New Zealand regulator releases first annual P2P data

PEER-TO-PEER lenders in New Zealand lent out NZ$151.5m (£79m) in the 12 months to 30 June 2017, according to data from the country’s financial regulator.

NZ$120m was borrowed by individuals and $31.5m by businesses, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) said, in its first annual snapshot of the country’s P2P sector.

This brings total P2P loans outstanding to individuals and businesses to NZ$259.6m and NZ$29.6m respectively.

Read more: Lendable hits £100m lending landmark

New Zealand’s first peer-to-peer lender, Harmoney, launched just three years ago, but the report reveals seven lenders had been licensed by 30 June 2017. One further licence was issued after the data was collected.

Those seven lenders were collectively lending to 207,230 individuals and businesses.

Of the 16,977 outstanding loans, 1,469 are in arrears, while 833 loans with a total value of NZ$8.5m were written off.

Meanwhile, 20,744 investors were registered with P2P lenders and, of those, 7,991 had open investments, the research said.

Read more: P2PFA reports over £700m of new lending in third quarter

The report also showed that NZ$74.2m was raised from investors through equity crowdfunding. There were a total of 50 offers, with 34 successfully meeting their funding target.

Garth Stanish, the FMA’s director of capital markets, said the flexible regime created by New Zealand’s parliament through the Financial Markets Conduct Act meant P2P and crowdfunding could be licensed and introduced quickly.

“The FMA is committed to facilitating and encouraging innovation, provided the risks to investors are mitigated. We are also keen to publish data to enable companies and investors to understand the trends in different markets,” he added.

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