The US Treasury Department has warned of the fragility of the business models of a new crop of online lenders, a day after revelations of alleged mis-selling of loans at Lending Club shook confidence in the sector.

就在有报道称Lending Club涉嫌不当销售贷款产品、动摇网贷行业信心的一天之后，美国财政部就一大批新网贷平台商业模式的脆弱性发出了警告。

A white paper released on Tuesday represented the first attempt by a US regulator to produce a framework for supervising an industry which sprang up in the wake of the financial crisis. Operating under a patchwork of state and federal rules, online lenders such as SoFi and OnDeck Capital have grown rapidly. They have been winning over consumers and small businesses by claiming to provide faster cash at better rates than the lumbering brick-and-mortar lenders.

周二发布的一份白皮书，代表着美国监管机构首次试图建立一个框架，来监管这个在金融危机后突然兴起的行业。依照碎片化的州和联邦规定运营的网贷平台，比如SoFi和OnDeck Capital，已迅速发展起来。它们一直在争取消费者和小企业客户，自称比起笨重的实体银行，自己放款的速度更快、利率更低。

In the paper, more than nine months in the making, the Treasury noted that much of the innovation from the upstarts had been positive. But it added that many of the new platforms — some 400 or so in the US, at the latest estimate — had no experience of operating “through a complete credit cycle”. It warned of deterioration in the loans they are selling on to individual and institutional investors.

美国财政部在这份酝酿了9个多月的文件中指出，这些创业型企业的许多创新是积极的。但它补充称，许多新平台——最新估算数字显示美国有大约400家——并没有“在一个完整的信用周期下”经营的经验。美国财政部警告称，它们销售给个人和机构投资者的贷款，质量正在恶化。

“New business models and underwriting tools have been developed in a period of very low interest rates, declining unemployment, and strong overall credit conditions,” the Treasury said. “Higher charge-off and delinquency rates for recent vintage consumer loans may augur increased concern if and when credit conditions deteriorate.”

“新的商业模式和审批手段是在利率很低、失业率下降和整体信用环境强劲的时期研发出来的。”美国财政部表示，“近来优质消费者贷款的冲销率和拖欠率升高，或许预示着信用环境恶化时会出现更大的麻烦。”

Online lenders have had a tougher time in recent months. Tighter credit markets and rising delinquencies among the riskiest classes of borrower have fed fears that sources of funding will dry up, potentially forcing platforms to pull down their shutters.

近几个月，网贷平台的日子变得更为艰难。信用市场趋紧，加上风险最高类别借款人拖欠率升高，助长了人们对资金来源将会枯竭的担忧，网贷平台可能会因此被迫关门。

Such concerns were magnified this week after Lending Club — the former sector favourite — booted out its chief executive over alleged mis-selling of loans and lack of disclosure on a personal investment. Shares in the San Francisco-based company collapsed on Monday and continued to fade on Tuesday as brokers issued “sell” notes, bringing the two-day price decline to about 38 per cent.

本周，该行业最受青睐的平台Lending Club将其首席执行官赶下台，原因是后者涉嫌不当销售贷款产品和未披露一项个人投资。这起事件加剧了人们的上述担忧。周一，这家总部位于旧金山的公司股价大跌。由于券商的报告提示“卖出”，周二该公司股价继续下跌，两个交易日的累计跌幅约为38%。