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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

(Mark One)

Date of event requiring this shell company report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Commission file number: 001-37657

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

*      Not for trading, but only in connection with the listing on the New York Stock Exchange of American depositary shares.

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

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Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

o Yes   x No

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

o Yes   x No

Note — Checking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from their obligations under those Sections.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

x Yes   o No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

x Yes   o No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

†The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. 

o Yes   x No

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow.

o Item 17   o Item 18

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b2 of the Exchange Act).

o Yes   x No

(APPLICABLE ONLY TO ISSUERS INVOLVED IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Sections 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court.

o Yes   o No

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INTRODUCTION

Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires in this annual report:

·                  “ADSs” refer to our American depositary shares, each of which represents two ordinary shares;

·                  “China” or the “PRC” refers to the People’s Republic of China, excluding, for the purposes of this annual report only, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan;

·                  “CreditEase” refers to CreditEase Holdings (Cayman) Limited, our parent company and controlling shareholder;

·                  “M3+ Net Charge-off Rate,” with respect to loans facilitated during a specified time period, which we refer to as a vintage, is defined as the difference between (i) the total balance of outstanding principal of loans that become over three months delinquent during a specified period, and (ii) the total amount of recovered past due payments of principal and accrued interest in the same period with respect to all loans in the same vintage that have ever become over three months delinquent, divided by (iii) the total initial principal of the loans facilitated in such vintage;

·                  “net payout” refers to the portion of an investor’s outstanding principal and accrued interest paid out to the investor from our quality assurance program in the event of a loan default. Prior to the discontinuation of our quality assurance program in May 2018, we implemented a 100% payout ratio policy allowing investors to fully recover their outstanding principal and accrued interest in the event of loan default;

·                  “ordinary shares” refer to our ordinary shares, par value US$0.0001 per share;

·                  “prime borrower” refers to credit card holders with stable credit performance and sufficient repayment capabilities. In determining whether a prospective borrower has stable credit performance and sufficient repayment capabilities, we review such borrower’s credit card statement for the last six months and/or credit report from the People’s Bank of China, or the PBOC, for the last five years and re-evaluate the secured asset’s valuation for secured loans, as applicable;

·                  “AUA” refers to the total market value of the investments for which we manage on behalf of our investors under our wealth management services.

·                  “RMB” and “Renminbi” refer to the legal currency of China;

·                  “US$,” “U.S. dollars,” “$,” and “dollars” refer to the legal currency of the United States;

·                  “Yiren Credit” refers to our credit-tech platform that has the capability to provide individual borrowers and small business owners with a full spectrum of online and offline, multi-channel loan products funded by investors;

·                  “Yiren Digital,” “we,” “us,” “our company” and “our” refer to Yiren Digital Ltd., its subsidiaries and its consolidated variable interest entities; and

·                  “Yiren Wealth” refers to our wealth management platform that specifically targets the mass affluent investors and provides them with one-stop asset allocation-based wealth management solutions.

In March and July 2019, we entered into definitive agreements and certain amendment, respectively, with CreditEase, the controlling shareholder of our company, pursuant to which we assumed from CreditEase and its affiliates certain business operations, mainly including online wealth management targeting the mass affluent, unsecured and secured consumer lending, small-and-medium-enterprise (SME) lending and other related services or businesses (the “Acquired Businesses”). This transaction was consummated in July 2019. Unless otherwise indicated, the financial data and operating data of our company set forth in this annual report reflect the inclusion of the Acquired Businesses.

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On December 31, 2020, we consummated another business restructuring with CreditEase to streamline our service lines and reposition us as a comprehensive personal financial service platform. In connection with the business restructuring, we had disposed of and ceased control over the online consumer lending platform targeting individual investors as the funding source (the “Disposed Business”). The Disposed Business was operated by Hengcheng Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (“Hengcheng”), a variable interest entity of our company, and CreditEase had, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, obtained control over Hengcheng and the Disposed Business operated by Hengcheng, and paid the designated subsidiaries of our company an aggregate amount of RMB67.0 million in cash. As a result of the restructuring, the funding source for Yiren Credit will include investments from institutional funding partners only.

Our reporting currency is Renminbi, or RMB. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to RMB in this annual report are made at a rate of RMB6.5250 to US$1.00, the exchange rate in effect as of December 31, 2020 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. We make no representation that any RMB or U.S. dollar amounts could have been, or could be, converted into U.S. dollars or RMB, as the case may be, at any particular rate, or at all.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This annual report on Form 20-F contains forward-looking statements that reflect our current expectations and views of future events. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “is/are likely to,” “potential,” “continue” or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:

·                  our goals and strategies;

·                  our future business development, financial condition and results of operations;

·                  the expected growth of the online consumer finance marketplace market in China;

·                  our expectations as to the charge-off rates of loans facilitated through our platform;

·                  our expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of our products and services;

·                  our expectations regarding our relationships with investors and borrowers;

·                  our plans to invest in our proprietary technologies in the areas of data collection and processing algorithms as well as new business initiatives;

·                  competition in our industry;

·                  potential impact of COVID-19 outbreak on our current and future business development, financial condition and results of operations; and

·                  relevant government policies and regulations relating to our industry.

We would like to caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and you should read these statements in conjunction with the risk factors disclosed in “Item 3D. Key Information—Risk Factors.” Those risks are not exhaustive. We operate in an evolving environment. New risks emerge from time to time and it is impossible for our management to predict all risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ from those contained in any forward-looking statement. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law. You should read this annual report and the documents that we reference in this annual report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect.

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PART I

Item 1.                                 Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers

Not applicable.

Item 2.                                 Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable

Not applicable.

Item 3.                                 Key Information

A.                                    Selected Financial Data

In July 2019, we consummated a business realignment transaction with CreditEase, the controlling shareholder of our company, pursuant to which we have assumed from CreditEase and its affiliates the Acquired Businesses. As our company and the Acquired Businesses have been under the common control of CreditEase since the establishment of our company, ASC 805-50 requires that our financial statements be recast to retroactively reflect the acquisition of the Acquired Businesses for all the applicable prior periods presented. Item 3.A of Form 20-F requires that selected financial information be presented for the registrant’s most recent five fiscal years. However, registrants are permitted to omit up to two of the earliest years in such five-year period in certain circumstances. Recast financial statements of our company reflecting the inclusion of the Acquired Businesses for the year of 2016 have never been previously prepared and significant time and expense would be required to prepare the selected financial information for our company that gives retrospective effect to the acquisition of businesses under common control for the earliest two years of the five-year period. Therefore, we represent that it would require unreasonable effort and expense and involve undue hardship to comply with Item 3.A of Form 20-F with respect to the presentation of recast selected financial information as of and for fiscal year ended December 31, 2016.

On December 31, 2020, we consummated another business restructuring with CreditEase to streamline our service lines and reposition us as a comprehensive personal financial service platform. In connection with the business restructuring, we had disposed of and ceased control over the Disposed Business. The Disposed Business was operated by Hengcheng, a variable interest entity of our company, and CreditEase had, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, obtained control over Hengcheng and the Disposed Business operated by Hengcheng, and paid the designated subsidiaries of our company an aggregate amount of RMB67.0 million in cash. Please see “Item 4. Information on the Company—A. History and Development of the Company” for further information.

The following selected consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2020 and selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2019 and 2020 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included in this annual report beginning on page F-1. The following selected recast consolidated statements of operations data for the year ended December 31, 2018 have been derived from our audited recast consolidated financial statements included in this annual report beginning on page F-1 which reflect the acquisition of the Acquired Businesses under common control. The following selected recast consolidated statements of operations data for the year ended December 31, 2017 and the selected recast consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2018 have been derived from our audited recast consolidated financial statements not included in this annual report. The following selected recast consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2017 are derived from our unaudited recast consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2017 not included in this annual report.

Our historical results do not necessarily indicate results expected for any future periods. The selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with, and are qualified in their entirety by reference to, our audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” below. Our audited consolidated financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

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(1)         Each ADS represents two ordinary shares.

(2)         For purposes of calculating net loss/income per share, the weighted average number of ordinary shares for all the prior periods presented in the consolidated financial statements have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the issuance of our ordinary shares to CreditEase in consideration of our assumption of the Acquired Businesses.

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The following selected consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2016 and selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2016, which did not reflect the Acquired Businesses, have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements not included in this annual report.

(1)         Starting from the second quarter of 2016, we changed our reporting currency from the U.S. dollar to RMB to reduce the impact of increased volatility of the RMB to US$ exchange rate on our reported operating results. The change in our reporting currency has been retroactively reflected for all periods presented herein.

(2)         Each ADS represents two ordinary shares.

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B.                                    Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

C.                                    Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

D.                                    Risk Factors

Risks Related to Our Business

We operate in emerging and evolving industries, and our operations, services and products have been and may need to be modified in answering to the latest market trends, which makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects.

The market for China’s loan facilitation and wealth management solutions are emerging and in general remain at relatively preliminary stages of development and may not continue to develop as rapidly as expected. The regulatory framework for the industries we operate in is also evolving and may remain uncertain for the foreseeable future.

We launched our online marketplace in March 2012 and have a limited operating history. Starting in the fourth quarter of 2014, we began offering loan products with different pricing grades. In the second quarter of 2017, we further launched a new credit scoring system, the Yiren score, which can be used to more accurately characterize a borrower’s credit profile. We have also established an open fintech sharing platform “Yirendai Enabling Platform,” or YEP, to provide big data-backed anti-fraud, risk management and precise customer acquisition solutions to financial institutions and industry partners. As a result of our strategic business realignment with CreditEase in 2019, we have begun operating our business on a more diverse and scalable mix of service platforms——Yiren Credit and Yiren Wealth. Yiren Credit is our credit-tech platform that has the capability to provide individual borrowers and small business owners with a full spectrum of online and offline, multi-channel loan products funded by retail and institutional investors. Yiren Wealth is our wealth management platform that specifically targets the mass affluent investors and provides them with one-stop asset allocation-based wealth management solutions. On December 31, 2020, we consummated another business restructuring with CreditEase to streamline our service lines and reposition us as a comprehensive personal financial service platform. In connection with the business restructuring, we had disposed of and ceased control over the online consumer lending platform targeting individual investors as the funding source (the “Disposed Business”). The Disposed Business was operated by Hengcheng, a variable interest entity of our company, and CreditEase had, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, obtained control over Hengcheng and the Disposed Business operated by Hengcheng, and paid the designated subsidiaries of our company an aggregate amount of RMB67.0 million in cash. As a result of the restructuring, the funding source for Yiren Credit will include investments from institutional funding partners only.

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As our business develops or in response to competition, we may continue to introduce new products or make adjustments to our existing products, or make adjustments to our business model. In connection with the introduction of new products or in response to general economic conditions, we may impose more stringent borrower qualifications to ensure the quality of loans on our platform, which may negatively affect the growth of our business. Any significant change to our business model may not achieve expected results and may have a material and adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. For example, we cannot assure you that our wealth management services or products can be widely accepted in light of our limited experience and operating history in the wealth management sector. It is possible that we may not be able to offer attractive wealth management products to achieve our clients’ expectation of the investment returns. Any failure on our part to keep up with the development of the wealth management services or any failure to respond quickly to the market trend may materially and adversely affect the growth of our wealth management business. It is therefore difficult to effectively assess our future prospects. The risks and challenges we encounter or may encounter in this developing and rapidly evolving market may adversely impact our business and prospects. These risks and challenges include our ability to, among other things:

·                  navigate an evolving regulatory environment;

·                  expand the base of borrowers and investors served on our platforms;

·                  acquire borrowers and investors in a cost-effective manner;

·                  enhance our risk management capabilities and maintain low delinquency rates of transactions facilitate by us;

·                  continue to scale our technology infrastructure to support the growth of our platform and higher transaction volume;

·                  broaden our product offerings;

·                  source qualified third-party wealth management products;

·                  enhance our risk management capabilities;

·                  attract sufficient funding from institutional funding partners;

·                  improve our operational efficiency;

·                  cultivate a vibrant consumer finance ecosystem;

·                  maintain the security of our platform and the confidentiality of the information provided and utilized across our platform;

·                  attract, retain and motivate talented employees; and

·                  defend ourselves against litigation, regulatory, intellectual property, privacy or other claims.

We are subject to all risks and challenges inherent in developing business enterprise in emerging and evolving industries. If the market for our marketplace does not develop as we expect, or if we fail to address the needs of our target market, or other risks and challenges, our business and results of operations will be harmed.

We had a business restructuring in 2020 and this business restructuring may not be successful ultimately.

On December 31, 2020, as a result of a business restructuring, we had disposed of and ceased control over the Disposed Business and CreditEase had obtained control over the Disposed Business and paid the designated subsidiaries of our company an aggregate amount of RMB67.0 million in cash.

It is uncertain whether this business restructuring will eventually bring us benefits as we anticipated. If we fail to achieve some or all of the expected benefits of this business restructuring, our competitive position, business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Even if this business restructuring is implemented successfully as we planned, there might also be other issues and negative consequences arising from this business restructuring such as a loss of continuity, a loss of customer base, internal control issues, changes in employee structure as well as other unexpected consequences, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial condition and results of operations.

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For instance, our brand and reputation may be negatively affected by the fact that we once operated the online lending information intermediary business. The stringent regulatory actions on online lending information intermediaries have decimated online lending information intermediary service. Although we have disposed of and ceased control over the Disposed Business, our brand and reputation may also be negatively affected by the fact that we once operated the online lending information intermediary business. Moreover, as CreditEase takes over the control of the investor protection program and is responsible to ensure the winding-down of the outstanding loan collection activities regarding the Disposed Business in an orderly manner in accordance with the related rules and regulations, any negative development in CreditEase’s winding-down of the outstanding loan collection activities relating the Disposed Business may also negatively affect the relevant governmental authorities’ view on us or our brand, reputation and even business.

If we are unable to obtain adequate funding from institutional funding partners to meet user demand for loans on our platform, our business and results of operations will be adversely affected.

The growth and success of our operations depend on the availability of adequate funding to meet users’ demand for loans on our platform. As a result of our business restructuring in December 2020, our funding sources will include investments from institutional funding partners only. Our institutional funding partners primarily include commercial banks, trusts, and microloan and financial leasing companies. In 2020, 82.5% of loans facilitated on our platform were funded by our institutional funding partners. To maintain a high growth momentum of our marketplace, we must continuously attract more institutional funding partners to our marketplace. If there is insufficient funding from our institutional funding partners, borrowers may not be able to obtain capital through our marketplace and may turn to other sources for their borrowing needs. If we are unable to retain our existing institutional funding partners or attract new institutional funding partners, or if regulatory authorities promulgated new laws and regulations to regulate, limit, or even prohibit our collaboration with the institutional funding partners, our business, results of operations and financial condition will be adversely affected. Our cooperation with institutional funding partners is not on an exclusive basis. If the governmental authorities further tighten the regulations on the online consumer finance industry, our institutional funding partners would become more selective in choosing partners for referring borrowers and facilitating loans for them. The competition we face would become even more intensely. If we fail to continuously meet their requirements or needs, our financial institution partners may stop cooperating with us and turn to our competitors, which may also materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we are unable to maintain or increase the volume of loans facilitated through our marketplace or if we are unable to retain existing borrowers or investors or attract new borrowers or investors, our business and results of operations will be adversely affected.

The growth of our marketplace is dependent on the increase in the volume of loans facilitated and the sales volume of our current investment products through our marketplace, which may be affected by several factors, including the regulatory environment, our brand recognition and reputation, the effectiveness of our risk control, the repayment rate of borrowers on our marketplace, the spectrum and attractiveness of our current investment products, the efficiency of our platform, the macroeconomic environment and other factors.

To maintain the high growth momentum of our marketplace, we must continuously increase the volume of loans and the sales volume of our current investment products by retaining current participants and attracting more users whose financing or investment needs can be met on our marketplace. If there is insufficient funding from our institutional funding partners, borrowers may not be able to obtain capital through our marketplace and may turn to other sources for their borrowing needs. If we are unable to attract qualified borrowers and sufficient funding from our institutional funding partners or if borrowers do not continue to participate in our marketplace at the current rates due to any change we may be required to make to the way we conduct our business to ensure compliance with existing or new PRC laws and regulations or due to other business or regulatory reasons, we might not be able to increase our loan transaction volume and revenues as we expect, and our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

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To the extent permitted by laws and regulations, we intend to continue to dedicate significant resources to our user acquisition efforts, including establishing new acquisition channels. We utilize online channels, such as search engine marketing, search engine optimization, partnerships with internet companies and internet traffic acquisition from third-party online loan products marketplaces, as well as offline channels for user acquisition. We used to rely on CreditEase’s nationwide service network for offline borrower acquisition. In 2018, 38.4% of our borrowers were acquired through referrals from CreditEase, contributing 43.1% of the total amount of loans facilitated through our marketplace. As part of a business realignment with CreditEase in 2019, we acquired CreditEase Puhui Information Consultant (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or CreditEase Puhui, an entity managing CreditEase’s national service network for offline borrower acquisition. In 2019 and 2020, 53.0% and 21.7% of our borrowers were acquired through CreditEase Puhui, respectively, contributing 52.4% and 68.4% of the total amount of loans facilitated through our marketplace, respectively. There is no assurance that we will be successful with our user acquisition efforts. If any of our current user acquisition channels become less effective, if we are unable to continue to use any of these channels or if we are not successful in using new channels, we may not be able to acquire new borrowers and investors in a cost-effective manner or convert potential borrowers and investors into active borrowers and investors, and may even lose our existing borrowers and investors to our competitors. If we are unable to attract qualified borrowers and sufficient funding from our institutional funding partners or if borrowers and investors do not continue to participate in our marketplace at the current rates, we might be unable to increase our loan transaction volume and revenues as we expect, and our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

If our practice is deemed to violate any PRC laws, rules or regulations, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

The PRC government has adopted several regulations governing the personal credit reporting business. According to these regulations and measures, no entity may engage in the personal credit reporting business without approval by the credit reporting industry regulatory department under the State Council. If any entity directly engages in the personal credit reporting business without such approval, the entity is subject to penalties including suspension of business, confiscation of revenues related to the personal credit reporting business, fines and criminal liabilities.

In January 2021, the PBOC published the draft of Administrative Measures for Credit Reporting Business for comment, or the Draft Credit Reporting Measures. According to the Draft Credit Reporting Measures, credit information refers to information used to determine the credit status of individuals and enterprises when providing services for financial and economic activities, including but not limited to identity, address, transportation, communication, debts, property, payment, consumption, production and operation, fulfillment of legal obligations and other information of individuals and enterprises, as well as analysis and evaluation of the credit status of individuals and enterprises based on the foregoing information. We organize, store and analyze information provided by users and third parties. This information and data contains certain personal information of users, a portion of which, upon their consent, we may provide to our marketplace investors and/or make available on YEP as part of the big data backed anti-fraud, risk management, and precise customer acquisition solutions provided to financial institutions and industry partners. Due to the lack of further interpretations of the current regulations governing the personal credit reporting business, it is uncertain whether we would be deemed to engage in the personal credit reporting business. We cannot assure you that we will not be required in the future to obtain approval or license for the personal credit reporting business and comply with the relevant regulations, which may be costly, or become subject to penalties associated with regulations governing the personal credit reporting business.

