Lufax Reportedly Planning IPO: Are Chinese Companies Rushing To The Markets?

On Monday, Chinese online wealth management company Lufax has reportedly filed confidentially with the SEC to raise up to $3 billion in a U.S. IPO.

Lufax Public Attempts: Lufax, backed by Ping An Insurance Group PNGAY, is working with Goldman Sachs GS, HSBC HSBC, UBS UBS and Bank of America BAC on its IPO. 

Lufax provides lending solutions to small-to-medium enterprises and individuals, and as of December 2019 reported over 44.02 million users.

In 2018 Lufax, planned a Hong Kong listing, but pulled out after Chinese banking regulations changed.

Lufax at that time was involved in peer-to-peer lending and has since changed its focus. 

Chinese Companies Rush To Markets: Lufax hopes to be on the U.S. market within months, trying to beat new U.S. regulations.

In early August, the U.S. Presidential Working Group on Financial Markets announced that all Chinese IPO candidates must allow U.S. personnel to review their audit records. Chinese laws tend to allow for more secrecy.

“The strong demand for quality Chinese names among U.S. investors gives us the confidence to proceed with the IPO plan despite the impending crackdown by U.S. authorities," a Lufax advisor told the Nikkei Asian Review. 

Lufax's SEC filing comes shortly after other Chinese companies such as KE Holdings and Xpeng also filed for U.S. IPOs.

As of the last known funding round in 2018, investors have valued Lufax at $39.4 billion.