Feeding the Local Shark

Approximately two dozen such people offered small loans to residents and local proprietors — anywhere from $25 to $5,000. The obvious advantage was that you didn’t need a solid credit history. Desperation and lack of financial services were the only requirements. The disadvantage lay in high interest rates (40 percent was not uncommon), but also in the associated penalties: contrary to popular perception, very few cases of failed payment led to physical harm. Instead, you could be forced to pay in kind — e.g., with a television set — or with food stamps and welfare checks (which also function as collateral).

中国金融监管的想法很单纯，非审批的金融机构会给很多人造成麻烦，引起系统风险，也就是地下钱庄，如果每个人都牵扯地下钱庄，一下出问题，大家都紧张，系统风险就出来了。这种想法有时需要改变了。