According to the Financing Guarantee Rules, without the approval by the competent government department, no entity may operate the financing guarantee business in which such entity acts as a guarantor providing guarantee to the guaranteed parties as to their loans, bonds or other types of debt financing. If any entity engages in the financing guarantee business without such approval, the entity may be subject to penalties, including ban or suspension of business, confiscation of revenues related to financing guarantee business, fines and criminal liabilities. Circular 141 further sets out that a banking financial institution shall not accept any credit enhancement service, ultimate commitment or any other disguised credit enhancement service provided by any third-party institution without guarantee qualifications. We cooperated with a bank to furnish borrower referral and facilitation services to the bank from August 2017 to December 2017. We provided guarantee deposits to the bank to protect it from potential losses due to loan delinquency and undertook to timely replenish such deposit from time to time. We also undertake to repay the bank on behalf of defaulting borrowers if any repayment is 80 days overdue and upon such full repayment to the bank, we will obtain the creditor’s rights in respect of the relevant default amount. Since the promulgation of Circular 141, we have suspended the cooperation with the bank. Due to the lack of further interpretations and the evolving regulatory environments, it is uncertain whether we would be deemed by the PRC regulatory authorities as operating financing guarantee business, which is prohibited by the Interim Measures. We cannot assure you that we will not be subject to sanctions imposed by relative PRC regulatory agencies, or be required in the future to obtain approval or license for financing guarantee business to continue our cooperation with banks. In July 2020, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, or the CBIRC, published the Interim Measures for the Administration of Internet Loans of Commercial Banks, or the Commercial Banks Measures, which stipulates several rules on Internet loans provided by Commercial Banks. We cannot assure you that our cooperation with commercial banks will remain in compliance with the Commercial Banks Measures.

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The laws, rules and regulations continue to evolve in this emerging industry, and the interpretation of these laws, rules and regulations by the local authorities may be different from our understanding. We cannot be certain that our practices would not be deemed to violate any existing or future laws, rules and regulations. For instance, since the online insurance industry in China is evolving rapidly, the CBIRC has been enhancing its supervision over this industry in recent years, and new laws, regulations and regulatory requirements have been promulgated and implemented from time to time. We face challenges brought by these new laws, regulations and regulatory requirements, as well as significant uncertainties in the interpretation and application thereof. Moreover, there exist uncertainties as to how the regulatory environment might change.

On December 14, 2020, the CBIRC published the Regulatory Measures for Online Insurance Business, or the Regulatory Measures, which became effective on February 1, 2021. Hexiang Insurance Broker Co., Ltd., or Hexiang Insurance, conducts online insurance brokerage business in the PRC and is subject to the Regulatory Measures. The Regulatory Measures significantly changes regulatory regime for online insurance business in various aspects. For example, the Regulatory Measures requires insurance institutions (including insurance carriers and insurance intermediary service providers, such as insurance brokerage companies and insurance agency companies) to (i) establish internal policies with regard to personnel management, customer information protection and internal control, (ii) enhance compliance management of promotional materials and marketing activities, (iii) meet certain detailed requirements for sales activities, and (iv) protect the information right of consumers by making appropriate disclosure. In particular, the Regulatory Measures requires online insurance transactions being conducted through online interfaces operated by insurance institutions only, and prohibits insurance institutions to set default option for customer and impose any restriction on the cancellation of automatic payment to affect customer’s choice during the sales process of insurance products. The Regulatory Measures prohibits entities which are not insurance institutions from conducting insurance businesses, such as consultation of insurance products, comparison of insurance products, trial calculation of insurance premiums, quotation and comparison of quotations, drafting insurance plans for policyholders, processing insurance application formalities and premium collection. The Regulatory Measures also does not explicitly allow the entities which are not insurance institutions to conduct marketing activities for online insurance products. In addition, the Regulatory Measures sets a higher standard for insurance institutions and online industry participants to improve IT infrastructure and cybersecurity protection. In particular, insurance institutions engaged in online insurance products sales business shall have IT systems that are certified as Safety Level III Computer Information Systems or above level. It might be costly for us to stay in compliance with the heightened requirements and standards in the Regulatory Measures. The Regulatory Measures sets out a ramp-up process allowing market participants to achieve full compliance in phases until February 1, 2022, however, we cannot assure you that we can timely adjust our current business operations to achieve and maintain full compliance. For details of the Regulatory Measures, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulations—Regulations on Internet Insurance Business.”

The regulatory framework in China’s insurance industry is evolving and undergoing significant changes. Further development of regulations applicable to us may result in additional restrictions on our business operations. We may have to adjust our business practice and operations to comply with the continuously changing regulatory requirements. For example, in January 2021, the CBIRC published the draft Circular on Further Regulating Certain Issues on Internet Life Insurance Business, or the Draft Circular, for comment among insurance industry participants. The Draft Circular requires that each installment of premium of certain insurance products less than one year term, such as accident insurance and health insurance shall be equal. The Draft Circular also provides the upper limit for the predetermined fee rate and average supplemental fee rate for certain insurance products, which may affect the amount of insurance brokerage commission we charge on the relevant insurance products and adversely affect our financial condition. As of the date of this prospectus, the Draft Circular is still pending approval and has not come into effect. It remains uncertain when and how the Draft Circular would come into effect, and whether and how CBIRC would promulgate relevant rules related to us. The attention of our management team could be diverted to these efforts to cope with an evolving regulatory or competitive environment. Meanwhile, staying compliant with the restriction may result in limitation to our business scope, limitation to our product and service offerings, and reduction in our attraction to consumers.

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Our financing guarantee and insurance brokerage business are subject to the supervision of financial authorities. While we have not been subject to any regulatory penalties as of the date of this annual report in connection with such financing guarantee and insurance brokerage business practices, we may be subject to regulatory warnings, correction orders, condemnation and fines and may be required to further modify our business if any of our financing guarantee or insurance brokerage companies is deemed to have violated national, provincial or local laws and regulations or regulatory orders and guidance.

If our business arrangements with certain institutional investors were deemed to violate PRC laws and regulations, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

As part of our strategy to expand our institutional investor base, we may from time to time explore alternative funding initiatives, including through standardized capital instruments, such as the issuance of asset-backed securities.

We have established business relationships with trusts, asset backed special plans and funds (collectively referred to as the “assets backed financing entities”, or “ABFEs”) which were administered by trust companies and asset management companies. The ABFEs were set up to invest solely in the loans facilitated on our platform and provide returns to the beneficiaries of the ABFEs through interest payments made by the borrowers. Under the arrangements, we normally invest in all of subordinate tranches and portion of senior tranches. We were designated as the service provider for the ABFEs. Through the transaction fees charged, security funds deposited, and direct investment, we have the right to receive benefits or bear losses from the ABFEs. We are considered as the primary beneficiary of the ABFEs and thus consolidated such ABFEs’ assets, liabilities, results of operations and cash flows.

Although the operating our online marketplace, is not part of the fund-raising process by the ABFEs, we cannot assure you that our provision of services to the ABFEs and investments through the ABFEs will not be viewed by PRC regulators as violating any laws or regulations regarding capital pools. Also, we transferred cash to certain trusts in amounts equal to certain percentages of the entire assets put into the trusts, as security funds to protect the ABFEs from potential losses from defaults of loans in which the ABFEs have invested. Under limited circumstances, the remainder of such funds may be returned to us, and we cannot assure you that we will not be viewed by PRC regulators as bearing some credit risk or providing credit enhancement services under such arrangement. In addition, we cannot assure you that the purchase of beneficial rights of the ABFEs through the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, or purchase of beneficial rights of ABFEs in private placement would not be deemed as investments in loans facilitated through the online marketplace we operate by using our own capital. If any of such business arrangements were deemed to violate PRC laws and regulations, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, as the laws, rules and regulations applicable to asset-backed securities are still developing, it remains uncertain as to the application and interpretation of such laws, rules and regulations, particularly as they relate to the online lending information intermediary service industry.

If we are unable to maintain low default rates for loans facilitated by our platform, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Our ability to attract borrowers and institutional funding partners to, and build trust in, our marketplace is significantly dependent on our ability to effectively evaluate a borrower’s credit profile and maintain low default rates. To conduct this evaluation, we have employed a series of procedures and developed a proprietary credit assessment and decisioning model. Our credit scoring model aggregates and analyzes the data submitted by a borrower, as well as the data we collect from a number of internal and external sources, and then generates a Yiren score for the prospective borrower. The score will be further used to approve and classify the borrower into one of the five segments in our current risk grid. If our credit scoring model contains programming or other errors, is ineffective or the data provided by borrowers or third parties are incorrect or stale, our loan pricing and approval process could be negatively affected, resulting in misclassified or mispriced loans or incorrect approvals or denials of loans. If we are unable to effectively and accurately assess the credit profiles of borrowers, segment borrowers into the appropriate grade in the risk grid, or unable to maintain low default rates of loans facilitated by our platform. In addition, the foregoing will also have an impact on collectability of service fees, resulting in higher allowances for contract assets.

Historically, loans generated from our online channels generally have experienced higher delinquency rates and higher charge-off rates as compared with loans referred from offline channels. If the proportion of loans generated from our online channels increases as opposed to loans generated from our offline channels, the overall delinquency rates and charge-off rates of loans facilitated by our platform may increase. In addition, once a loan application is approved, we do not further monitor certain aspects of the borrower’s credit profile, such as changes in the borrower’s credit report and the borrower’s purchasing pattern with online merchants. If the borrower’s financial condition deteriorates, we may not be able to take measures to prevent default on the part of the borrower and thereby maintain low default rates for loans facilitated by our platform. Prior to the completion of our business realignment with CreditEase, the borrowers that we served were primarily prime borrowers. After the completion of the business realignment with CreditEase, we expand to serve new borrower groups beyond prime borrowers, and we may find it difficult or unable to maintain low default rates of loans facilitated through our marketplace. Although we collaborate with insurance and guarantee companies to provide credit enhancement for loans facilitated through our marketplace, if widespread defaults were to occur, institutional funding partners may incur losses and cease collaboration with us, the insurance and guarantee companies that cooperate with us may raise their insurance premium and guarantee service fees, which may cause us to lower fee rates to stay competitive in acquiring borrowers, and our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

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If our loan products do not achieve sufficient market acceptance, our financial results and competitive position could be harmed.

We incur expenses and consume resources upfront to develop, acquire and market new loan products. The expected M3+ Net Charge-off Rate and actual observed results for each of these customer groups divide potential borrowers into distinctively different credit segments. For a more detailed description of the risk grades we currently offer, please see “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Risk Management—Proprietary Credit Scoring Model and Loan Qualification System.” New loan products must achieve high levels of market acceptance in order for us to recoup our investment in developing, acquiring and bringing them to market.

Our existing or new loan products and changes to our platform could fail to attain sufficient market acceptance for many reasons, including, but not limited to:

·                  our failure to predict market demand accurately and supply loan products that meet this demand in a timely fashion;

·                  borrowers and institutional funding partners using our platform may not like, find useful or agree with any changes;

·                  our failure to properly price new loan products;

·                  defects, errors or failures on our platform;

·                  negative publicity about our loan products or our platform’s performance or effectiveness;

·                  views taken by regulatory authorities that the new products or platform changes do not comply with PRC laws, rules or regulations applicable to us; and

·                  the introduction or anticipated introduction of competing products by our competitors.

If our new loan products do not achieve adequate acceptance in the market, our competitive position, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.

Our business depends on our ability to collect payment on the transactions we facilitate.

Historically, we used to provide loan collection services to the individual investors who funded through our platform. After we disposed of and ceased control over the Disposed Business, we can assist our institutional funding partners in the loan collection services upon their request. As of December 31, 2020, most of our institutional funding partners performed loan collection by themselves and we did not provide such services. However, if requested, we can utilize an automated process for collecting scheduled loan payments from our borrowers. Upon loan origination, we establish a payment schedule with payment occurring on a set business day each month. Borrowers then make scheduled loan repayments via a third-party payment platform or a payment platform delegated by the institutional funding partners. As a day-to-day service to borrowers, we provide payment reminder services such as sending reminder text messages and phone calls on the day a repayment is due. Once a repayment is past due, we also send additional reminder text messages during the first fourteen days of delinquency. The collections process commences once a loan is fifteen days delinquent. To facilitate repayment, the collections process is divided into distinct stages based on the severity of delinquency, which dictates the level of collection steps taken. For example, reminder text messages and emails are sent to a delinquent borrower as soon as the collections process commences, and if the payment is still outstanding, the collection team will make phone calls. Although most stages of the collections process are outsourced to CreditEase, we handle all decisions to restructure or defer delinquent loans that are above a certain threshold, while CreditEase collection teams have the discretion to make decisions for the loans that are below such threshold.

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However, despite such collection efforts, we cannot assure you that we will be able to collect the relevant payments as expected. Failure to collect payments and maintain low default rates for loans facilitated by our platform will have an adverse effect on our business operations, financial position and results of operations. Furthermore, any misconduct in our collection practice (including that of CreditEase carried out on our behalf) that is considered not to be in compliance with the relevant laws, rules and regulations may harm our reputation and business, which could further reduce our ability to collect payments from borrowers, lead to a decrease in the willingness of prospective borrowers to apply for loans on our platform, or fines and penalties imposed by the relevant regulatory authorities, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition, if any laws, rules or regulations are adopted by the regulatory authorities in the future imposing additional restrictions on debt collection practice, we may need to modify our collection efforts accordingly.

If we are not able to respond to changes in customer preferences for our products and services and provide a satisfactory customer experience on our platforms, or our existing and new products and services do not maintain or achieve sufficient market acceptance, we will not be able to maintain and expand our customer base and increase customer activities, and our financial results and competitive position will be harmed.

We believe that our customer base is the cornerstone of our business. Our ability to maintain and expand our customer base depends on a number of factors, including our ability to offer suitable loan products or wealth management products for our customers, and our ability to provide relevant and timely products and services to meet changing customer needs. If we are unable to respond to changes in user preference and deliver satisfactory and distinguishable user experience, our users may switch to competing platforms or obtain the relevant products and services directly from their providers. As a result, customer access to and customer activity on our platform will decline, our products and services will be less attractive to our customers, and our business, financial performance and prospects will be materially and adversely affected.

If the market acceptance of the online wealth management products offered by us, or the online wealth management products in general, declines, and we fail to retain our investors by developing and promoting our other wealth management products as alternative investment portfolio options for investors, we may suffer a loss of our investor base, and our business, operation results and financial status will be adversely impacted.

We have devoted significant resources to, and will continue to emphasize on, upgrading and marketing our existing loan products and wealth management products and enhancing their market awareness. We also incur expenses and expend resources upfront to develop, acquire and market new loan products and wealth management products that incorporate additional features, improve functionality or otherwise make our products more desirable to borrowers and investors. New loan products and wealth management products must achieve high levels of market acceptance in order for us to recoup our investment in developing, acquiring and bringing them to market.

Our existing and new loan products and wealth management products could fail to attain sufficient market acceptance for many reasons, including:

·                  borrowers may not find terms of our loan products, such as borrowing costs and credit limit, competitive or appealing;

·                  investors or institutional funding partners are not willing to deploy their funds in a timely or efficient manner;

·                  we may fail to predict market demand accurately and provide loan products or wealth management product that meet this demand in a timely fashion;

·                  users may not like, find useful or agree with, any changes;

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·                  there may be defects, errors or failures on our platform;

·                  there may be negative publicity about our loan products and wealth management products or our platform’s performance or effectiveness;

·                  regulatory authorities may take the view that the existing and new loan products and online wealth management products or changes to our platform do not comply with PRC laws, regulations or rules applicable to us; and

·                  there may be competing products and services introduced or anticipated to be introduced by our competitors.

If our existing and new loan products and wealth management products do not achieve adequate acceptance in the market, our competitive position, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.

We cooperate with business partners to provide services to investors and borrowers on our platform. If we are unable to maintain relationships with existing business partners and develop new relationships with potential business partners on terms acceptable to us, our reputation, business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We have established strategic partnerships with multiple financial institutions in the ordinary course of our business, including joint-stock banks, city banks, internet banks, insurance companies and trust companies. For example, we cooperate with insurance and guarantee companies to provide credit enhancement for loans facilitated through our marketplace. If these insurance and guarantee companies fail to perform any of their contractual obligations, our institutional funding partners may cease collaboration with us, which could materially harm our reputation and growth of our marketplace. If any of these insurance and guarantee companies is unable or unwilling to continue operating in the line of business that is the subject of their cooperation with us for regulatory, business or other reasons, we may not be able to obtain similar relationships on terms acceptable to us in a timely manner, or at all. If any of the foregoing were to occur, our reputation, business and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

Our wealth management business involves relatively new business models, and we may not be successful in operating our wealth management business.

Many elements of our wealth management business are relatively unproven, and the markets for these services in China are relatively new, rapidly developing and subject to significant challenges. Although we intend to devote additional resources to expanding our wealth management business and develop and offer more innovative products and services to our clients, we have limited experience with these businesses and cannot assure you of their future success. If we fail to address the needs of our clients, adapt to rapidly evolving market trends or continue to offer innovative products and services, there may not be significant market demand for them. In addition, our wealth management business will continue to encounter risks and difficulties that early stage businesses frequently experience, including the potential failure to cost-effectively expand the size of our customer base, maintain adequate management of risks and expenses, implement our customer development strategies and adapt and modify them as needed, develop and maintain our competitive advantages and anticipate and adapt to changing conditions in China’s financing industry resulting from mergers and acquisitions involving our competitors or other significant changes in economic conditions, competitive landscape and market dynamics. If we are unable to successfully develop our wealth management business into profitable business, our business and revenues would be materially and adversely affected.

We may not be able to ensure the accuracy of the third-party product information and the authenticity of third-party wealth management products on our platform, and we have limited control over performance of investment products we distribute.

Our wealth management business primarily distributes short-term cash management products, mutual fund investment products, insurance products and securities and stock products. Some underlying wealth management products are offered by third parties. The acceptance and popularity of our platform is partially premised on the reliability of the relevant underlying wealth management products and information on our platform. We rely on the relevant third-party providers of the relevant wealth management products for the authenticity of their underlying products and the comprehensiveness, accuracy and timeliness of the related financial information. While the products and information from these third-party providers have been generally reliable, there can be no assurance that the reliability can be maintained in the future. If these third-party providers or their agents provide inauthentic financial products or incomplete, misleading, inaccurate or fraudulent information, we may lose the trust of existing and prospective investors. In addition, if our investors purchase the underlying wealth management products that they discover on our platform and they suffer losses, they may blame us and attempt to hold us responsible for their losses, even though we have made risk disclosures before they invest. Our reputation could be harmed, and we could experience reduced user traffic to our platform, which would adversely affect our business and financial performance.

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Furthermore, as investors access the underlying wealth management products through our platform, they may have the impression that we are at least partially responsible for the quality of these products. Although we have established standards to screen products providers before selling their products on our platform, we have limited control over performance of the investment products we distribute. In the event that an investor is dissatisfied with underlying products or the services of a products provider, we do not have any means to directly make improvements in response to user complaints. If investors become dissatisfied with the underlying wealth management products available on our platform, our business, reputation, financial performance and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

Our wealth management products are subject to risks related to lawsuits and other claims brought by our investors.

