Five-Year Marathon "Stumbles"! Mabang Consumer Finance's IPO "Three Barriers": Non-Compliant Equity Structure, Absent Independent Directors, Rising Non-Performing Assets

Yichu君

“Top three in the industry for performance, but IPO ends in failure.”

In January 2021, it filed for registration; in March 2026, it withdrew. A five-year-long IPO journey concludes with a “proactive adjustment of listing pace.”

Five years of guidance, then sudden withdrawal

Recently, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) website showed that the IPO guidance status of Mashang Consumer Finance Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Mashang Consumer Finance”) has been changed to “withdrawn from guidance” record. This leading consumer finance company, which submitted guidance registration materials to the Chongqing CSRC in January 2021 and was guided by China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and CITIC Securities, after more than twenty-one guidance sessions over five years, finally pressed the pause button on its listing.

Founded in June 2015, this licensed consumer finance institution has been under guidance since January 2021, with CICC and CITIC Securities serving as guiding institutions, conducting over twenty-one guidance sessions over five years.

Regarding the reason for withdrawal, Mashang Consumer Finance responded: “Considering the changes in the capital market environment, the company has proactively adjusted its listing schedule and has temporarily suspended the listing guidance. The company’s current operations are healthy, and we will continue to focus on business development, and when the time is right, we will steadily advance the listing process.”

Industry’s third-largest “leading player”

In terms of scale, Mashang Consumer Finance is indeed a top player in the consumer finance industry.

As of the end of June 2025, the company’s total assets reached 68.099 billion yuan, a 3.87% increase from the beginning of the year. In the first half of 2025, the company achieved revenue of 8.735 billion yuan, a 12.96% year-on-year increase, ranking second in the industry after Ant Consumer Finance; net profit was 1.155 billion yuan, up 8.07% year-on-year, ranking third in the industry behind Ant Consumer Finance and JieLian Consumer Finance.

Looking at the full-year data, in 2024, the company achieved operating income of 15.149 billion yuan (a 4.09% decrease year-on-year) and net profit of 2.281 billion yuan (a 15.1% increase). Among licensed consumer finance companies with disclosed performance, it ranks third in net profit.

In terms of equity structure, shareholders include Chongqing Department Store (33.09%), Beijing Zhongguancun Kejin Technology (29.506%), Wumart Group, Chongqing Bank, and others, forming a strong lineup.

However, behind these impressive performance figures are multiple hurdles that have hindered its IPO journey.

Three major obstacles to IPO: equity, independent directors, compliance

1. Equity structure: a tough new threshold

In March 2024, the National Financial Regulatory Administration revised the “Regulations on the Administration of Consumer Finance Companies,” raising the minimum shareholding requirement of main investors from 30% to no less than 50%.

Mashang Consumer Finance’s shareholding structure has been dispersed for a long time, with the largest shareholder, Chongqing Department Store, holding only 33.09%, and the second-largest, Beijing Zhongguancun Kejin Technology, holding 29.506%. Even under the old rules, it barely met the threshold; under the new rules, it falls far short. This constitutes a significant obstacle to its IPO.

2. Independent director issue: long-standing unresolved

The latest guidance progress report shows that the company’s board of directors still has fewer than one-third independent directors, not meeting the requirements of the “Management Measures for Independent Directors of Listed Companies,” which stipulate that independent directors should constitute at least one-third of the board.

This issue has persisted since April 2025, when the original independent director Deng Gang resigned. Despite multiple mentions by the guidance agencies, it remains unresolved.

3. Compliance issues: from penalties to complaints

The company has a history of compliance problems: in 2016, it was reported by the former China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission for “violating consumers’ legal rights,” involving exaggerated marketing, non-compliant collection practices, unreasonable service pricing, and unregulated student loan management; in 2023, it was fined 1 million yuan for issues related to pre-loan review and collection management.

The Black Cat Complaint Platform has over 84,000 complaints related to Mashang Consumer Finance, with 1,358 new complaints in the past 30 days, mainly about violent collection, high interest rates, and invasion of privacy.

Operational concerns

Rising bad debts and “high-interest model”

The non-performing loan ratio has continued to rise. It increased from 2.05% at the end of 2022 to 2.49% at the end of 2024, indicating downward pressure on asset quality.

Large-scale disposal of non-performing assets. From December 2025 to January 2026, the company listed four batches of personal non-performing loan portfolios for transfer within two months, totaling 3.164 billion yuan in claims, involving 613,800 borrowers, with an average principal of only 3,163.90 yuan per borrower.

The “usury-like” business model has sparked controversy. Two batches of non-performing assets transferred in November 2025 involved principal and interest of 1.812 billion yuan, with interest and fees reaching 1.118 billion yuan—1.6 times the principal—meaning borrowers repaid 26,000 yuan for every 10,000 yuan borrowed.

UnionTrust’s rating report on Mashang Consumer Finance issued early warnings: “In 2024, the company’s on-balance-sheet loan scale declined, and the impact of regulatory policies and industry competition on its development remains to be seen.”

According to the People’s Bank of China, as of January 2026, household short-term consumer loans stood at 9.43 trillion yuan, the lowest in nearly three years. The overall consumer finance market faces slowing or shrinking growth, with household consumption momentum remaining weak.

A general manager of a consumer finance company stated: “Currently, assets with an annual interest rate of 24% are scarce and profit margins are small. Assets with a 36% annual interest rate have accumulated high risks, and many mid-tier institutions may also be unable to expand this year.”

Mashang Consumer Finance’s five-year IPO failure is no accident.

It exposes multiple issues accumulated during rapid expansion: dispersed and non-compliant equity structure, flawed governance mechanisms, repeated compliance failures, ineffective complaint handling, and a business model that deviates from inclusive finance principles.

As market commentary suggests, this failed listing serves as a warning to the entire consumer finance industry—core to finance are compliance and integrity; the essence of inclusive finance is serving the real economy, not short-term profit pursuit. Only by respecting regulators, adhering to compliance, improving governance, and maintaining integrity can companies truly open the door to the capital markets.