OJK is drafting regulations that will limit institutional lenders from funding fintech peer-to-peer lenders. OJK’s new regulation involves setting distinct criteria for institutional lenders, specifically for overseas capital. For local capital, a bank is able to fund up to 25% of the total annual outstanding loanbook of a fintech lender. Through this regulation, OJK hopes to encourage more retail funding, and reduce the dependency on institutional lenders. Based on OJK data as of September, lending from retail investors is at ~ 22% of total fintech lending volumes, while institutional lenders cover the majority ~72%. Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies, Bhima Yudhistira, warned that the new regulation would slow down the expansion of fintech lending to MSMEs, and overall MSME credit growth.