We may be subject to lawsuits and other claims in the ordinary course of providing wealth management products to our investors. We may also be subject to claims for failing to provide sufficient information on investment risks or for failing to provide access to such relevant information in a manner that is clear and readily accessible to investors. Actions brought against us may result in settlements, awards, injunctions, fines, penalties or other results adverse to us including harm to our reputation and our results of operations. Even if we are successful in defending against these actions, the defense of such matters may result in our incurring significant expenses, divert management attention and damage our reputation.

If we are unable to compete effectively, our business and results of operations could be harmed.

The industries we are operating in are competitive and evolving. We compete with financial products and companies that attract borrowers and investors, partners or all of these. For our credit business, we compete with other consumer finance marketplaces. For our wealth management business, we compete with the private banking departments of domestic and global banks, insurance companies and securities firms that provide wealth management services.

Our competitors operate with different business models, have different cost structures or participate selectively in different market segments. They may ultimately prove more successful or more adaptable to new regulatory, technological and other developments. Some of our current and potential competitors have significantly more financial, technical, marketing and other resources than we do and may be able to devote greater resources to the development, promotion, sale and support of their platforms. Our competitors may also have longer operating histories, more extensive borrower or investor bases, greater brand recognition and brand loyalty and broader partner relationships than us. Additionally, a current or potential competitor may acquire one or more of our existing competitors or form a strategic alliance with one or more of our competitors. Our competitors may be better at developing new products, offering more attractive investment returns or lower fees, responding faster to new technologies and undertaking more extensive and effective marketing campaigns. If we are unable to compete with such companies and meet the need for innovation in our industry, the demand for our marketplace could stagnate or substantially decline, we could experience reduced revenues or our marketplace could fail to achieve or maintain more widespread market acceptance, any of which could harm our business and results of operations.

If we fail to promote and maintain our brand in an effective and cost-efficient way, our business and results of operations may be harmed.

We believe that developing and maintaining awareness of our brand effectively is critical to attracting new borrowers and investors and retaining existing borrowers and investors on our marketplace. Successful promotion of our brand and our ability to attract qualified borrowers and sufficient investors depend largely on the effectiveness of our marketing efforts and the success of the channels we use to promote our marketplace. Our efforts to build our brand have caused us to incur significant expenses, and it is likely that our future marketing efforts will require us to incur significant additional expenses. These efforts may not result in increased revenues in the immediate future, or at all and, even if they do, any increases in revenues may not offset the expenses incurred. If we fail to successfully promote and maintain our brand while incurring substantial expenses, our results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected, which may impair our ability to grow our business.

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Credit and other information that we receive from third parties about a borrower may be inaccurate, discontinued, or may not accurately reflect the borrower’s creditworthiness, which may compromise the accuracy of our credit assessment.

For the purpose of credit assessment, we obtain borrower credit information from third parties, such as financial institutions and e-commerce providers, and assess applicants’ credit and assign credit scores to borrowers based on such credit information. A credit score assigned to a borrower may not reflect that particular borrower’s actual creditworthiness because the credit score may be based on outdated, incomplete or inaccurate consumer reporting data. We currently do not have a comprehensive way to determine whether borrowers have obtained loans through other consumer finance marketplaces, creating the risk whereby a borrower may borrow money through our marketplace in order to pay off loans on other consumer finance marketplaces. Additionally, there is a risk that, following our obtaining a borrower’s credit information, the borrower may have:

·                  become delinquent in the payment of an outstanding obligation;

·                  defaulted on a pre-existing debt obligation;

·                  taken on additional debt; or

·                  sustained other adverse financial events.

Such inaccurate or incomplete borrower credit information, and the potential discontinuation of borrower credit information from third parties could compromise the accuracy of our credit assessment, require adjustments to our credit assessment model and adversely affect the effectiveness of our control over our default rates, which could in turn harm our reputation and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Any harm to our brand or reputation or any damage to the reputation of the online consumer finance marketplace industry may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Enhancing the recognition and reputation of our brand is critical to our business and competitiveness. Factors that are vital to this objective include, but are not limited to, our ability to:

·                  maintain the quality and reliability of our platform;

·                  provide borrowers and investors with a superior experience in our marketplace;

·                  enhance and improve our credit assessment and decisioning model;

·                  effectively manage and resolve borrower and investor complaints; and

·                  effectively protect personal information and privacy of borrowers and investors.

In addition, certain factors that may adversely affect our reputation are beyond our control. Negative publicity about our partners, outsourced service providers or other counterparties, such as negative publicity about their debt collection practices and any failure by them to adequately protect the information of borrowers and investors, to comply with applicable laws and regulations or to otherwise meet required quality and service standards could harm our reputation. Furthermore, any negative development in the online consumer finance marketplace industry, such as bankruptcies or failures of consumer finance marketplaces as part of the industry, and especially a large number of such bankruptcies or failures, or negative perception of the industry as a whole, such as that arises from any failure of other consumer finance marketplaces to detect or prevent money laundering or other illegal activities, even if factually incorrect or based on isolated incidents, could compromise our image, undermine the trust and credibility we have established and impose a negative impact on our ability to attract new borrowers and investors. Negative developments in the online consumer finance marketplace industry, such as widespread borrower defaults, fraudulent behavior and/or the closure of other online consumer finance marketplaces, may also lead to tightened regulatory scrutiny of the sector and limit the scope of permissible business activities that may be conducted by online consumer finance marketplaces like us. If any of the foregoing takes place, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

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We may not be able to achieve profitability in the future.

We had a net income of RMB1,579.8 million, RMB1,155.6 million and a net loss of RMB692.7 million (US$106.2 million) in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively. We also had accumulated deficit of RMB1,673.6 million, RMB533.5 million and RMB1,257.6 million (US$192.7 million) as of December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively. We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to generate net income or will have positive retained earnings in the future. Our operating expenses may increase in the foreseeable future as we seek to continue to grow our business, attract borrowers, investors and partners and further enhance and develop our loan products and platform. These efforts may prove more expensive than we currently anticipate, and we may not succeed in increasing our revenue sufficiently to offset these higher expenses. There are other factors that could negatively affect our financial condition. For example, the default rates of the loans facilitated through our platform may be higher than expected, which may lead to lower than expected net revenue. Furthermore, we have adopted share incentive plans in September 2015, July 2017 and June 2020, and we may grant equity-based awards to eligible participants from time to time under the plan, which will result in share-based compensation expenses to us. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, our net revenue growth may slow, our net income margins may decline or we may incur additional net losses in the future and may not be able to maintain profitability on a quarterly or annual basis.

Our quarterly results may fluctuate significantly and may not fully reflect the underlying performance of our business.

Our quarterly results of operations, including the levels of our net revenue, expenses, net loss or net income and other key metrics, may vary significantly in the future due to a variety of factors, some of which are outside of our control, and period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not be meaningful, especially given our limited operating history. Accordingly, the results for any one quarter are not necessarily an indication of future performance. Fluctuations in quarterly results may adversely affect the price of our ADSs. Factors that may cause fluctuations in our quarterly financial results include:

·                  our ability to attract new borrowers and investors and maintain relationships with existing borrowers and investors;

·                  loan volumes and the channels through which borrowers and investors are sourced, including the relative mix of online and offline channels;

·                  changes in our product mix and introduction of new loan products;

·                  the amount and timing of operating expenses related to acquiring borrowers and investors, and the maintenance and expansion of our business, operations and infrastructure;

·                  promulgation of new rules and regulations applicable to, or heightened regulatory scrutiny of, the online consumer finance industry;

·                  our decision to manage loan volume growth during the period;

·                  network outages or security breaches;

·                  general economic, industry and market conditions;

·                  our emphasis on borrower and investor experience instead of near-term growth; and

·                  the timing of expenses related to the development or acquisition of technologies or businesses.

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In addition, we experience seasonality in our business, reflecting seasonal fluctuations in internet usage and traditional personal consumption patterns, as our individual borrowers typically use their borrowing proceeds to finance their personal consumption needs. For example, we generally experience a lower transaction volume on our online consumer finance marketplace during national holidays in China, particularly during the Chinese New Year holiday season in the first quarter of each year. Our results of operations could be affected by such seasonality in the future.

Failure to manage our liquidity and cash flows may materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

In 2018, we had a negative cash flow (reflecting the Acquired Businesses and the Disposed Business) of RMB3,959.1 million from operating activities. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—B. Liquidity and Capital Resources—Operating Activities.” Although we had a positive cash flow of RMB274.2 million and RMB282.0 million (US$43.2 million) in 2019 and 2020, respectively, we cannot assure you that we will be able to have a positive cash flow in the future. Going forward, our ability to collect fees from customers, in particular transaction fees from borrowers, will continue to affect our liquidity and cash flow condition. Inability to collect payments from customers in a timely and sufficient manner may adversely affect our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.

Fraudulent activity on our marketplace could negatively impact our operating results, brand and reputation and cause the use of our loan products and services to decrease.

We are subject to the risk of fraudulent activity both on our marketplace and associated with borrowers, investors and third parties handling borrower and investor information. For example, we detected an organized fraud incident concerning our FastTrack loan products in July 2016. After uncovering the fraud incident, we had suspended the offering of the FastTrack loan products until late July 2016 when we implemented more stringent requirements aiming to prevent similar types of fraud incidents. Our resources, technologies and fraud detection tools may be insufficient to accurately detect and prevent fraud. In addition, our anti-fraud and verification processes for borrowers from offline channels and online channels may differ, and such processes with respect to borrowers from online channels may not be as extensive as those from offline channels. If we increase the proportion of loans generated from our online channels as opposed to our offline channels, we may experience an increase in fraudulent activity on our platform. Significant increases in fraudulent activity could negatively impact our brand and reputation, reduce the volume of loan transactions facilitated through our platform and lead us to take additional steps to reduce fraud risk, which would increase our costs. High profile fraudulent activity could even lead to regulatory intervention and may divert our management’s attention and cause us to incur additional expenses and costs. If any of the foregoing were to occur, our results of operations and financial condition would be materially and adversely affected.

The wealth management products that we distribute involve various risks and any failure to identify or fully appreciate such risks may negatively affect our reputation, client relationships, operations and prospects.

We distribute a variety of wealth management products through our wealth management business, including short-term cash management products, mutual fund investment products, insurance products and securities and stock products. These products often have complex structures and involve various risks, including default risks, interest risks, liquidity risks, market risks, counterparty risks, fraud risks and other risks.

Our success in distributing and providing our products and services depends, in part, on our ability to successfully identify the risks associated with such products and services, and failure to identify or fully appreciate such risks may negatively affect our reputation, client relationships, operations and prospects. Not only must we be involved in the design and development of products and services, we must also accurately describe the products and services to, and evaluate them for, our clients. Although we enforce and implement strict risk management policies and procedures, such risk management policies and procedures may not be fully effective in mitigating the risk exposure of all of our clients in all market environments or against all types of risks.

If we fail to identify and fully appreciate the risks associated with the products and services we distribute and provide, or fail to disclose such risks to our clients, and our clients suffer financial loss or other damages resulting from their purchase of the financial products we distribute, our reputation, client relationships, business and prospects may be adversely affected.

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We may not be able to continue to retain or expand our mass affluent investor base or maintain or increase the amount of investment made by our clients in the products we distribute under our wealth management business.

Our wealth management services primarily target China’s mass affluent population. In light of China’s competitive ever-evolving wealth management industry for mass affluent population we cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain and increase the number of our clients or that our existing clients will maintain the same level of investment in the wealth management products that we distribute. As this industry in China is at an early stage of development and highly fragmented and has low barriers to entry, our existing and future competitors may have more resources and better capabilities to capture market opportunities and grow their client bases faster than us. A decrease in the number of our clients or a decrease in their spending on the products that we distribute may reduce revenues derived from commissions and recurring service fees and monetization opportunities for our wealth management services. If we fail to continue to meet our clients’ expectations on the returns from the products we distribute or manage or if they are no longer satisfied with our services, they may leave us for our competitors and our reputation may be damaged by these clients, affecting our ability to attract new clients, which will in turn affect our financial condition and operational results.

Because a portion of the commissions and recurring service fees we earn on the distribution of wealth management products are based on commission and fee rates negotiated with financial product providers, any decrease in these commission and fee rates may have an adverse effect on our revenues, cash flow and results of operations.

We derive a portion of our revenues from recurring fees and commissions paid by financial product providers, which are negotiated and vary from product to product. Recurring fees and commission rates can fluctuate based on the prevailing political, economic, regulatory, taxation and competitive factors that affect the product providers. These factors, which are not within our control, include the capacity of product providers to place new business, profits of product providers, client demand and preference for financial products, the availability of comparable products from other product providers at a lower cost, the availability of alternative financial products to clients and the tax deductibility of commissions and fees. In addition, the historical volume of financial products that we distributed may have a significant impact on our bargaining power with product providers in relation to the commission and fee rates for future products. Because we can neither determine, nor predict, the timing or extent of commission and fee rate changes with respect to the financial products, it is difficult for us to assess the effect of any of these changes on our operations. Therefore, any decrease in commission and fee rates would adversely affect our revenues, cash flow and results of operations.

The wealth management products we distribute are supplied by a limited number of financial product providers; and the renegotiation or termination of our relationships with such financial product providers could significantly impact our business.

The wealth management products we distribute are supplied by a selected number of financial product providers, including commercial banks, mutual fund management companies, and insurance companies. Although our wealth management business has a broad coverage of most major product providers in the market, due to our stringent screening process and rigorous risk management standards, a significant portion of the products distributed by us are sourced from a limited number of product providers, and thus we rely on our relationships with those important product providers. In 2020, our top three independent financial product providers accounted for approximately 70.9% of the aggregate value of all the products we distributed through our wealth management business. Our relationships with financial product providers are governed by distribution agreements. These agreements establish, among other things, the scope of our responsibility and our commission rates with respect to the distribution of particular products. These agreements typically are entered into on a product by product basis and expire at the expiration date of the relevant financial product. For any new financial products, new agreements need to be negotiated and entered into. If financial product providers that in the aggregate account for a significant portion of our business decide not to enter into contracts with us for their financial products, or the terms of our contracts with them become less beneficial to us, our business and operating results could be materially and adversely affected.

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A drop in the investment performance for products distributed by us could negatively impact our revenues and profitability.

Investment performance is a key competitive factor for products distributed by us. Strong investment performance helps us to retain and expand our client base and helps generate new sales of products and services. Strong investment performance is therefore an important element to our goals of maximizing the value of products and services provided to our clients. There can be no assurance as to how future investment performance will compare to our competitors or that historical performance will be indicative of future returns. Any drop or perceived drop in investment performance as compared to our competitors could cause a decline in sales of our investment products and services. Poor investment performance could also adversely affect our ability to expand the distribution of third-party wealth management products.

Our wealth management clients may redeem their investments from time to time, which could reduce our fee revenues.

Some of our wealth management products permit investors to redeem their investments with us. If the return of our wealth management products does not meet investors’ expectations, investors may elect to redeem their investments and invest their assets elsewhere, including with our competitors. Our recurring service fee revenues correlate directly to the amount of our AUA; therefore, redemptions may cause our expected recurring service fee revenues to decrease. Investors may decide to reallocate their capital away from us and to other asset managers for a number of reasons, including poor relative investment performance, changes in prevailing interest rates which make other investment options more attractive, changes in investor perception regarding our focus or alignment of interest, dissatisfaction with, changes in or a broadening of a fund’s investment strategy, changes in our reputation, and departures of, or changes in responsibilities of, key investment professionals. For these and other reasons, the pace of investor redemptions and the corresponding reduction in our AUA could accelerate.

Failure to maintain successful strategic relationships with partners may have an adverse impact on our future success.

We anticipate that we will continue to leverage our strategic relationships with existing partners in China’s online consumer finance marketplace industry to grow our business while we will also pursue new relationships with additional partners, such as traditional financial institutions and merchants in more sectors. For example, in the future, we may partner with traditional financial institutions to combine the efficiency advantages of online consumer finance marketplaces with the low funding costs of traditional financial institutions. Identifying, negotiating and documenting relationships with partners require significant time and resources as do integrating third-party data and services into our system. Our current agreements with partners often do not prohibit them from working with our competitors or from offering competing services. Our competitors may be effective in providing incentives to our partners to favor their products or services, which may in turn reduce the volume of loans facilitated through our marketplace. Certain types of partners may devote more resources to support their own competing businesses. In addition, these partners may not perform as expected under our agreements with them, and we may have disagreements or disputes with such partners, which could adversely affect our brand and reputation. If we cannot successfully enter into and maintain effective strategic relationships with business partners, our business will be harmed.

Misconduct, errors and failure to function by our employees and third-party service providers could harm our business and reputation.

We are exposed to many types of operational risks, including the risk of misconduct and errors by our employees and third-party service providers. Our business depends on our employees and third-party service providers to interact with potential borrowers and investors, process large numbers of transactions and support the loan collection process, all of which involve the use and disclosure of personal information. We could be materially and adversely affected if transactions were redirected, misappropriated or otherwise improperly executed, if personal information was disclosed to unintended recipients or if an operational breakdown or failure in the processing of transactions occurred, whether as a result of human error, purposeful sabotage or fraudulent manipulation of our operations or systems. In addition, the manner in which we store and use certain personal information and interact with borrowers and investors through our marketplace is governed by various PRC laws. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct or errors by employees or third-party service providers, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses. If any of our employees or third-party service providers take, convert or misuse funds, documents or data or fail to follow protocol when interacting with borrowers and investors, we could be liable for damages and subject to regulatory actions and penalties. We could also be perceived to have facilitated or participated in the illegal misappropriation of funds, documents or data, or the failure to follow protocol, and therefore be subject to civil or criminal liability. In addition, we currently rely on CreditEase and in the future may continue to rely on CreditEase or other third-party service providers for loan collection services.

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Aggressive practices or misconduct by any of our third-party service providers, including CreditEase, in the course of collecting loans could damage our reputation.

Furthermore, as we rely on certain third-party service providers, such as third-party payment platforms and custody and settlement service providers, to conduct our business, if these third-party service providers failed to function properly, we cannot assure you that we would be able to find an alternative in a timely and cost-efficient manner, or at all. Any of these occurrences could result in our diminished ability to operate our business, potential liability to borrowers and investors, inability to attract borrowers and investors, reputational damage, regulatory intervention and financial harm, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Fluctuations in interest rates could negatively affect transaction volume and business.

The profitability of our business depends on the interest and fee rates at which our borrowers are willing to borrow, and the interest at which our institutional funding partners are willing to lend, subject to limitations of PRC laws and regulations. We have taken measures to aim to react to the fluctuations in the interest rate environments. However, if we fail to respond to the fluctuations in interest rates in a timely manner and reprice our loan products, our loan products may become less attractive to our institutional funding partners. For example, in a falling interest rate environment, potential borrowers may seek lower priced loans from other channels if we do not lower the interest and fee rates on our loan products.

A severe or prolonged downturn in the Chinese or global economy could materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.

