership with Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited, a leading financial services group specialising in wealth management, securities brokerage and consumer finance with an extensive branch and office network of over 180 locations across Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China.
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