China Rapid Finance files IPO application in US

SHANGHAI - A Chinese firm China Rapid Finance filed an IPO application to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Friday in a bid to go public in April.

Financial services providers Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Jefferies served as the underwriters for the IPO.

Founded in 2001, Shanghai-based China Rapid Finance is one of China's leading consumer lending platforms, with offline and online lending channels.

In the past three years, the firm facilitated more than 10.7 million deals of loan, with a total value of $2.1 billion, according to its application files.

In 2016, several of China's major online finance firms completed rounds of capital raising. JD Finance, a subsidiary of China's leading e-commerce platform JD.COM, was valued $6.7 billion after raising capital. Ant Financial, Alibaba's online payment affiliate, collected $45 billion and is valued at $60 billion.

Analysts said improved regulatory policies would create more opportunities for financial services platforms to enter the market.