Our revenues and financial results may be adversely affected by any economic slowdown in China as well as globally. In particular, general economic factors and conditions in China or worldwide, including the general interest rate environment and unemployment rates, may affect borrower willingness to seek loans and investor ability and desire to invest. As a result, our revenues and financial results are impacted to a significant extent by economic conditions in China and globally, as well as economic conditions specific to consumer credit and wealth management businesses. The global macroeconomic environment is facing numerous challenges. The growth rate of the Chinese economy has gradually slowed since 2010 and the trend may continue. Any slowdown could significantly reduce domestic commerce in China, including through the internet generally and through us. In addition, there is considerable uncertainty over the long-term effects of the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world’s leading economies, including the United States and China. Unrest, terrorist threats and the potential for war in the Middle East and elsewhere may increase market volatility across the globe. There have also been concerns about the relationship between China and other countries, including the surrounding Asian countries, which may potentially have economic effects. In particular, there is significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States and China with respect to trade policies, treaties, government regulations and tariffs. Economic conditions in China are sensitive to global economic conditions, as well as changes in domestic economic and political policies and the expected or perceived overall economic growth rate in China. Any severe or prolonged slowdown in the global or Chinese economy may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. For example, many of our investors may delay or reduce their investment through our marketplace. Adverse economic conditions could also reduce the number of qualified borrowers seeking loans through our marketplace, as well as their ability to make payments. Should any of these situations occur, the amount of loans facilitated through our marketplace and our net revenue will decline, and our business and financial condition will be negatively impacted. Additionally, continued turbulence in the international markets may adversely affect our ability to access the capital markets to meet liquidity needs.

We may need additional capital, and financing may not be available on terms acceptable to us, or at all.

As of December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020, we had cash and cash equivalents of RMB2,606.9 million, RMB3,198.1 million and RMB2,469.9 million (US$378.5 million), respectively. Although we believe that our cash on hand and anticipated cash flows from operating activities will be sufficient to meet our anticipated working capital requirements and capital expenditures in the ordinary course of business for the next 12 months, we cannot assure you this will be the case. We may need additional cash resources in the future if we experience changes in business conditions or other developments. We may also need additional cash resources in the future if we find and wish to pursue opportunities for investment, acquisition, capital expenditure or similar actions. If we determine that our cash requirements exceed the amount of cash and cash equivalents we have on hand at the time, we may seek to issue equity or debt securities or obtain credit facilities. The issuance and sale of additional equity would result in further dilution to our shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed obligations and could result in operating covenants that would restrict our operations. We cannot assure you that financing will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all.

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Our ability to protect the confidential information of our borrowers and investors may be adversely affected by cyber-attacks, computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins or similar disruptions.

Our platform collects, stores and processes certain personal and other sensitive data from our borrowers and investors, which makes it an attractive target and potentially vulnerable to cyber-attacks, computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins or similar disruptions. Under the PRC Cyber Security Law, which took effect on June 1, 2017, we are required to formulate security management system and operational procedures, take measures to prevent acts that jeopardize cyber security such as computer virus, network attacks and network intrusion, and safeguard personal information, user information and business secrets. If we are deemed a critical information infrastructure under the Cyber Security Law, we will be subject to additional requirement regarding the construction, security protection, purchase of products and services, secrecy, localization of data, and annual evaluation of the infrastructure. While we have taken steps to protect the confidential information that we have access to, our security measures could be breached. Because techniques used to sabotage or obtain unauthorized access to systems change frequently and generally are not recognized until they are launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Any accidental or willful security breaches or other unauthorized access to our platform could cause confidential borrower and investor information to be stolen and used for criminal purposes. Security breaches or unauthorized access to confidential information could also expose us to liability related to the loss of the information, adverse regulatory consequences, time-consuming and expensive litigation and negative publicity. If security measures are breached because of third-party action, employee error, malfeasance or otherwise, or if design flaws in our technology infrastructure are exposed and exploited, our relationships with borrowers and investors could be severely damaged, we could incur significant liability and our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud.

We are subject to reporting obligations under the U.S. securities laws. Section 404 of the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and related rules require that we include a report from management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. Our management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2020. See “Item 15. Controls and Procedures.”

In the future, our management may conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective. Moreover, even if our management concludes that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, our independent registered public accounting firm, after conducting its own independent testing, may issue an adverse opinion audit report if it is not satisfied with our internal controls or the level at which our controls are documented, designed, operated or reviewed, or if it interprets the relevant requirements differently from us. In addition, our reporting obligations may place a significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources and systems for the foreseeable future. We may be unable to timely complete our evaluation testing and any required remediation.

During the course of documenting and testing our internal control procedures, in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404, we may identify weaknesses and deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, if we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, as these standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404. If we fail to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment, we could suffer material misstatements in our financial statements and fail to meet our reporting obligations, which would likely cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. This could in turn limit our access to capital markets, harm our results of operations, and lead to a decline in the trading price of our ADSs. Additionally, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could expose us to increased risk of fraud or misuse of corporate assets and subject us to potential delisting from the stock exchange on which we list, regulatory investigations and civil or criminal sanctions. We may also be required to restate our financial statements from prior periods.

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Our operations depend on the performance of the internet infrastructure and fixed telecommunications networks in China.

Almost all access to the internet in China is maintained through state-owned telecommunication operators under the administrative control and regulatory supervision of the MIIT. We primarily rely on a limited number of telecommunication service providers to provide us with data communications capacity through local telecommunications lines and internet data centers to host our servers. We have limited access to alternative networks or services in the event of disruptions, failures or other problems with China’s internet infrastructure or the fixed telecommunications networks provided by telecommunication service providers. With the expansion of our business, we may be required to upgrade our technology and infrastructure to keep up with the increasing traffic on our platform. We cannot assure you that the internet infrastructure and the fixed telecommunications networks in China will be able to support the demands associated with the continued growth in internet usage.

In addition, we have no control over the costs of the services provided by telecommunication service providers. If the prices we pay for telecommunications and internet services rise significantly, our results of operations may be adversely affected. Furthermore, if internet access fees or other charges to internet users increase, our user traffic may decline and our business may be harmed.

Any significant disruption in service on our platform or in our computer systems, including events beyond our control, could prevent us from processing or posting loans on our marketplace, reduce the attractiveness of our marketplace and result in a loss of borrowers or investors.

In the event of a platform outage and physical data loss, our ability to perform our servicing obligations, process applications or make loans available on our marketplace would be materially and adversely affected. The satisfactory performance, reliability and availability of our platform and our underlying network infrastructure are critical to our operations, customer service, reputation and our ability to retain existing and attract new borrowers and investors. Much of our system hardware is hosted in a leased facility located in Beijing that is operated by our IT staff. We also maintain a real-time backup system at a separate facility also located in Beijing. Our operations depend on our ability to protect our systems against damage or interruption from natural disasters, power or telecommunications failures, air quality issues, environmental conditions, computer viruses or attempts to harm our systems, criminal acts and similar events. If there is a lapse in service or damage to our leased Beijing facilities, we could experience interruptions in our service as well as delays and additional expense in arranging new facilities.

Any interruptions or delays in our service, whether as a result of third-party error, our error, natural disasters or security breaches, whether accidental or willful, could harm our relationships with our borrowers and investors and our reputation. Additionally, in the event of damage or interruption, our insurance policies may not adequately compensate us for any losses that we may incur. Our disaster recovery plan has not been tested under actual disaster conditions, and we may not have sufficient capacity to recover all data and services in the event of an outage. These factors could prevent us from processing or posting payments on loans, damage our brand and reputation, divert our employees’ attention, subject us to liability and cause borrowers and investors to abandon our marketplace, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our platform and internal systems rely on software that is highly technical, and if it contains undetected errors, our business could be adversely affected.

Our platform and internal systems rely on software that is highly technical and complex. In addition, our platform and internal systems depend on the ability of such software to store, retrieve, process and manage immense amounts of data. The software on which we rely has contained, and may now or in the future contain, undetected errors or bugs. Some errors may only be discovered after the code has been released for external or internal use. Errors or other design defects within the software on which we rely may result in a negative experience for borrowers and investors using our platform, delay introductions of new features or enhancements, result in errors or compromise our ability to protect borrower or investor data or our intellectual property. Any errors, bugs or defects discovered in the software on which we rely could result in harm to our reputation, loss of borrowers or investors or liability for damages, any of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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We may not be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our business and competitive position.

We regard our trademarks, domain names, know-how, proprietary technologies and similar intellectual property as critical to our success, and we rely on a combination of intellectual property laws and contractual arrangements, including confidentiality, invention assignment and non-competition agreements with our employees to protect our proprietary rights. As of the date of this annual report, we had 381 registered trademarks and had applied to register 474 trademarks with the Trademark Office of the National Intellectual Property Administration. In addition, we have also obtained a worldwide and royalty-free license from CreditEase to use certain of its trademarks. However, the trademark licenses granted by CreditEase to us have not been filed with the Trademark Office of the National Intellectual Property Administration. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Intellectual Property” and “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview— Regulation—Regulation on Intellectual Property Rights.” We cannot assure you that any of our intellectual property rights would not be challenged, invalidated, circumvented or misappropriated, or such intellectual property will be sufficient to provide us with competitive advantages. In addition, because of the rapid pace of technological change in our industry, parts of our business rely on technologies developed or licensed by third parties, and we may not be able to obtain or continue to obtain licenses and technologies from these third parties on reasonable terms, or at all.

It is often difficult to register, maintain and enforce intellectual property rights in China. Statutory laws and regulations are subject to judicial interpretation and enforcement and may not be applied consistently due to the lack of clear guidance on statutory interpretation. Confidentiality, invention assignment and non-competition agreements may be breached by counterparties, and there may not be adequate remedies available to us for any such breach. Accordingly, we may not be able to effectively protect our intellectual property rights or to enforce our contractual rights in China. Preventing any unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly and the steps we take may be inadequate to prevent the misappropriation of our intellectual property. In the event that we resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, such litigation could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our managerial and financial resources. We can provide no assurance that we will prevail in such litigation. In addition, our trade secrets may be leaked or otherwise become available to, or be independently discovered by, our competitors. To the extent that our employees or consultants use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related know-how and inventions. Any failure in protecting or enforcing our intellectual property rights could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims, which may be expensive to defend and may disrupt our business operations.

We cannot be certain that our operations or any aspects of our business do not or will not infringe upon or otherwise violate trademarks, patents, copyrights, know-how or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. We may be from time to time in the future subject to legal proceedings and claims relating to the intellectual property rights of others. In addition, there may be third-party trademarks, patents, copyrights, know-how or other intellectual property rights that are infringed by our products, services or other aspects of our business without our awareness. Holders of such intellectual property rights may seek to enforce such intellectual property rights against us in China, the United States or other jurisdictions. If any third-party infringement claims are brought against us, we may be forced to divert our management’s time and other resources from our business and operations to defend against these claims, regardless of their merits.

Additionally, the application and interpretation of China’s intellectual property right laws and the procedures and standards for granting trademarks, patents, copyrights, know-how or other intellectual property rights in China are still evolving and are uncertain, and we cannot assure you that PRC courts or regulatory authorities would agree with our analysis. If we were found to have violated the intellectual property rights of others, we may be subject to liability for our infringement activities or may be prohibited from using such intellectual property, and we may incur licensing fees or be forced to develop alternatives of our own. As a result, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

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From time to time we may evaluate and potentially consummate strategic investments or acquisitions, which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business and adversely affect our financial results.

We may evaluate and consider strategic investments, combinations, acquisitions or alliances to further increase the value of our marketplace and better serve borrowers and investors. These transactions could be material to our financial condition and results of operations if consummated. If we are unable to identify an appropriate business opportunity, we may not be able to successfully consummate the transaction and, even if we do consummate such a transaction, we may be unable to obtain the benefits or avoid the difficulties and risks of such transaction.

Strategic investments or acquisitions will involve risks commonly encountered in business relationships, including:

·                  difficulties in assimilating and integrating the operations, personnel, systems, data, technologies, products and services of the acquired business;

·                  inability of the acquired technologies, products or businesses to achieve expected levels of revenue, profitability, productivity or other benefits;

·                  difficulties in retaining, training, motivating and integrating key personnel;

·                  diversion of management’s time and resources from our normal daily operations;

·                  difficulties in successfully incorporating licensed or acquired technology and rights into our platform and loan products;

·                  difficulties in maintaining uniform standards, controls, procedures and policies within the combined organizations;

·                  difficulties in retaining relationships with customers, employees and suppliers of the acquired business;

·                  risks of entering markets in which we have limited or no prior experience;

·                  regulatory risks, including remaining in good standing with existing regulatory bodies or receiving any necessary pre-closing or post-closing approvals, as well as being subject to new regulators with oversight over an acquired business;

·                  assumption of contractual obligations that contain terms that are not beneficial to us, require us to license or waive intellectual property rights or increase our risk for liability;

·                  failure to successfully further develop the acquired technology;

·                  liability for activities of the acquired business before the acquisition, including intellectual property infringement claims, violations of laws, commercial disputes, tax liabilities and other known and unknown liabilities;

·                  potential disruptions to our ongoing businesses; and

·                  unexpected costs and unknown risks and liabilities associated with strategic investments or acquisitions.

We may not make any investments or acquisitions, or any future investments or acquisitions may not be successful, may not benefit our business strategy, may not generate sufficient revenues to offset the associated acquisition costs or may not otherwise result in the intended benefits. In addition, we cannot assure you that any future investment in or acquisition of new businesses or technology will lead to the successful development of new or enhanced products and services or that any new or enhanced products and services, if developed, will achieve market acceptance or prove to be profitable.

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Acquisitions could expose us to significant business risks.

We have made and may continue to make strategic acquisitions that could, among other goals, complement our existing services, expand our customer base, improve user acquisition efficiency, lower operating costs and/or enhance technological capabilities. For example, in July 2019, we consummated a business realignment transaction with CreditEase, the controlling shareholder of our company, pursuant to which we have assumed from CreditEase and its affiliates the Acquired Business. After the business realignment, we will continue to receive certain business consulting and other support services from CreditEase. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—A. History and Development of the Company.”

While we believe the business realignment would enhance our market position as a leading comprehensive fintech platform, enable us to better leverage synergies between our existing businesses and the businesses we assumed from CreditEase and improve our overall operating efficiency, this transaction, as well as other acquisitions, could expose us to business risks, including but not limited to financial and operational risks. For example, as part of a business realignment with CreditEase in 2019, we acquired CreditEase Puhui, an entity managing CreditEase’s national service network for offline borrower acquisition. If borrower acquisition through CreditEase Puhui decreases or becomes less effective or the quality of the borrowers acquired through CreditEase Puhui does not meet our borrower qualification standards, our business and results of operations may be adversely and materially affected. There also can be no assurance that we would be able to find other acquisition channels on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.

Financial risks from the business realignment and other acquisitions include, among other things, (i) the use of our cash resources; (ii) paying a price that exceeds the future value realized from the acquisition; (iii) potential known and unknown liabilities of the acquired businesses; (iv) the incurrence of additional debt; (v) the dilutive effect of the issuance of any additional equity securities by our company as consideration for, or to finance, the acquisition; (vi) the financial impact of incorrectly valuing goodwill and other intangible assets involved in any acquisitions; (vii) potential future impairment write-downs of goodwill and indefinite-life intangibles and the amortization of other intangible assets; and (viii) possible adverse tax and accounting effects.

In addition, there are possible operational risks, including, among other things, difficulty in assimilating and integrating the operations, services, products, technology, information systems and personnel of acquired companies; losing key personnel of acquired entities; and compliance with additional laws relating to the acquired business and regulatory risks associated with the past violation of law by the acquired businesses. We may incur significant acquisition, administrative and other costs in connection with these transactions, including costs related to the integration of acquired businesses. Acquisitions could expose us to significant integration risks and increased organizational complexity, including more complex and costly accounting processes and internal controls, which may challenge management and may adversely impact the realization of an increased contribution from such acquisitions. In addition, while we execute acquisitions and related integration activities, our attention may possibly be diverted from our ongoing operations, which may have a negative impact on our business. Failure to adequately anticipate and address these risks could adversely affect our business and financial performance.

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Although we performed due diligence investigations of the businesses and assets that we will assume, and will also do so for future acquisitions, there may be liabilities related to the acquired business or assets that we fail to, or are unable to, uncover during the due diligence investigation and for which we, as a successor owner, may be responsible. When feasible, we seek to minimize the impact of these types of potential liabilities by obtaining indemnities and warranties from the seller, which may in some instances be supported by a price adjustment mechanism and/or deferring payment of a portion of the purchase price. However, these indemnities and warranties, if obtained, may not fully cover the liabilities because of their limited scope, amount or duration, the financial resources of the indemnitor or warrantor, or for other reasons. For example, to further diversify our business operation and revenue sources, we acquired Varengold Capital Securities Limited, a securities dealer registered with Hong Kong Securities and Future Commission possessing Type 1 and Type 2 License, in January 2020. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—A. History and Development of the Company.” These strategic acquisitions involve risks commonly encountered in business relationships, such as potential unknown liabilities for activities of the acquired business before the acquisition, including intellectual property infringement claims, violations of laws, commercial disputes, tax liabilities and other unknown liabilities, which may adversely affect our reputation, business and results of operations. Furthermore, due to our lack of sufficient prior experience and unfamiliarity with potential market segments, we may not be able to operate the businesses under Type 1 and Type 2 License and the PRC insurance brokerage license successfully, achieve expected results or generate sufficient revenues to offset the associated acquisition costs, which may have an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the brokerage industry in Hong Kong is highly regulated. Our business operations under Varengold Capital Securities Limited are subject to applicable Hong Kong laws, regulations, guidelines, circulars, and other regulatory guidance, or collectively the “HK Brokerage Service Rules”. These HK Brokerage Service Rules set out the licensing requirements, regulate our operational activities and standards, and impose requirements such as maintaining minimum liquidity or capital along with other filing, record keeping and reporting obligations relevant to our business operations. Failure to comply with applicable HK Brokerage Service Rules can result in investigations and regulatory actions, which may lead to penalties, including reprimands, fines, limitations or prohibitions on our future business activities or suspension or revocation of our licenses or trading rights. Any outcome may affect our ability to conduct business in Hong Kong, harm our reputation and consequently adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Our business depends on the continued efforts of our senior management. If one or more of our key executives were unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, our business may be severely disrupted.

Our business operations depend on the continued services of our senior management, particularly the executive officers named in this annual report. While we have provided different incentives to our management, we cannot assure you that we can continue to retain their services. If one or more of our key executives were unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we may not be able to replace them easily, or at all, our future growth may be constrained, our business may be severely disrupted and our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected, and we may incur additional expenses to recruit, train and retain qualified personnel. In addition, although we have entered into confidentiality and non-competition agreements with our management, there is no assurance that any member of our management team will not join our competitors or form a competing business. If any dispute arises between our current or former officers and us, we may have to incur substantial costs and expenses in order to enforce such agreements in China or we may be unable to enforce them at all.

Competition for employees is intense, and we may not be able to attract and retain the qualified and skilled employees needed to support our business.

We believe our success depends on the efforts and talent of our employees, including risk management, software engineering, financial and marketing personnel. Our future success depends on our continued ability to attract, develop, motivate and retain qualified and skilled employees. Competition for highly skilled technical, risk management and financial personnel is extremely intense. We may not be able to hire and retain these personnel at compensation levels consistent with our existing compensation and salary structure. Some of the companies with which we compete for experienced employees have greater resources than we have and may be able to offer more attractive terms of employment.

In addition, we invest significant time and expenses in training our employees, which increases their value to competitors who may seek to recruit them. If we fail to retain our employees, we could incur significant expenses in hiring and training their replacements, and the quality of our services and our ability to serve borrowers and investors could diminish, resulting in a material adverse effect on our business.

