Jack Ma Site With High-Yield Debt a Click Away Fuels China Risks
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Billionaire Jack Ma has faced criticism about the quality of goods on his e-commerce sites. Now his push into Internet finance is raising red flags as he puts risky bonds a few clicks away from China’s 668 million netizens.
Ma’s Zhao Cai Bao, a platform that lets small businesses and individuals borrow from investors, has overseen 252 billion yuan ($39.4 billion) of financial product sales since starting last year. Recent offerings: unrated bonds from a hotel operator in Anhui province and investment firms set up last year in a Shenzhen financial zone still under construction. None of the prospectuses online provide revenues, profit, assets or debt.