First of all, "P2P online lending" is a kind of online lending model for people with spare money and some people with credit, who urgently need funds to develop production and improve their lives, but can't get funds from traditional financial institutions such as banks.

And! The real P2P is an information intermediary platform, which only plays the role of matchmaking, not an investment institution! As early as July 20 15, the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of Internet Finance issued by the People's Bank of China and other ten departments clearly pointed out: "Individual peer-to-peer lending institutions should clarify the nature of information intermediary, mainly providing information services for direct loans between borrowers and borrowers, and may not provide credit enhancement services or illegally raise funds."

The introduction of this important opinion also means that the state has officially clarified the legal status of P2P online lending enterprises and online lending business. Therefore, as an information intermediary, P2P platform has a legal status.

Then we need to find out the definition of "illegal fund-raising".

"Illegal fund-raising" refers to the act of raising funds from the public by issuing stocks, bonds, lottery tickets, investment fund securities or other creditor's rights certificates without the approval of the relevant departments in accordance with legal procedures, and promising to repay the principal and interest to investors in cash, in kind or in other ways within a certain period of time. Simply put, illegal fund-raising is to concentrate the funds of many people in the hands of a company or individual without legal approval, and then use them for illegal purposes.

On August 24th, 20 16, China Banking Regulatory Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security and State Internet Information Office jointly issued the Interim Measures for the Management of Business Activities of Information Intermediaries in Peer-to-Peer Lending, which also clearly put forward 13' s prohibition on peer-to-peer lending, which is equivalent to drawing 13 untouchable "red lines" for online lending institutions.

1. Financing for yourself or in disguised form;

2. Directly or indirectly accept and collect the lender's funds;

3. Provide guarantee or promise to protect the principal and interest to the lender;

4. Publicize or promote financing projects in physical places other than the Internet, fixed telephones, mobile phones and other electronic channels by itself or by entrusting or authorizing third parties;

5. Lending loans, except as otherwise provided by laws and regulations;

6. Time limit for splitting financing projects;

7. Selling financial products such as bank wealth management, brokerage asset management, funds, insurance or trust products;

8. Carry out asset securitization business or realize the transfer of creditor's rights in the form of packaged assets, securitized assets, trust assets and fund shares;

9. Mix, bind and represent with other institutions in any form, such as investment, consignment, brokerage, etc., except as permitted by laws and regulations and relevant regulatory provisions on interbank lending;

10. Deliberately fabricating and exaggerating the authenticity and income prospects of financing projects, concealing the defects and risks of financing projects, making false one-sided propaganda or promotion by vague language or other deceptive means, fabricating and spreading false information or incomplete information to damage the commercial reputation of others and mislead lenders or borrowers;

1 1. Provide information intermediary services for high-risk financing such as stock investment, over-the-counter fund allocation, futures contracts, structured products and other derivatives;

12. Engaged in equity crowdfunding, in-kind crowdfunding and other businesses;

13. Other activities prohibited by laws, regulations and regulatory provisions related to peer-to-peer lending.

Some people may not believe that some "P2P platforms" are doing illegal fund raising! Here, we want to say that regular P2P platforms are not illegal fund-raising, but some platforms with irregular operations package fake projects into wealth management products through the fund pool model, occupy funds, and then misappropriate funds to do other projects, which is indeed suspected of illegal fund-raising.

This is explicitly prohibited by the regulatory policy "13 red line" mentioned above, and investors must avoid it.

Geometrical finance