Increases in labor costs in the PRC may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

The economy in China has experienced increases in inflation and labor costs in recent years. As a result, average wages in the PRC are expected to continue to increase. In addition, we are required by PRC laws and regulations to pay various statutory employee benefits, including pension, housing fund, medical insurance, work-related injury insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance to designated government agencies for the benefit of our employees. The relevant government agencies may examine whether an employer has made adequate payments to the statutory employee benefits, and those employers who fail to make adequate payments may be subject to late payment fees, fines and/or other penalties. We expect that our labor costs, including wages and employee benefits, will continue to increase. Unless we are able to control our labor costs or pass on these increased labor costs to our users by increasing the fees of our services, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.

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If we cannot maintain our corporate culture as we grow, we could lose the innovation, collaboration and focus that contribute to our business.

We believe that a critical component of our success is our corporate culture, which we believe fosters innovation, encourages teamwork and cultivates creativity. As we develop the infrastructure of a public company and continue to grow, we may find it difficult to maintain these valuable aspects of our corporate culture. Any failure to preserve our culture could negatively impact our future success, including our ability to attract and retain employees, encourage innovation and teamwork and effectively focus on and pursue our corporate objectives.

We are subject to changing laws and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.

We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which is charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and the various regulatory authorities in China and the Cayman Islands, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.

Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.

We do not have any business insurance coverage.

Insurance companies in China currently do not offer as extensive an array of insurance products as insurance companies in more developed economies. Currently, we do not have any business liability or disruption insurance to cover our operations. We have determined that the costs of insuring for these risks and the difficulties associated with acquiring such insurance on commercially reasonable terms make it impractical for us to have such insurance. Any uninsured business disruptions may result in our incurring substantial costs and the diversion of resources, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We face risks related to natural disasters, health epidemics and other outbreaks, which could significantly disrupt our operations.

We are vulnerable to natural disasters and other calamities. Fire, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, power loss, telecommunications failures, break-ins, war, riots, terrorist attacks or similar events may give rise to server interruptions, breakdowns, system failures, technology platform failures or internet failures, which could cause the loss or corruption of data or malfunctions of software or hardware, as well as adversely affect our ability to provide products and services on our platform.

Our business could be adversely affected by the effects of epidemics, including COVID-19, avian influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), influenza A (H1N1), Ebola or another epidemic. Any such occurrences could cause severe disruption to our daily operations, including our fulfillment infrastructure and our customer service centers, and may even require a temporary closure of our facilities. In recent years, there have been outbreaks of epidemics in China and globally. For example, in early 2020, in response to intensifying efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Chinese government took a number of actions, which included extending the Chinese New Year holiday in 2020, quarantining individuals infected with or suspected of having COVID-19, prohibiting residents from free travel, encouraging employees of enterprises to work remotely from home and cancelling public activities, among others. The COVID-19 had also resulted in temporary closure of many corporate offices, retail stores, manufacturing facilities and factories across China. We had seen delinquency volatilities and a significant decrease in loan volumes and revenues in the first half of 2020. We had taken a series of measures in response to the outbreak, including, among others, remote working arrangement for some of our employees, suspension of our offline customer acquisition activities and cancellation of non-essential business travels to ensure the safety and health of our employees. These measures reduced the capacity and efficiency of our operations.

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The outbreak of COVID-19 resulted in the suspension of our offline customer acquisition activities in the month of February 2020. This has impacted our operations which resulted in an increase in delinquency volatilities and a significant decrease in revenues and loan volumes in the first quarter of 2020.

In addition, to respond the impact of COVID-19 outbreak and help our customers who suffered financial hardship, we launched special customer care program in the second quarter of 2020, providing discount or payment relief for those who were materially affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, which negatively affected our total revenues generated in the year of 2020.

As COVID-19 has negatively affected the broader Chinese economy and the global economy, China may continue to experience great economic uncertainty, which may impact our business in a materially negative way as our users and clients may be less inclined to borrow or invest in wealth management products. Borrowers may also have less propensity or ability to repay their loans as a result of the economic problems caused by COVID-19, which may then impact credit quality. The operations of some of our business partners and service providers have also been constrained and impacted, which may have a negative impact on our business. To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business and financial results, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this annual report.

While most of the restrictions on movement within China have been relaxed as of the date of this annual report, there is great uncertainty as to the future progress of the virus. Relaxation of restrictions on economic and social life may lead to new cases which may lead to the re-imposition of restrictions. Consequently, the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations in 2021. The extent to which this pandemic impacts our results of operations will depend on future developments which are highly uncertain and unpredictable, including new outbreaks of COVID-19, the severity of the virus infection, the success or failure of efforts to contain or treat the cases, and future actions we or the authorities may take in response to these developments.

Risks Related to Our Carve-out from CreditEase and Our Relationship with CreditEase

We rely on our parent company, CreditEase, for the successful operation of our business.

We have limited experience operating as a stand-alone company. We commenced our online consumer finance marketplace business in March 2012, and Yirendai Ltd. was incorporated in 2014 in the Cayman Islands (and was renamed as Yiren Digital Ltd. in 2019) as a wholly owned subsidiary of CreditEase. Founded in 2006 by our executive chairman, Mr. Ning Tang, CreditEase is a large financial services company focusing on providing inclusive finance and wealth management products and services in China. Inclusive finance focuses on providing access to affordable and responsible financing solutions to those in China who are often unable to gain such access. We completed our carve-out from CreditEase in the first quarter of 2015. Historically, CreditEase has provided us with origination and servicing, financial, administrative, sales and marketing, risk management, human resources and legal services, and also with the services of a number of its executives and employees. In July 2019, we consummated a business realignment transaction with CreditEase, the controlling shareholder of our company, pursuant to which we have assumed from CreditEase and its affiliates the Acquired Business. On December 31, 2020, as a result of a business restructuring, we had disposed of and ceased control over the Disposed Business, and CreditEase had obtained control over the Disposed Business and paid the designated subsidiaries of the Company an aggregate amount of RMB67.0 million in cash.

Although we have become a stand-alone company, we expect CreditEase to continue to provide us with certain support services going forward. We have also relied on CreditEase for the successful operation of our online consumer finance marketplace. After the business realignment with CreditEase closed in July 2019, we will continue to receive certain business consulting and other support services from CreditEase. Although we have entered into a series of agreements with CreditEase relating to our ongoing business cooperation and service arrangements with CreditEase, we cannot assure you that we will continue to receive the same level of support from CreditEase after we become a stand-alone company. The cost of services which CreditEase provides to us may from time to time increase based on commercial negotiations between CreditEase and us. Furthermore, borrowers, investors and business partners may react negatively to our carve-out from or business restructuring with CreditEase. As such, our carve-out from or business restructuring with CreditEase may materially and adversely affect our business. In addition, as a result of our carve-out from or business restructuring with CreditEase, our historical financial performance may not be indicative of our future performances as a stand-alone public company.

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Our financial information included in this annual report may not be representative of our financial condition and results of operations if we had been operating as a stand-alone company.

Prior to our establishment, our online consumer finance marketplace business was carried out by various subsidiaries and variable interest entities of CreditEase. We completed our carve-out from CreditEase in the first quarter of 2015, and all of our online consumer finance marketplace business is now carried out by our own subsidiaries and consolidated variable interest entities. Since we and the subsidiaries and variable interest entities of CreditEase that operated our online marketplace business are under common control of CreditEase, our consolidated financial statements include the assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and cash flows that were directly attributable to our business for all periods presented. In particular, our consolidated balance sheets include those assets and liabilities that are specifically identifiable to our business; and our consolidated statements of operations include all costs and expenses related to us, including costs and expenses allocated from CreditEase to us. Allocations from CreditEase, including amounts allocated to origination, servicing and other operating costs, sales and marketing expenses and general and administrative expenses, were made using a proportional cost allocation method and based on headcount or transaction volume for the provision of services attributable to us. We made numerous estimates, assumptions and allocations in our historical financial statements because we did not operate as a stand-alone company prior to our carve-out from CreditEase in the first quarter of 2015. Although our management believes that the assumptions underlying our historical financial statements and the above allocations are reasonable, our historical financial statements may not necessarily reflect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows as if we had operated as a stand-alone company during those periods. See “Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—B. Related Party Transactions” for our arrangements with CreditEase and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” and the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report for our historical cost allocation. In addition, upon becoming a stand-alone company, we have established our own financial, administrative and other support systems to replace CreditEase’s systems, the cost of which may have been significantly different from the cost allocation with CreditEase for the same services. Therefore, you should not view our historical results as indicators of our future performance.

Any negative development in CreditEase’s market position, brand recognition or financial condition may materially and adversely affect our marketing efforts and the strength of our brand.

Prior to our initial public offering, we were a wholly-owned subsidiary of CreditEase, and after our initial public offering, CreditEase remains our controlling shareholder. We have benefited significantly and expect to continue to benefit significantly from our association with CreditEase in marketing our brand and our marketplace. We used to rely on CreditEase’s nationwide service network for offline borrower acquisition. In 2018, 38.4% of our borrowers were acquired through referrals from CreditEase, contributing 43.1% of the total amount of loans facilitated through our marketplace. As part of a business realignment with CreditEase in 2019, we acquired CreditEase Puhui, an entity managing CreditEase’s national service network for offline borrower acquisition. We also benefit from CreditEase’s strong brand recognition in China, which provides us with credibility and a broad marketing reach. If CreditEase loses its market position, the effectiveness of our marketing efforts through our association with CreditEase may be materially and adversely affected. In addition, any negative publicity associated with CreditEase or any negative development in respect of CreditEase’s market position, financial condition, or in terms of its compliance with legal or regulatory requirements in China, will likely have an adverse impact on the effectiveness of our marketing, as well as our reputation and brand.

Our agreements with CreditEase may be less favorable to us than similar agreements negotiated between unaffiliated third parties. In particular, our second amended and restated non-competition agreement with CreditEase limits the scope of business that we are allowed to conduct.

We have entered into a series of agreements with CreditEase and the terms of such agreements may be less favorable to us than would be the case if they were negotiated with unaffiliated third parties. In particular, under our second amended and restated non-competition agreement with CreditEase, we agree during the non-competition period, which will end on the earliest of (i) the first anniversary of the control ending date, (ii) the date on which the ADSs representing ordinary shares of Yiren Digital cease to be listed on Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange (except for temporary suspension of trading of the ADSs), and (iii) December 31, 2035, the fifteenth anniversary of December 31, 2020, the date of the second amended and restated non-competition agreement, not to, subject to certain exceptions, compete with CreditEase in the business or any business that is of the same nature as the business currently conducted by CreditEase, in each case unless as may otherwise be approved in writing by CreditEase. The control ending date refers to the earlier of (i) the first date when CreditEase no longer owns at least 20% of the voting power of our then outstanding securities, or (ii) the first date when CreditEase ceases to be the largest beneficial owner of our then outstanding voting securities (without considering holdings by certain institutional investors).

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Such contractual limitations may significantly affect our ability to diversify our revenue sources and may materially and adversely impact our business and prospects should the growth of the online consumer finance marketplace industry in China slow down. In addition, pursuant to our master transaction agreement with CreditEase, we agree to indemnify CreditEase for liabilities arising from litigation and other contingencies related to our business and assume these liabilities as part of our carve-out from CreditEase. The allocation of assets and liabilities between CreditEase and our company may not reflect the allocation that would have been reached by two unaffiliated parties. Moreover, so long as CreditEase continues to control us, we may not be able to bring a legal claim against CreditEase in the event of contractual breach, notwithstanding our contractual rights under the agreements described above and other inter-company agreements entered into from time to time.

CreditEase will control the outcome of shareholder actions in our company.

As of March 31, 2021, CreditEase held 85.4% of our outstanding ordinary shares and total voting power. CreditEase’s voting power gives it the power to control certain actions that require shareholder approval under Cayman Islands law, our current memorandum and articles of association and NYSE requirements, including approval of mergers and other business combinations, changes to our memorandum and articles of association, the number of shares available for issuance under any share incentive plans, and the issuance of significant amounts of our ordinary shares in private placements.

CreditEase’s voting control may cause transactions that might not be beneficial to the holders of our ADSs to occur and may prevent transactions that would be beneficial to the holders of our ADSs. For example, CreditEase’s voting control may prevent a transaction involving a change of control of us, including transactions in which a holder of our ADSs might otherwise receive a premium for the securities held by such holder over the then-current market price. In addition, CreditEase is not prohibited from selling a controlling interest in us to a third party and may do so without the approval of the holders of our ADSs and without providing for a purchase of the ADSs. If CreditEase is acquired or otherwise undergoes a change of control, any acquirer or successor will be entitled to exercise the voting control and contractual rights of CreditEase, and may do so in a manner that could vary significantly from that of CreditEase. In addition, the significant concentration of share ownership may adversely affect the trading price of the ADSs due to investors’ perception that conflicts of interest may exist or arise. See “—We may have conflicts of interest with CreditEase and, because of CreditEase’s controlling ownership interest in our company, we may not be able to resolve such conflicts on favorable terms for us” below.

We may have conflicts of interest with CreditEase and, because of CreditEase’s controlling ownership interest in our company, we may not be able to resolve such conflicts on favorable terms for us.

Conflicts of interest may arise between CreditEase and us in a number of areas relating to our ongoing relationships. Potential conflicts of interest that we have identified include the following:

·                  Non-competition arrangements with CreditEase. We and CreditEase entered into a second amended and restated non-competition agreement on December 31, 2020, under which we agree not to compete with each other’s core business. See “Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—B. Related Party Transactions—Carve-out Agreements with CreditEase—Second amended and restated non-competition agreement.”

·                  Employee recruiting and retention. Because both CreditEase and we are engaged in consumer finance related businesses in China, we may compete with CreditEase in the hiring of new employees, in particular with respect to risk management related matters. We have a non-solicitation arrangement with CreditEase that restricts us and CreditEase from hiring any of each other’s employees.

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·                  Our board members or executive officers may have conflicts of interest. Our executive chairman, Mr. Ning Tang, and two directors, Quan Zhou and Tina Ju, are members of the board of directors of CreditEase, and Mr. Ning Tang is the chief executive officer of CreditEase. Ning Tang has also become our chief executive officer upon the closing of the business realignment with CreditEase in July 2019. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—A. History and Development of the Company.” In addition, we have granted and may in the future continue to grant incentive share compensation to CreditEase’s employees and consultants. These relationships could create, or appear to create, conflicts of interest when these persons are faced with decisions with potentially different implications for CreditEase and us.

·                  Sale of shares in our company. CreditEase may decide to sell all or a portion of our shares that it holds to a third party, including to one of our competitors, thereby giving that third party substantial influence over our business and our affairs. Such a sale could be contrary to the interests of our employees or our other shareholders.

·                  Allocation of business opportunities. Under our second amended and restated non-competition agreement with CreditEase, we agree not to compete with CreditEase in the businesses conducted by CreditEase. There may arise other business opportunities that both we and CreditEase find attractive and which would complement our respective businesses. CreditEase may decide to take such opportunities itself, which would prevent us from taking advantage of those opportunities.

·                  Developing business relationships with CreditEase’s competitors. So long as CreditEase remains our controlling shareholder, we may be limited in our ability to do business with its competitors. This may limit our ability to market our services for the best interests of our company and our other shareholders.

Although our company has become a stand-alone public company, we expect to operate, for as long as CreditEase is our controlling shareholder, as an affiliate of CreditEase. CreditEase may from time to time make strategic decisions that it believes are in the best interests of its business as a whole, including our company. These decisions may be different from the decisions that we would have made on our own. For example, we may be required to pay CreditEase for services that we currently enjoy free of charge from CreditEase, such as the information and data sharing. See “Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—B. Related Party Transactions—Carve-out Agreements with CreditEase—Amended and Restated Intellectual Property License Agreement.” CreditEase’s decisions with respect to us or our business may be resolved in ways that favor CreditEase and therefore CreditEase’s own shareholders, which may not coincide with the interests of our other shareholders. We have an audit committee, consisting of three independent directors, to review and approve all proposed related party transactions, including any transactions between us and CreditEase. However, we may not be able to resolve any potential conflicts, and even if we do so, the resolution may be less favorable to us than if we were dealing with a non-controlling shareholder. Even if both parties seek to transact business on terms intended to approximate those that could have been achieved between unaffiliated parties, this may not succeed in practice. Furthermore, if CreditEase sought to alter or violate the terms of the second amended and restated non-competition agreement with us in order to compete with us in the online consumer finance marketplace or otherwise, such conflicts may not be resolved in our favor in light of CreditEase’s controlling interest in us. If CreditEase were to compete with us, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

Our executive chairman and chief executive officer, Mr. Ning Tang, has considerable influence over us and our corporate matters.

Our executive chairman and chief executive officer, Mr. Ning Tang, has considerable influence over us and our corporate matters. Mr. Tang beneficially owns 43.4% of the total outstanding shares of CreditEase, which is our controlling shareholder, as of March 31, 2021. Moreover, as Mr. Tang, as a director of CreditEase, currently holds three out of the five votes of CreditEase’s board of directors, he therefore controls the decision-making of CreditEase and indirectly has considerable influence over us, our corporate matters and matters requiring shareholder approval, such as electing directors and approving material mergers, acquisitions or other business combination transactions. This concentrated control will limit the ability of the holders of our ordinary shares and our ADSs to influence corporate matters and could also discourage others from pursuing any potential merger, takeover or other change of control transactions, which could have the effect of depriving the holders of our ordinary shares and our ADSs of the opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over the prevailing market price.

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We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE Listed Company Manual and, as a result, will rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements that provide protection to shareholders of other companies.

We are a “controlled company” as defined under the NYSE Listed Company Manual because CreditEase beneficially owns more than 50% of our outstanding ordinary shares. For so long as we remain a controlled company under that definition, we are permitted to elect to rely, and will rely, on certain exemptions from corporate governance rules, including an exemption from the rule that a majority of our board of directors must be independent directors. As a result, you will not have the same protection afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to these corporate governance requirements.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

If the PRC government deems that the contractual arrangements in relation to our consolidated variable interest entities do not comply with PRC regulatory restrictions on foreign investment in the relevant industries, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.

Foreign ownership of internet-based businesses, such as distribution of online information, is subject to restrictions under current PRC laws and regulations. For example, foreign investors are not allowed to own more than 50% of the equity interests in a value-added telecommunication service provider (except for e-commerce, domestic multi-party communication, storage and forwarding classes and call centers) and any such foreign investor must have experience in providing value-added telecommunications services overseas and maintain a good track record in accordance with the Special Administrative Measures for Access of Foreign Investment (Negative List) (2020 Edition) effective from June 23, 2020, as amended, and other applicable laws and regulations.

We are a Cayman Islands company and our PRC subsidiaries are considered foreign-invested enterprises. To comply with PRC laws and regulations, we conduct our operations in China through (i) a series of contractual arrangements entered into among YouRace Hengchuang Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Yiren Hengye Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd.), or YouRace Hengchuang, Hengcheng Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or Hengcheng, and the shareholders of Hengcheng, which had been terminated on December 31, 2020, (ii) a series of contractual arrangements entered into among Chongqing Hengyuda Technology Co., Ltd., or Hengyuda, Yiren Financial Information Service (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or Yiren Wealth Management, and the shareholders of Yiren Wealth Management, (iii) a series of contractual arrangements entered into among YouRace Hengchuang, Tianjin Linyang Information and Technology Co., Ltd., or Tianjin Linyang, and the shareholders of Tianjin Linyang, and (iv) a series of contractual arrangements entered into among YouRace Hengchuang, CreditEase Puhui, and the shareholders of CreditEase Puhui. As a result of these contractual arrangements, we had ceased control over Hengcheng as of December 31, 2020, and we currently have control over Yiren Wealth Management, Tianjin Linyang and CreditEase Puhui and consolidate their operating results in our financial statements under U.S. GAAP. For a detailed description of these contractual arrangements, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Corporate History and Structure.”

