HONG KONG — On July 17, Ping An Group announced in Singapore that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has granted an in-principle approval of the Capital Markets Services (CMS) license to Lu International (Singapore) Financial Asset Exchange Pte. Ltd. (“Lu International”), that Lu International has opened in Singapore, and that the Lu International platform would go live in Q3,2017. Following the Chinese government’s “One Belt, One Road” strategy, Lu International is China’s first FinTech company in Singapore, a key financial hub of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. The establishment of Lu International in Singapore is also part of Ping An’s efforts to go global with its innovative Internet and FinTech models and marks a new direction of global development for Chinese financial institutions.
Peter Ma, Chairman & CEO of Ping An Group, said that Lufax Holdings (henceforth Lufax) has utilized Ping An’s 30 years of financial services expertise and FinTech experience. The establishment of Lu International in Singapore, means that Ping An’s successful and unique business model in China will be operating within Singapore’s well-developed financial system and regulatory framework and tested by global investors.
Lufax, from its beginning, has benefited from China’s encouragement of FinTech development. By combining its innovative business model with advanced technologies and rigorous risk management controls, Lufax has been able to provide safe, convenient and efficient wealth management services for its investors.
In Singapore, Lu International will benefit from the Republic’s professional, sound and innovative regulation, and its financial centre activities. Singapore is already an established global asset management center with a range of relevant expertise.
In China, Lufax has developed extensive experience in online wealth management for retail investors. Lufax’s parent company, Ping An Group, is the largest integrated financial service company, in China, with a strong reputation for innovating and implementing FinTech businesses. With those advantages, Lu International should thrive in Singapore and become an online wealth management platform favored by investors in Asia and contribute to the continued prosperity of the finance industry in Singapore.
Lufax, established by Ping An Group in Shanghai in 2011, is the largest online wealth management platform in China. It has over 31 million registered users since its establishment. Lufax has developed robust risk management mechanisms, launching an innovative, big data-driven Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Product (KYP) programs which have been very well received by customer.
Lufax CEO, Greg Gibb said, “Learning from Lufax’s FinTech experience, Lu International will help investors create value through its premium online wealth management services. Being always open, innovative and responsive, Lu Holdings will share China’s FinTech experience with the world.”
Pure online wealth management platform that will serve retail investors all over the world.
Lu International was incorporated in Singapore in January 2017. In July 2017, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) gave in-principle approval of the application of Lu International for a Capital Markets Services (CMS) license. With this license, Lu International will be able to provide investors, who have offshore assets, with a suite of wealth management products and services, including dealing in securities trading, asset management services and custody.
Lu International is Singapore’s first wealth management platform that provides a 100% mobile, facial recognition account opening and investment process. Adopting cutting-edge remote account opening technologies from Ping An Group Technology, Lu International will enable investors to conduct all investment operations on a mobile device. This impressive breakthrough was made on the basis of Ping An’s facial recognition technology, which has recently won a number of prizes in competitions, and the remote ID and address verification technologies. All quality products on the Lu International platform will be provided by leading regional or global institutions. On the Lu International platform, investors can easily leverage our Know Your Product (KYP) and Know Your Customer (KYC) programs to select products that best meet their investment expectations and risk preferences.
Following China’s financial inclusion approach, Lu International will provide overseas retail investors with better and more convenient investment channels and services. Lufax’s extensive experience in adopting efficient end-to-end online processes and other technology innovations has enabled it to service retail investors efficiently and at a lower cost. Lu International intends to import these capabilities to provide retail investors all over the world with diversified products that previously only private bank customers could enjoy.
China’s FinTech goes global.
Lu International’s Chairman, Dr. Teh Kok Peng, said that China’s extensive experience in FinTech provides useful learning points which can contribute to the innovations and development of financial markets outside China. He thinks that Lu International’s objective of satisfying the wealth management demands of international retail investors, an underserved group, is an important component of financial market development, as we as socially desirable. During the initial stage, Lu International will focus more on Asian markets, and will gradually tap other markets.
To comply with the well-developed financial system and regulatory framework of Singapore, Lu International has made multiple innovations in FinTech. By adopting big data and biometrics, Lu International has a designed a fully digital Know Your Product (KYP) process, Know Your Customer (KYC) process, online control of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and anti-fraud system. In 2016, Lufax signed strategic partnership agreements with the world’s leading investment banks and FinTech companies,
With rapid growth of FinTech, in recent years, China’s FinTech companies have speedily gone global and are becoming the trend setters in a number of areas. Meanwhile, developed countries focusing on traditional financial services have been partnering FinTech companies to help boost their economic growth and financial services industry development.
As a leading player in the China FinTech market, Ping An has been investing around USD 1bn every year in FinTech and healthtech innovations over past 5 years. The Group holds 1,500 patent applications, ranking first amongst all Chinese financial institutions.