In the opinion of our PRC counsel, Han Kun Law Offices, (i) our current ownership structure, the ownership structure of YouRace Hengchuang and Hengyuda, our PRC subsidiaries, and Yiren Wealth Management, Tianjin Linyang and CreditEase Puhui, our consolidated variable interest entities, (ii) the contractual agreements among Hengyuda, Yiren Wealth Management and the shareholders of Yiren Wealth Management, (iii) the contractual agreements among YouRace Hengchuang, Tianjin Linyang and the shareholders of Tianjin Linyang, (iv) the contractual agreements among YouRace Hengchuang, CreditEase Puhui and the shareholders of CreditEase Puhui, as described in “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure—Contractual Arrangements with Our Consolidated Variable Interest Entities”, are, in each case, not in violation of existing PRC laws, rules and regulations; and these contractual agreements are valid, binding and enforceable in accordance with their terms and applicable PRC laws and regulations currently in effect. The equity pledge under each equity pledge agreement has been registered with the competent office of the State Administration for Market Regulation in accordance with the PRC laws. However, Han Kun Law Offices has also advised us that there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current or future PRC laws and regulations and there can be no assurance that the PRC government will ultimately take a view that is consistent with the opinion of our PRC counsel.

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It is uncertain whether any new PRC laws, rules or regulations relating to variable interest entity structures will be adopted or if adopted, what they would provide. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties exist with respect to the interpretation and implementation of the newly enacted PRC Foreign Investment law and how it may impact the viability of our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations” below. If the ownership structure, contractual arrangements and business of our company, YouRace Hengchuang, Hengyuda, Yiren Wealth Management, Tianjin Linyang and CreditEase Puhui are found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations, or we fail to obtain or maintain any of the required permits or approvals, the relevant governmental authorities would have broad discretion in dealing with such violation, including levying fines, confiscating our income or the income of YouRace Hengchuang, Hengyuda, Yiren Wealth Management, Tianjin Linyang and CreditEase Puhui, revoking the business licenses or operating licenses of YouRace Hengchuang, Hengyuda, Yiren Wealth Management, Tianjin Linyang and CreditEase Puhui, shutting down our servers or blocking our online platform, discontinuing or placing restrictions or onerous conditions on our operations, requiring us to undergo a costly and disruptive restructuring, restricting or prohibiting our use of proceeds from our initial public offering to finance our business and operations in China, and taking other regulatory or enforcement actions that could be harmful to our business. Any of these actions could cause significant disruption to our business operations and severely damage our reputation, which would in turn materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If any of these occurrences results in our inability to direct the activities of our consolidated variable interest entities, and/or our failure to receive economic benefits from our consolidated variable interest entities, we may not be able to consolidate their results into our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

We rely on contractual arrangements with our consolidated variable interest entities, and their respective shareholders for a portion of our business operations, which may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control.

We have relied and expect to continue to rely on contractual arrangements with our consolidated variable interest entities and their respective shareholders to operate our wealth management website and mobile application, our credit card management mobile application Waka, and our insurance referral business. For a description of these contractual arrangements, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organization Structure.” These contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over our consolidated variable interest entities. For example, Yiren Wealth Management, Tianjin Linyang and CreditEase Puhui and their respective shareholders could breach their contractual arrangements with us by, among other things, failing to conduct their operations, including maintaining our website and using the domain names and trademarks, in an acceptable manner or taking other actions that are detrimental to our interests.

If we had direct ownership of Yiren Wealth Management, Tianjin Linyang and CreditEase Puhui, our consolidated variable interest entities, we would be able to exercise our rights as a shareholder to effect changes in the board of directors of such consolidated variable interest entities, which in turn could implement changes, subject to any applicable fiduciary obligations, at the management and operational level. However, under the current contractual arrangements, we rely on the performance by such consolidated variable interest entities and their respective shareholders of their obligations under the contracts to exercise control over such consolidated variable interest entities. The shareholders of such consolidated variable interest entities may not act in the best interests of our company or may not perform their obligations under these contracts. Such risks exist throughout the period in which we intend to operate our business through the contractual arrangements with such consolidated variable interest entities. Although we have the right to replace any shareholder of such consolidated variable interest entities under their respective contractual arrangements, if any shareholder of such consolidated variable interest entities is uncooperative or any dispute relating to these contracts remains unresolved, we will have to enforce our rights under these contracts through the operations of PRC laws and arbitration, litigation and other legal proceedings and therefore will be subject to uncertainties in the PRC legal system. See “—Any failure by our consolidated variable interest entities, or their respective shareholders to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them would have a material adverse effect on our business” below. Therefore, our contractual arrangements with our consolidated variable interest entities may not be as effective in ensuring our control over the relevant portion of our business operations as direct ownership would be.

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Any failure by our consolidated variable interest entities or their respective shareholders to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them would have a material adverse effect on our business.

If Yiren Wealth Management, Tianjin Linyang and CreditEase Puhui, our consolidated variable interest entities, or their respective shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and expend additional resources to enforce such arrangements. We may also have to rely on legal remedies under PRC laws, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief, and claiming damages, which we cannot assure you will be effective under PRC laws. For example, if the shareholders of such consolidated variable interest entities were to refuse to transfer their equity interest in such consolidated variable interest entities, as the case may be, to us or our designee if we exercise the purchase option pursuant to these contractual arrangements, or if they were otherwise to act in bad faith toward us, then we may have to take legal actions to compel them to perform their contractual obligations.

All the agreements under our contractual arrangements are governed by PRC laws and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in China. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC laws and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. The legal system in the PRC is not as developed as in some other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. Meanwhile, there are very few precedents and little formal guidance as to how contractual arrangements in the context of a consolidated variable interest entity should be interpreted or enforced under PRC laws. There remain significant uncertainties regarding the ultimate outcome of such arbitration should legal action become necessary. In addition, under PRC laws, rulings by arbitrators are final and parties cannot appeal arbitration results in court unless such rulings are revoked or determined unenforceable by a competent court. If the losing parties fail to carry out the arbitration awards within a prescribed time limit, the prevailing parties may only enforce the arbitration awards in PRC courts through arbitration award recognition proceedings, which would require additional expenses and delay. In the event that we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, or if we suffer significant delay or other obstacles in the process of enforcing these contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over our consolidated variable interest entities, and our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of Chinese laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to you and us.”

The shareholders of our consolidated variable interest entities may have potential conflicts of interest with us, which may materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We have three consolidated variable interest entities, namely Yiren Wealth Management, Tianjin Linyang, and CreditEase Puhui as of the date of this annual report. The equity interests of Yiren Wealth Management are held by Mr. Ning Tang, our founder and executive chairman, Pucheng Credit Assessment and Management (Beijing) Co., Ltd., and two other individuals, Mr. Fanshun Kong and Ms. Yan Tian. The equity interests of Tianjin Linyang are held by Mr. Yueyue Chen and Ms. Yang Wang, both of whom are our employees. The equity interests of CreditEase Puhui are held by Mr. Ning Tang and Ms. Mei Zhao. Their interests in such consolidated variable interest entities may differ from the interests of our company as a whole. These shareholders may breach, or cause such consolidated variable interest entities to breach, the existing contractual arrangements we have with them and such consolidated variable interest entities, as the case may be, which would have a material adverse effect on our ability to effectively control such consolidated variable interest entities and receive economic benefits from such consolidated variable interest entities. For example, the shareholders may be able to cause our agreements with such consolidated variable interest entities to be performed in a manner adverse to us by, among other things, failing to remit payments due under the contractual arrangements to us on a timely basis. We cannot assure you that when conflicts of interest arise, any or all of these shareholders will act in the best interests of our company or such conflicts will be resolved in our favor.

Currently, we do not have any arrangements to address potential conflicts of interest between these shareholders and our company, except that we could exercise our purchase option under the exclusive option agreement with these shareholders to request them to transfer all of their equity interests in such consolidated variable interest entities to a PRC entity or individual designated by us, to the extent permitted by PRC laws. If we cannot resolve any conflict of interest or dispute between us and the shareholders of such consolidated variable interest entities, we would have to rely on legal proceedings, which could result in the disruption of our business and subject us to substantial uncertainty as to the outcome of any such legal proceedings.

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Contractual arrangements in relation to our consolidated variable interest entities may be subject to scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities and they may determine that we owe additional taxes, which could negatively affect our financial condition and the value of your investment.

Under applicable PRC laws and regulations, arrangements and other transactions among related parties may be subject to audit or challenge by the PRC tax authorities within ten years after the taxable year when the transactions are conducted. The PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law requires every enterprise in China to submit its annual enterprise income tax return together with a report on transactions with its related parties to the relevant tax authorities. The tax authorities may impose reasonable adjustments on taxation if they have identified any related party transactions that are inconsistent with arm’s length principles. We may face material and adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that (i) the contractual arrangements between Hengyuda, our wholly-owned subsidiary in China, Yiren Wealth Management, our consolidated variable interest entity in China, and the shareholders of Yiren Wealth Management, (ii) the contractual arrangements between YouRace Hengchuang, our wholly-owned subsidiary in China, Tianjin Linyang, our consolidated variable interest entity in China, and the shareholders of Tianjin Linyang, and (iii) the contractual arrangements between Hengyuda, our wholly-owned subsidiary in China, CreditEase Puhui, our consolidated variable interest entity in China, and the shareholders of CreditEase Puhui were not entered into on an arm’s length basis in such a way as to result in an impermissible reduction in taxes under applicable PRC laws, rules and regulations, and adjust the income of Yiren Wealth Management, Tianjin Linyang and CreditEase Puhui, our consolidated variable interest entities, in the form of a transfer pricing adjustment. A transfer pricing adjustment could, among other things, result in a reduction of expense deductions recorded by such consolidated variable interest entities for PRC tax purposes, which could in turn increase their tax liabilities without reducing the tax expenses of such consolidated variable interest entities. In addition, if YouRace Hengchuang or Hengyuda requests the shareholders of such consolidated variable interest entities, as the case may be, to transfer their equity interests in such consolidated variable interest entities, as the case may be, at nominal or no value pursuant to these contractual arrangements, such transfer could be viewed as a gift and subject YouRace Hengchuang or Hengyuda to PRC income tax. Furthermore, the PRC tax authorities may impose late payment fees and other penalties on such consolidated variable interest entities for the adjusted but unpaid taxes according to the applicable regulations. Our financial position could be materially and adversely affected if our consolidated variable interest entities’ tax liabilities increase or if they are required to pay late payment fees and other penalties.

We may lose the ability to use and benefit from assets held by our consolidated variable interest entities that are material to the operation of our business if any of these entities goes bankrupt or becomes subject to a dissolution or liquidation proceeding.

Yiren Wealth Management, Tianjin Linyang and CreditEase Puhui, our consolidated variable interest entities, hold certain assets that are material to the operation of our business. Under the contractual arrangements, our consolidated variable interest entities may not, and their respective shareholders may not cause them to, in any manner, sell, transfer, mortgage or otherwise dispose of their assets or their legal or beneficial interests in the business without our prior consent. However, in the event the shareholders of such consolidated variable interest entities breach these contractual arrangements and voluntarily liquidate such consolidated variable interest entities, or any of such consolidated variable interest entities declares bankruptcy and all or part of their assets become subject to liens or rights of third-party creditors, or are otherwise disposed of without our consent, we may be unable to continue some or all of our business activities, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If our consolidated variable interest entities undergo a voluntary or involuntary liquidation proceeding, independent third-party creditors may claim rights to some or all of these assets, thereby hindering our ability to operate our business, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If the chops of YouRace Hengchuang and Hengyuda, our PRC subsidiaries, and our consolidated variable interest entities are not kept safely, are stolen or are used by unauthorized persons or for unauthorized purposes, the corporate governance of these entities could be severely and adversely compromised.

In China, a company chop or seal serves as the legal representation of the company in dealing with third parties even when unaccompanied by a signature. Each legally registered company in China is required to maintain a company chop, which must be registered with the local Public Security Bureau. In addition to this mandatory company chop, companies may have several other chops that can be used for specific purposes. The chops of our principal PRC subsidiaries and our consolidated variable interest entities are generally held securely by personnel designated or approved by us in accordance with our internal control procedures. To the extent those chops are not kept safely, are stolen or are used by unauthorized persons or for unauthorized purposes, the corporate governance of these entities could be severely and adversely compromised and those corporate entities may be bound to abide by the terms of any documents so chopped, even if they were chopped by an individual who lacked the requisite power and authority to do so. In addition, if the chops are misused by unauthorized persons, we could experience a disruption to our normal business operations. We may have to take corporate or legal action, which could involve significant time and resources while distracting management from our operations to resolve these issues.

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Risks Related to Doing Business in China

Changes in China’s or global economic, political or social conditions or government policies could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Substantially all of our operations are located in China. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be influenced to a significant degree by political, economic and social conditions in China generally and by continued economic growth in China as a whole.

The Chinese economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. Although the Chinese government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets, and the establishment of improved corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of productive assets in China is still owned by the government. In addition, the Chinese government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The Chinese government also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth through allocating resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy, and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies.

While the Chinese economy has experienced significant growth over the past decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy, and the rate of growth has been slowing. The Chinese government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall Chinese economy, but may have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations.

In addition, the global macroeconomic environment is facing challenges. There is considerable uncertainty over the long-term effects of the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world’s leading economies, including the United States and China. There have been concerns over unrest and terrorist threats in the Middle East, Europe and Africa and over the conflicts involving Iran, Ukraine, Syria and North Korea. There have also been concerns on the relationship among China and other Asian countries, which may result in or intensify potential conflicts in relation to territorial disputes, and the current trade tension between the United States and China. In addition, the impact of the decision by the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union, commonly referred to as “Brexit”, and the resulting effect on the political and economic future of the U.K. and the European Union is uncertain. Brexit could adversely affect European and worldwide economic and market conditions and could contribute to instability in global financial and foreign exchange markets. It is unclear whether these challenges and uncertainties will be contained or resolved, and what effects they may have on the global political and economic conditions in the long term.

Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of Chinese laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to us.

The PRC legal system is based on written statutes and prior court decisions have limited value as precedents. Since these laws and regulations are relatively new and the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involves uncertainties.

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From time to time, we may have to resort to administrative and court proceedings to enforce our legal rights. However, since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, it may be more difficult to evaluate the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection we enjoy than in more developed legal systems. Furthermore, the PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules (some of which are not published in a timely manner, or at all) that may have retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of these policies and rules until sometime after the violation. Such uncertainties, including uncertainty over the scope and effect of our contractual, property (including intellectual property) and procedural rights, could materially and adversely affect our business and impede our ability to continue our operations.

Uncertainties exist with respect to the interpretation and implementation of the newly enacted PRC Foreign Investment law and how it may impact the viability of our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations.

On March 15, 2019, the National People’s Congress approved the Foreign Investment Law, which has become effective on January 1, 2020 and replaced the trio of existing laws regulating foreign investment in China, namely, the Sino-foreign Equity Joint Venture Enterprise Law, the Sino-foreign Cooperative Joint Venture Enterprise Law and the Wholly Foreign-invested Enterprise Law, together with their implementation rules and ancillary regulations. The Foreign Investment Law embodies an expected PRC regulatory trend to rationalize its foreign investment regulatory regime in line with prevailing international practice and the legislative efforts to unify the corporate legal requirements for both foreign and domestic investments. However, since it is relatively new, uncertainties still exist in relation to its interpretation and implementation. For instance, under the Foreign Investment Law, “foreign investment” refers to the investment activities directly or indirectly conducted by foreign individuals, enterprises or other entities in China. Though it does not explicitly classify contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment, there is no assurance that foreign investment via contractual arrangement would not be interpreted as a type of indirect foreign investment activity under the definition in the future. In addition, the definition contains a catch-all provision which includes investments made by foreign investors through means stipulated in laws or administrative regulations or other methods prescribed by the State Council. Therefore, it still leaves leeway for future laws, administrative regulations or provisions promulgated by the State Council to provide for contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment. In any of these cases, it will be uncertain whether our contractual arrangements will be deemed to be in violation of the market access requirements for foreign investment under the PRC laws and regulations. In addition, the Supreme People’s Court issued Certain Opinions Concerning the Application of the Foreign Investment Law on December 16, 2019, or the Foreign Investment Law Judicial Interpretations, which provides that investment contract in relation to the investment by foreign investor in a field which is prohibited from foreign investment under the Negative List may be invalidated by the courts. Although we believe contractual arrangements would not be deemed as “investment contract” under the Foreign Investment Law Judicial Interpretations, we cannot assure you that the PRC courts would take the same view as us. Furthermore, if future laws, administrative regulations or provisions prescribed by the State Council mandate further actions to be taken by companies with respect to existing contractual arrangements, we may face substantial uncertainties as to whether we can complete such actions in a timely manner, or at all. Failure to take timely and appropriate measures to cope with any of these or similar regulatory compliance challenges could materially and adversely affect our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations. See “—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure” and “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure.”

We may be adversely affected by the complexity, uncertainties and changes in PRC regulation of internet-related businesses and companies, and any lack of requisite approvals, licenses or permits applicable to our business may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

The PRC government extensively regulates the internet industry, including foreign ownership of, and the licensing and permit requirements pertaining to, companies in the internet industry. These internet-related laws and regulations are evolving, and their interpretation and enforcement involve significant uncertainties. As a result, in certain circumstances it may be difficult to determine what actions or omissions may be deemed to be in violation of applicable laws and regulations.

We only have contractual control over our websites. We do not directly own the websites due to the restriction of foreign investment in businesses providing value-added telecommunication services in China, including internet information provision services. This may significantly disrupt our business, subject us to sanctions, compromise enforceability of related contractual arrangements, or have other harmful effects on us.

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The evolving PRC regulatory system for the internet industry may lead to the establishment of new regulatory agencies. For example, in May 2011, the State Council announced the establishment of a new department, the State Internet Information Office (with the involvement of the State Council Information Office, the MIIT, and the Ministry of Public Security). The primary role of this new agency is to facilitate the policy-making and legislative development in this field, to direct and coordinate with the relevant departments in connection with online content administration and to deal with cross-ministry regulatory matters in relation to the internet industry.

Yiren Wealth Management, our consolidated variable interest entity operating our wealth management website and mobile application, may be deemed to be providing commercial internet information services and data processing and transaction processing services, which would require Yiren Wealth Management to obtain an ICP License and an EDI License.

An ICP License is a value-added telecommunications business operating license required for provision of commercial internet information services. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview— Regulation—Regulations on Value-Added Telecommunication Services.” As of the date of this annual report, Yiren Wealth Management is in the process of applying for an ICP License. Furthermore, as we are providing mobile applications to mobile device users, it is uncertain if Yiren Wealth Management will be required to obtain a separate value-added telecommunications business operating license with respect to the services provided through mobile devices in addition to the ICP License. Although we believe that not obtaining such separate license is in line with the current market practice, there can be no assurance that we will not be required to apply for an operating license for our mobile applications in the future.

An EDI License is a value-added telecommunications business operating license required for provision of data processing and transaction processing services. We plan to apply for any requisite telecommunication services license once the detailed implementation rules become available.

The Circular on Strengthening the Administration of Foreign Investment in and Operation of Value-added Telecommunications Business, issued by the MIIT in July 2006, prohibits domestic telecommunication service providers from leasing, transferring or selling telecommunications business operating licenses to any foreign investor in any form, or providing any resources, sites or facilities to any foreign investor for its illegal operation of a telecommunications business in China. According to this circular, either the holder of a value-added telecommunication services operation permit or its shareholders must directly own the domain names and trademarks used by such license holders in their provision of value-added telecommunication services. The circular also requires each license holder to have the necessary facilities, including servers, for its approved business operations and to maintain such facilities in the regions covered by its license. Yiren Wealth Management currently owns the relevant domain names and trademarks in connection with our value-added telecommunications business and has the necessary personnel to operate our websites. If an ICP License holder fails to comply with the requirements and also fails to remedy such non-compliance within a specified period of time, the MIIT or its local counterparts have the discretion to take administrative measures against such license holder, including revoking its ICP License.

The interpretation and application of existing PRC laws, regulations and policies and possible new laws, regulations or policies relating to the internet industry have created substantial uncertainties regarding the legality of existing and future foreign investments in, and the businesses and activities of, internet businesses in China, including our business. We cannot assure you that we have obtained all the permits or licenses required for conducting our business in China or will be able to maintain our existing licenses or obtain new ones. If the PRC government considers that we were operating without the proper approvals, licenses or permits or promulgates new laws and regulations that require additional approvals or licenses or imposes additional restrictions on the operation of any part of our business, it has the power, among other things, to levy fines, confiscate our income, revoke our business licenses, and require us to discontinue our relevant business or impose restrictions on the affected portion of our business. Any of these actions by the PRC government may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Any failure by us or our third-party service providers to comply with applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations could damage our reputation.

In cooperation with our partnering custody banks and payment companies, we have adopted various policies and procedures, such as internal controls and “know-your-customer” procedures, for anti-money laundering purposes. In addition, we rely on our third-party service providers, in particular the custody banks and payment companies that handle the transfer of funds between borrowers and investors, to have their own appropriate anti-money laundering policies and procedures. The custody banks and payment companies are subject to anti-money laundering obligations under applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations and are regulated in that respect by the PBOC. If any of our third-party service providers fails to comply with applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations, our reputation could suffer and we could become subject to regulatory intervention, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any negative perception of the industry, such as that arises from any failure of other consumer finance marketplaces to detect or prevent money laundering activities, even if factually incorrect or based on isolated incidents, could compromise our image or undermine the trust and credibility we have established.

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The Guidelines jointly released by ten PRC regulatory agencies in July 2015 purport, among other things, to require internet finance service providers, to comply with certain anti-money laundering requirements, including the establishment of a customer identification program, the monitoring and reporting of suspicious transactions, the preservation of customer information and transaction records, and the provision of assistance to the public security department and judicial authority in investigations and proceedings in relation to anti-money laundering matters. On October 11, 2018, the PBOC, the CBIRC, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC, jointly promulgated the Administrative Measures for Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing by Internet Finance Service Agencies (for Trial Implementation), effective as of January 1, 2019, which specify the anti-money laundering obligations of internet finance service agencies and regulate that the internet finance service agencies shall (i) adopt continuous customer identification measures; (ii) implement the system for reporting large-value or suspicious transactions; (iii) conduct real-time monitoring of the lists of terrorist organizations and terrorists; and (iv) properly keep the information, data and materials such as customer identification and transaction reports etc. We cannot assure you that the anti-money laundering policies and procedures we have adopted will be effective in protecting our marketplace from being exploited for money laundering purposes or will be deemed to be in compliance with applicable anti-money laundering implementing rules if and when adopted.

We rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have, and any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to make payments to us could have a material adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business.

We are a holding company, and we rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC subsidiaries for our cash and financing requirements, including the funds necessary to pay dividends and other cash distributions to our shareholders and service any debt we may incur. If our PRC subsidiaries incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us. In addition, the PRC tax authorities may require YouRace Hengchuang and Hengyuda to adjust their taxable income under the contractual arrangements they currently have in place with our consolidated variable interest entities in a manner that would materially and adversely affect their ability to pay dividends and other distributions to us. See “—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure—Contractual arrangements in relation to our consolidated variable interest entities may be subject to scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities and they may determine that we owe additional taxes, which could negatively affect our financial condition and the value of your investment” above.

Under PRC laws and regulations, our PRC subsidiaries, as wholly foreign-owned enterprises in China, may pay dividends only out of their respective accumulated after-tax profits as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise is required to set aside at least 10% of its accumulated after-tax profits each year, if any, to fund certain statutory reserve funds, until the aggregate amount of such funds reaches 50% of its registered capital. At its discretion, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise may allocate a portion of its after-tax profits based on PRC accounting standards to staff welfare and bonus funds. These reserve funds and staff welfare and bonus funds are not distributable as cash dividends.

Any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other distributions to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our business, pay dividends, or otherwise fund and conduct our business. See also “—If we are classified as a PRC resident enterprise for PRC income tax purposes, such classification could result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and our non-PRC shareholders or ADS holders” below.

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PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay or prevent us from using the proceeds of our initial public offering and the concurrent private placement to make loans to or make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

Under PRC laws and regulations, we are permitted to utilize the proceeds from our initial public offering and the concurrent private placement to fund our PRC subsidiaries by making loans to or additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries, subject to applicable government registration and approval requirements.

Any loans to our PRC subsidiaries, which are treated as foreign-invested enterprises under PRC laws, are subject to PRC regulations and foreign exchange loan registrations. For example, loans by us to our PRC subsidiaries to finance their activities cannot exceed statutory limits and must be registered with the local counterpart of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE. According to the Interim Measures on the Management of Foreign Debts promulgated by SAFE, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission on January 8, 2003, the statutory limit for the total amount of foreign debts of a foreign-invested company is the difference between the amount of total investment as approved by PRC Ministry of Commerce, or MOFCOM, or its local counterpart and the amount of registered capital of such foreign-invested company or two times the net assets provided in the latest audited financial report of such PRC subsidiary, as applicable. According to the Circular of the People’s Bank of China on Matters relating to the Comprehensive Macro-prudential Management of Cross-border Financing issued by the People’s Bank of China in January 2017, or Circular 9, and Circular of the People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Adjusting the Macro-prudential Regulation Parameter for Full-covered Cross-border Financing in March 2020, or Circular 64, the maximum amount of foreign debt that each company may borrow is determined by reference to its so-called risk-weighted balance of cross-border financing, which may not exceed two and a half times its net assets as indicated in its latest audited financial report. The risk-weighted balance of cross-border financing of a company is calculated based on its outstanding amounts of RMB and foreign currency cross-border debt, multiplied by risk conversion factors corresponding to their respective remaining terms, loan categories and currency. However, for a one-year grace period starting from January 11, 2017, a foreign-invested company such as our PRC subsidiaries may elect to determine the maximum amount of its foreign debt in according with the rules in effect prior to Circular 9, or to comply with Circular 9. On the other hand, PRC domestic companies such as our consolidated variable interest entities must comply with Circular 9. Moreover, according to the Notice of the National Development and Reform Commission on Promoting the Administrative Reform of the Recordation and Registration System for Enterprises’ Issuance of Foreign Debts issued by the National Development and Reform Commission in September 2015, any loans we extend to our consolidated variable interest entities or other PRC operating companies that are domestic PRC entities for more than one year must be filed with the National Development and Reform Commission or its local counterpart and must also be registered with SAFE or its local branches.

We may also decide to finance our PRC subsidiaries by means of capital contributions. These capital contributions must be filed for record with MOFCOM or its local counterpart. On March 30, 2015, SAFE promulgated Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming the Management Approach regarding the Settlement of Foreign Exchange Capital of Foreign-invested Enterprises, or Circular 19, which expands a pilot reform of the administration of the settlement of the foreign exchange capitals of foreign-invested enterprises nationwide. On June 9, 2016, SAFE promulgated Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming and Regulating Policies on the Control over Foreign Exchange Settlement of Capital Accounts, or Circular 16, to further expand and strengthen such reform. Under Circular 19 and Circular 16, foreign-invested enterprises in the PRC are allowed to use their foreign exchange funds under capital accounts and RMB funds from exchange settlement for expenditure under current accounts within their business scope or expenditure under capital accounts permitted by laws and regulations, except that such funds shall not be used for (i) expenditure beyond the enterprise’s business scope or expenditure prohibited by laws and regulations; (ii) investments in securities or other investments except principal-secured products issued by banks; (iii) granting loans to nonaffiliated enterprises, except where it is expressly permitted in the business license; and (iv) construction or purchase of real estate for purposes other than self-use (except for real estate enterprises). On October 23, 2019, the SAFE issued the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Facilitating Cross-border Trade and Investment, which, among other things, expanded the use of foreign exchange capital to domestic equity investments. Non-investment foreign-funded enterprises are allowed to lawfully make domestic equity investments on the premise by using capital funds without violation to prevailing special administrative measures for access of foreign investments (negative list) and the authenticity and compliance with the regulations of domestic investment projects. If our consolidated variable interest entities need financial support from us or our wholly owned subsidiaries in the future and we find it necessary to use foreign currency-denominated capital to provide such financial support, our ability to fund our consolidated variable interest entities’ operations will be subject to statutory limits and restrictions, including those described above.

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In light of the various requirements imposed by PRC regulations on loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete the necessary government registrations or obtain the necessary government approvals on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to future loans to our PRC subsidiaries or future capital contributions by us to our PRC subsidiaries. If we fail to complete such registrations or obtain such approvals, our ability to use the proceeds we received from our initial public offering and our private placement and to capitalize or otherwise fund our PRC operations may be negatively affected, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

Fluctuations in exchange rates could result in foreign currency exchange losses and have a material adverse effect on the price of our ADSs.

Fluctuations in exchange rates could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations and the value of your investment. The conversion of RMB into foreign currencies, including U.S. dollars, is based on rates set by the People’s Bank of China. The RMB has fluctuated against the U.S. dollar, at times significantly and unpredictably. The value of RMB against the U.S. dollar and other currencies is affected by changes in China’s political and economic conditions and by China’s foreign exchange policies, among other things. We cannot assure you that RMB will not appreciate or depreciate significantly in value against the U.S. dollar in the future. It is difficult to predict how market forces or PRC or U.S. government policy may impact the exchange rate between RMB and the U.S. dollar in the future.

Any significant appreciation or depreciation of RMB may materially and adversely affect our revenues, earnings and financial position, and the value of, and any dividends payable on, our ADSs in U.S. dollars. For example, to the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars we receive into RMB to pay our operating expenses, appreciation of RMB against the U.S. dollar would have an adverse effect on the RMB amount we would receive from the conversion. Conversely, a significant depreciation of RMB against the U.S. dollar may significantly reduce the U.S. dollar equivalent of our earnings, which in turn could adversely affect the price of our ADSs.

Very limited hedging options are available in China to reduce our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. To date, we have not entered into any hedging transactions in an effort to reduce our exposure to foreign currency exchange risk. While we may decide to enter into hedging transactions in the future, the availability and effectiveness of these hedges may be limited and we may not be able to adequately hedge our exposure, or at all. In addition, our currency exchange losses may be magnified by PRC exchange control regulations that restrict our ability to convert RMB into foreign currency. As a result, fluctuations in exchange rates may have a material adverse effect on your investment.

Governmental control of currency conversion may limit our ability to utilize our net revenue effectively and affect the value of your investment.

The PRC government imposes controls on the convertibility of RMB into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China. We receive substantially all of our net revenue in RMB. Under our current corporate structure, our company in the Cayman Islands relies on dividend payments from our PRC subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have. Under existing PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments of current account items, such as profit distributions and trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, can be made in foreign currencies without prior approval from SAFE by complying with certain procedural requirements. Therefore, our PRC subsidiaries are able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to us without prior approval from SAFE, subject to the condition that the remittance of such dividends outside of the PRC complies with certain procedures under PRC foreign exchange regulation, such as the overseas investment registrations by the beneficial owners of our company who are PRC residents. However, approval from or registration with appropriate government authorities is required where RMB is to be converted into foreign currency and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies.

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In light of the flood of capital outflows of China in 2016 due to the weakening RMB, the PRC government has imposed more restrictive foreign exchange policies and stepped up scrutiny of major outbound capital movement. More restrictions and a substantial vetting process are put in place by SAFE to regulate cross-border transactions falling under the capital account. For example, on January 26, 2017, SAFE promulgated the Circular on Further Improving Reform of Foreign Exchange Administration and Optimizing Genuineness and Compliance Verification, or Circular 3, which sets out certain measures tightening genuineness and compliance verification of cross-border transactions and cross-border capital flow, including (i) improving the statistics of current account foreign currency earnings deposited offshore; (ii) requiring banks to verify board resolutions, tax filing forms, and audited financial statements before wiring foreign-invested enterprises’ foreign exchange distributions above US$50,000; and (iii) strengthening genuineness and compliance verification of foreign direct investments. The PRC government may also at its discretion restrict access in the future to foreign currencies for current account transactions. If the foreign exchange control system prevents us from obtaining sufficient foreign currencies to satisfy our foreign currency demands, we may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders, including holders of our ADSs.

Failure to make adequate contributions to various employee benefit plans as required by PRC regulations may subject us to penalties.

We are required under PRC laws and regulations to participate in various government sponsored employee benefit plans, including certain social insurance, housing funds and other welfare-oriented payment obligations, and contribute to the plans in amounts equal to certain percentages of salaries, including bonuses and allowances, of our employees up to a maximum amount specified by the local government from time to time at locations where we operate our businesses. The requirement of employee benefit plans has not been implemented consistently by the local governments in China given the different levels of economic development in different locations. We have accrued the employee benefit according to the local governments’ regulations in financial statements, but we have not made adequate employee benefits payments as of the date of this annual report. In addition, certain entities we acquired in March 2019 as part of our business realignment with CreditEase did not make adequate employee benefits payment in the past. Although we have obtained indemnities and warranties from CreditEase to protect us for any potential liability associated with unpaid employee benefits, we may be required to make up the contributions for these plans and pay late penalties and fines in the first place before we could claim compensation from CreditEase. If we are subject to late penalties or fines in relation to the underpaid employee benefits, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

The M&A Rules and certain other PRC regulations establish complex procedures for some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions in China.

The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Companies by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rules, adopted by six PRC regulatory agencies in August 2006 and amended in 2009, and some other regulations and rules concerning mergers and acquisitions established additional procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex, including requirements in some instances that MOFCOM be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise. Moreover, the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law requires that MOFCOM shall be notified in advance of any concentration of undertaking if certain thresholds are triggered. In addition, the security review rules issued by MOFCOM that became effective in September 2011 specify that mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors that raise “national defense and security” concerns and mergers and acquisitions through which foreign investors may acquire de facto control over domestic enterprises that raise “national security” concerns are subject to strict review by MOFCOM, and the rules prohibit any activities attempting to bypass a security review, including by structuring the transaction through a proxy or contractual control arrangement. In the future, we may grow our business by acquiring complementary businesses. Complying with the requirements of the above-mentioned regulations and other relevant rules to complete such transactions could be time-consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval from MOFCOM or its local counterparts, may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share. On March 25, 2019, we entered into a set of definitive agreements with CreditEase regarding a business realignment between CreditEase and us. In December 2019, CreditEase Puhui became our wholly owned subsidiary through a series of internal re-organization transactions. If MOFCOM or any of its local counterparts challenges aforementioned the transaction structure or requires us to complete relevant approval process, we may have to adjust the transaction structure, amend or terminate the definitive agreements or be subject to fines and other administrative sanctions. If such situations occur, our business, financial condition and prospects would be materially and adversely affected.

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PRC regulations relating to offshore investment activities by PRC residents may limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to increase their registered capital or distribute profits to us or otherwise expose us or our PRC resident beneficial owners to liability and penalties under PRC law.

SAFE promulgated the Circular on Relevant Issues Relating to Domestic Resident’s Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment through Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37, in July 2014 that requires PRC residents or entities to register with SAFE or its local branch in connection with their establishment or control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas investment or financing. In addition, such PRC residents or entities must update their SAFE registrations when the offshore special purpose vehicle undergoes material events relating to any change of basic information (including change of such PRC citizens or residents, name and operation term), increases or decreases in investment amount, transfers or exchanges of shares, or mergers or divisions. SAFE Circular 37 is issued to replace the Notice on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration for PRC Residents Engaging in Financing and Roundtrip Investments via Overseas Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 75. SAFE promulgated the Notice on Further Simplifying and Improving the Administration of the Foreign Exchange Concerning Direct Investment in February 2015, which took effect on June 1, 2015. This notice has amended SAFE Circular 37 requiring PRC residents or entities to register with qualified banks rather than SAFE or its local branch in connection with their establishment or control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas investment or financing.

If our shareholders who are PRC residents or entities do not complete their registration as required, our PRC subsidiaries may be prohibited from distributing their profits and proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or liquidation to us, and we may be restricted in our ability to contribute additional capital to our PRC subsidiaries. Moreover, failure to comply with the SAFE registration described above could result in liability under PRC laws for evasion of applicable foreign exchange restrictions.

All of our shareholders who directly or indirectly hold shares in our Cayman Islands holding company and who are known to us as being PRC residents have completed the foreign exchange registrations.

However, we may not be informed of the identities of all the PRC residents or entities holding direct or indirect interest in our company, nor can we compel our beneficial owners to comply with SAFE registration requirements. As a result, we cannot assure you that all of our shareholders or beneficial owners who are PRC residents or entities have complied with, and will in the future make or obtain any applicable registrations or approvals required by, SAFE regulations. Failure by such shareholders or beneficial owners to comply with SAFE regulations, or failure by us to amend the foreign exchange registrations of our PRC subsidiaries, could subject us to fines or legal sanctions, restrict our overseas or cross-border investment activities, limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to make distributions or pay dividends to us or affect our ownership structure, which could adversely affect our business and prospects.

Any failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding the registration requirements for employee stock incentive plans may subject the PRC plan participants or us to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.

In February 2012, SAFE promulgated the Notices on Issues Concerning the Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Stock Incentive Plan of Overseas Publicly-Listed Company, replacing earlier rules promulgated in March 2007. Pursuant to these rules, PRC citizens and non-PRC citizens who reside in China for a continuous period of not less than one year who participate in any stock incentive plan of an overseas publicly listed company, subject to a few exceptions, are required to register with SAFE through a domestic qualified agent, which could be the PRC subsidiary of such overseas listed company, and complete certain other procedures. In addition, an overseas entrusted institution must be retained to handle matters in connection with the exercise or sale of stock options and the purchase or sale of shares and interests. We and our executive officers and other employees who are PRC citizens or who have resided in the PRC for a continuous period of not less than one year and who have been granted options or other awards are subject to these regulations. Failure to complete the SAFE registrations may subject them to fines and legal sanctions and may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital into our PRC subsidiaries and limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to distribute dividends to us. We also face regulatory uncertainties that could restrict our ability to adopt additional incentive plans for our directors, executive officers and employees under PRC law. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations Related to Foreign Exchange—Regulations on Stock Incentive Plans.”

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If we are classified as a PRC resident enterprise for PRC income tax purposes, such classification could result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and our non-PRC shareholders or ADS holders.

Under the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with a “de facto management body” within the PRC is considered a resident enterprise and will be subject to the enterprise income tax on its global income at the rate of 25%. The implementation rules define the term “de facto management body” as the body that exercises full and substantial control over and overall management of the business, productions, personnel, accounts and properties of an enterprise. In April 2009, the State Administration of Taxation issued a circular, known as Circular 82, which provides certain specific criteria for determining whether the “de facto management body” of a PRC-controlled enterprise that is incorporated offshore is located in China. Although this circular only applies to offshore enterprises controlled by PRC enterprises or PRC enterprise groups, not those controlled by PRC individuals or foreigners like us, the criteria set forth in the circular may reflect the State Administration of Taxation’s general position on how the “de facto management body” test should be applied in determining the tax resident status of all offshore enterprises. According to Circular 82, an offshore incorporated enterprise controlled by a PRC enterprise or a PRC enterprise group will be regarded as a PRC tax resident by virtue of having its “de facto management body” in China and will be subject to PRC enterprise income tax on its global income only if all of the following conditions are met: (i) the primary location of the day-to-day operational management is in the PRC; (ii) decisions relating to the enterprise’s financial and human resource matters are made or are subject to approval by organizations or personnel in the PRC; (iii) the enterprise’s primary assets, accounting books and records, company seals, and board and shareholder resolutions, are located or maintained in the PRC; and (iv) at least 50% of voting board members or senior executives habitually reside in the PRC.

We believe none of our entities outside of China is a PRC resident enterprise for PRC tax purposes. See “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation—People’s Republic of China Taxation.” However, the tax resident status of an enterprise is subject to determination by the PRC tax authorities and uncertainties remain with respect to the interpretation of the term “de facto management body.” As substantially all of our management members are based in China, it remains unclear how the tax residency rule will apply to our case. If the PRC tax authorities determine that Yiren Digital Ltd. or any of our subsidiaries outside of China is a PRC resident enterprise for PRC enterprise income tax purposes, then Yiren Digital Ltd. or such subsidiary could be subject to PRC tax at a rate of 25% on its worldwide income, which could materially reduce our net income. In addition, we will also be subject to PRC enterprise income tax reporting obligations. Furthermore, if the PRC tax authorities determine that we are a PRC resident enterprise for enterprise income tax purposes, gains realized on the sale or other disposition of our ADSs or ordinary shares may be subject to PRC tax, at a rate of 10% in the case of non-PRC enterprises or 20% in the case of non-PRC individuals (in each case, subject to the provisions of any applicable tax treaty), if such gains are deemed to be from PRC sources. It is unclear whether non-PRC shareholders of our company would be able to claim the benefits of any tax treaties between their country of tax residence and the PRC in the event that we are treated as a PRC resident enterprise. Any such tax may reduce the returns on the investment in our ADSs.

Discontinuation of preferential tax treatment or imposition of any additional taxes could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementing rules have adopted a uniform statutory enterprise income tax rate of 25% to all enterprises in China. The Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementing rules also permit companies qualified as “software enterprises” to enjoy a two-year income tax exemption starting from the first profit making year, followed by a reduced tax rate of 12.5% for the subsequent three years. YouRace Hengchuang, one of our PRC subsidiaries, was qualified as a “high and new technology enterprise” in November 2018 and accordingly has been eligible for a preferential income tax rate of 15%. However, YouRace Hengchuang’s qualification as a “high and new technology enterprise” is subject to evaluation by the relevant authorities in China every three years. If YouRace Hengchuang fails to maintain its “high and new technology enterprise” qualification, its applicable corporate income tax rate would increase to 25%, which could have adverse effects on our financial condition and results of operations. Yiren Hengsheng, one of our PRC subsidiaries, was qualified as a “software enterprise” in April 2021, and accordingly has been eligible for an exemption of enterprise income tax for 2020 and 2021 and a reduced enterprise income tax at the rate of 12.5% from 2022 through 2024. However, Yiren Hengsheng’s qualification as a “software enterprise” is subject to annual evaluation by the relevant authorities in China. If Yiren Hengsheng fails to maintain its “software enterprise” qualification, its applicable corporate income tax rate would increase to 25%, which could have adverse effects on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, Hengyuda, one of our PRC subsidiaries, was eligible for a reduced enterprise income tax rate of 15% since the year 2017 pursuant to the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries in Western Regions, the Catalogue of Industries for Guiding Foreign Investment, Circular on Issues Concerning Tax Policies for In-depth Implementation of Western Development Strategies, and the related rules granting favorable tax treatment to companies in specified industries in western China under the PRC government’s policy initiative to promote the development of the western region of China. However, Hengyuda’s favorable tax treatment is subject to an annual filing requirement. Moreover, the relevant rules and policy initiative may change, and favorable tax treatment under these rules is available only to companies meeting certain qualifications. Therefore, there is uncertainty as to whether and for how long Hengyuda can continue to enjoy such favorable tax treatment after 2021. If such favorable tax treatment becomes unavailable to Hengyuda in the future, its applicable corporate income tax rate would increase to 25%, which may affect our financial condition and results of operations.

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We may not be able to obtain certain benefits under relevant tax treaty on dividends paid by our PRC subsidiaries to us through our Hong Kong subsidiary.

We are a holding company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands and as such rely on dividends and other distributions on equity from our PRC subsidiaries to satisfy part of our liquidity requirements. Pursuant to the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law, a withholding tax rate of 10% currently applies to dividends paid by a PRC “resident enterprise” to a foreign enterprise investor, unless any such foreign investor’s jurisdiction of incorporation has a tax treaty with China that provides for preferential tax treatment. Pursuant to the Arrangement between the Mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Tax Evasion on Income, or the Double Tax Avoidance Arrangement, such withholding tax rate may be lowered to 5% if a Hong Kong resident enterprise owns no less than 25% of a PRC enterprise. Furthermore, the Administrative Measures for Non-Resident Taxpayers to Enjoy Treaty Benefits, or Circular 35, which became effective on January 1, 2020, require non-resident enterprises to determine whether they are qualified to enjoy the preferential tax treatment under the tax treaties and file relevant report with the tax authorities. There are also other conditions for enjoying the reduced withholding tax rate according to other relevant tax rules and regulations. See “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation—People’s Republic of China Taxation.” Our board of directors decided in August 2018 to suspend the previously adopted semi-annual dividend policy. In the event that we make offshore distributions of our earnings, we would be subject to a significant withholding tax. We cannot assure you that our determination regarding our qualification to enjoy the preferential tax treatment will not be challenged by the relevant tax authority or we will be able to complete the necessary filings with the relevant tax authority and enjoy the preferential withholding tax rate of 5% under the Double Taxation Arrangement with respect to dividends to be paid by our PRC subsidiaries to Yiren Digital Hong Kong Limited, our Hong Kong subsidiary.

Enhanced scrutiny over acquisition transactions by the PRC tax authorities may have a negative impact on potential acquisitions we may pursue in the future.

The PRC tax authorities have enhanced their scrutiny over the direct or indirect transfer of certain taxable assets, including, in particular, equity interests in a PRC resident enterprise, by a non-resident enterprise by promulgating and implementing Circular on Issues Concerning Treatment of Enterprise Income Tax in Enterprise Restructuring Business promulgated by the State Administration of Taxation, which became effective in January 2008, or Circular 59, the Announcement of the State Administration of Taxation on Several Issues concerning the Enterprise Income Tax on the Indirect Transfers of Properties by Non-Resident Enterprises promulgated by the State Administration of Taxation in February 2015, or Circular 7, and the Announcement of the State Administration of Taxation on Matters Concerning Withholding of Income Tax of Non-resident Enterprises at Source promulgated by the State Administration of Taxation in October 2017 and taken into effect in December 2017 and amended in June 2018, or SAT Circular 37.

Under Circular 7, where a non-resident enterprise conducts an “indirect transfer” by transferring the equity interests of a PRC “resident enterprise” or other taxable assets indirectly by disposing of the equity interests of an overseas holding company, the non-resident enterprise, being the transferor, may be subject to PRC enterprise income tax, if the indirect transfer is considered to be an abusive use of company structure without reasonable commercial purposes.

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In addition, Circular 7 provides clearer criteria on how to assess reasonable commercial purposes and has introduced safe harbors for internal group restructurings and the purchase and sale of equity through a public securities market. Circular 7 also brings challenges to both the foreign transferor and transferee (or other person who is obligated to pay for the transfer) of the taxable assets. Where a non-resident enterprise conducts an “indirect transfer” by transferring the taxable assets indirectly by disposing of the equity interests of an overseas holding company, the non-resident enterprise being the transferor, or the transferee, or the PRC entity which directly owned the taxable assets may report to the relevant tax authority such indirect transfer. Using a “substance over form” principle, the PRC tax authority may disregard the existence of the overseas holding company if it lacks a reasonable commercial purpose and was established for the purpose of reducing, avoiding or deferring PRC tax. As a result, gains derived from such indirect transfer may be subject to PRC enterprise income tax, and the transferee or other person who is obligated to pay for the transfer is obligated to withhold the applicable taxes, currently at a rate of 10% for the transfer of equity interests in a PRC resident enterprise.

SAT Circular 37 provides certain changes to the current withholding regime. For example, SAT Circular 37 requires that the transferor shall declare to the competent tax authority for payment of tax within seven (7) days after the tax payment obligation comes into being if the withholding agent fails to withhold the tax due or withhold the tax due in full. However, according to SAT Circular 37, if the withholding agent fails to withhold and remit the income tax payable, or is unable to perform its obligation in this regard, as long as the non-resident enterprise that earns the income voluntarily declares and pays the tax payable before the tax authority orders it to do so within required time limits, it shall be deemed that such enterprise has paid the tax in time.

We face uncertainties on the reporting and consequences on future private equity financing transactions, share exchange or other transactions involving the transfer of shares in our company by investors that are non-PRC resident enterprises. The PRC tax authorities may pursue such non-resident enterprises with respect to a filing or the transferees with respect to withholding obligation, and request our PRC subsidiaries to assist in the filing. As a result, we and non-resident enterprises in such transactions may become at risk of being subject to filing obligations or being taxed, under Circular 59, Circular 7 and SAT Circular 37, and may be required to expend valuable resources to comply with Circular 59, Circular 7 and SAT Circular 37 or to establish that we and our non-resident enterprises should not be taxed under these circulars, which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

The PRC tax authorities have the discretion under Circular 59, Circular 7 and SAT Circular 37 to make adjustments to the taxable capital gains based on the difference between the fair value of the taxable assets transferred and the cost of investment. We may pursue acquisitions from time to time that may involve complex corporate structures. If we are considered a non-resident enterprise under the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law and if the PRC tax authorities make adjustments to the taxable income of the transactions under Circular 59, Circular 7 and SAT Circular 37, our income tax costs associated with such potential acquisitions will be increased, which may have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our ADSs may be delisted under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act if the PCAOB is unable to inspect auditors who are located in China. The delisting of our ADSs, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment. Additionally, the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections deprives our investors with the benefits of such inspections.

The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCA Act, was enacted on December 18, 2020. The HFCA Act states if the SEC determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspection by the PCAOB for three consecutive years beginning in 2021, the SEC shall prohibit our shares or ADSs from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over the counter trading market in the U.S.

Our auditor, the independent registered public accounting firm that issues the audit report included elsewhere in this prospectus, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB, is subject to laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. Since our auditor is located in China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB has been unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese authorities, our auditor is currently not inspected by the PCAOB.

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On March 24, 2021, the SEC adopted interim final rules relating to the implementation of certain disclosure and documentation requirements of the HFCA Act. We will be required to comply with these rules if the SEC identifies us as having a “non-inspection” year under a process to be subsequently established by the SEC. The SEC is assessing how to implement other requirements of the HFCA Act, including the listing and trading prohibition requirements described above.

The SEC may propose additional rules or guidance that could impact us if our auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspection. For example, on August 6, 2020, the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, or the PWG, issued the Report on Protecting United States Investors from Significant Risks from Chinese Companies to the then President of the United States. This report recommended the SEC implement five recommendations to address companies from jurisdictions that do not provide the PCAOB with sufficient access to fulfil its statutory mandate. Some of the concepts of these recommendations were implemented with the enactment of the HFCA Act. However, some of the recommendations were more stringent than the HFCA Act. For example, if a company was not subject to PCAOB inspection, the report recommended that the transition period before a company would be delisted would end on January 1, 2022.

The SEC has announced that the SEC staff is preparing a consolidated proposal for the rules regarding the implementation of the HFCA Act and to address the recommendations in the PWG report. It is unclear when the SEC will complete its rulemaking and when such rules will become effective and what, if any, of the PWG recommendations will be adopted. The implications of this possible regulation in addition to the requirements of the HFCA Act are uncertain. Such uncertainty could cause the market price of our ADSs to be materially and adversely affected, and our securities could be delisted or prohibited from being traded “over-the-counter” earlier than would be required by the HFCA Act. If our securities are unable to be listed on another securities exchange by then, such a delisting would substantially impair your ability to sell or purchase our ADSs when you wish to do so, and the risk and uncertainty associated with a potential delisting would have a negative impact on the price of our ADSs.

The PCAOB’s inability to conduct inspections in China prevents it from fully evaluating the audits and quality control procedures of our independent registered public accounting firm. As a result, we and investors in our ordinary shares are deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our independent registered public accounting firm’s audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections, which could cause investors and potential investors in our stock to lose confidence in our audit procedures and reported financial information and the quality of our financial statements.

In May 2013, the PCAOB announced that it had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on Enforcement Cooperation with the CSRC and the PRC Ministry of Finance, which establishes a cooperative framework between the parties for the production and exchange of audit documents relevant to investigations undertaken by the PCAOB in the PRC or by the CSRC or the PRC Ministry of Finance in the United States. The PCAOB continues to be in discussions with the CSRC and the PRC Ministry of Finance to permit joint inspections in the PRC of audit firms that are registered with the PCAOB and audit Chinese companies that trade on U.S. exchanges.

Proceedings instituted by the SEC against Chinese affiliates of the “big four” accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, could result in financial statements being determined to not be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act.

In late 2012, the SEC commenced administrative proceedings under Rule 102(e) of its Rules of Practice and also under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act against the mainland Chinese affiliates of the “Big Four” accounting firms (including the mainland Chinese affiliate of our independent registered public accounting firm). A first instance trial of the proceedings in July 2013 in the SEC’s internal administrative court resulted in an adverse judgment against the firms. The administrative law judge proposed penalties on the Chinese accounting firms including a temporary suspension of their right to practice before the SEC, although that proposed penalty did not take effect pending review by the Commissioners of the SEC. On February 6, 2015, before a review by the Commissioner had taken place, the Chinese accounting firms reached a settlement with the SEC whereby the proceedings were stayed. Under the settlement, the SEC accepted that future requests by the SEC for the production of documents would normally be made to the CSRC. The Chinese accounting firms would receive requests matching those under Section 106 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and would be required to abide by a detailed set of procedures with respect to such requests, which in substance would require them to facilitate production via the CSRC. The CSRC for its part initiated a procedure whereby, under its supervision and subject to its approval, requested classes of documents held by the accounting firms could be sanitized of problematic and sensitive content so as to render them capable of being made available by the CSRC to U.S. regulators.

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Under the terms of the settlement, the underlying proceeding against the four PRC-based accounting firms was deemed dismissed with prejudice at the end of four years starting from the settlement date, which was on February 6, 2019. Despite the final ending of the proceedings, the presumption is that all parties will continue to apply the same procedures: i.e. the SEC will continue to make its requests for the production of documents to the CSRC, and the CSRC will normally process those requests applying the sanitization procedure. We cannot predict whether, in cases where the CSRC does not authorize production of requested documents to the SEC, the SEC will further challenge the four PRC-based accounting firms’ compliance with U.S. law. If additional challenges are imposed on the Chinese affiliates of the “big four” accounting firms, we could be unable to timely file future financial statements in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act.

In the event that the SEC restarts the administrative proceedings, depending upon the final outcome listed companies in the United States with major PRC operations may find it difficult or impossible to retain auditors in respect of their operations in the PRC, which could result in financial statements being determined to not be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, including possible delisting. Moreover, any negative news about any such future proceedings against these accounting firms may cause investor uncertainty regarding China-based, United States-listed companies and the market price of our ADSs may be adversely affected.

If our independent registered public accounting firm were denied, even temporarily, the ability to practice before the SEC and we were unable to timely find another registered public accounting firm to audit and issue an opinion on our financial statements, our financial statements could be determined not to be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act. Such a determination could ultimately lead to the delisting of our ordinary shares from the NYSE or deregistration from the SEC, or both, which would substantially reduce or effectively terminate the trading of our ADSs in the United States.

Risks Related to our American Depositary Shares

The market price for our ADSs may be volatile.

The trading price of our ADSs has ranged from US$2.70 to US$7.38 per ADS in 2020. The trading prices of our ADSs are likely to be volatile and could fluctuate widely due to factors beyond our control. This may happen because of broad market and industry factors, like the performance and fluctuation in the market prices or the underperformance or deteriorating financial results of internet or other companies based in China that have listed their securities in the United States in recent years. The securities of some of these companies have experienced significant volatility since their initial public offerings, including, in some cases, substantial decline in their trading prices. The trading performances of other Chinese companies’ securities after their offerings may affect the attitudes of investors toward Chinese companies listed in the United States, which consequently may impact the trading performance of our ADSs, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, any negative news or perceptions about inadequate corporate governance practices or fraudulent accounting, corporate structure or other matters of us or other Chinese companies may also negatively affect the attitudes of investors towards Chinese companies in general, including us, regardless of whether we have conducted any inappropriate activities. In addition, securities markets may from time to time experience significant price and volume fluctuations that are not related to our operating performance, which may have a material adverse effect on the market price of our ADSs.

In addition to the above factors, the price and trading volume of our ADSs may be highly volatile due to multiple factors, including the following:

·                  regulatory developments affecting us, our users or our industry;

·                  announcements of studies and reports relating to our loan products and service offerings or those of our competitors;

·                  changes in the economic performance or market valuations of other online consumer finance marketplaces;

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·                  actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly results of operations and changes or revisions of our expected results;

·                  changes in financial estimates by securities research analysts;

·                  conditions in the internet and consumer finance industries;

·                  announcements by us or our competitors of new product and service offerings, acquisitions, strategic relationships, joint ventures or capital commitments;

·                  additions to or departures of our senior management;

·                  detrimental negative publicity about us, our management or our industry;

·                  fluctuations of exchange rates between the RMB and the U.S. dollar;

·                  release or expiry of lock-up or other transfer restrictions on our outstanding ordinary shares or ADSs;

·                  sales or perceived potential sales of additional ordinary shares or ADSs; and

·                  any share repurchase program.

We cannot guarantee that any share repurchase program will be fully consummated or that any share repurchase program will enhance long-term shareholder value, and share repurchases could increase the volatility of the price of our ADSs and could diminish our cash reserves.

In June 2018, our board of directors authorized a share repurchase program, under which we may repurchase up to US$20.0 million of our ADSs or ordinary shares. As of December 31, 2020, we had repurchased a total of 521,965 ADSs at an average price of US$11.4 per ADS under this program. Our share repurchase program could affect the price of our stock and increase volatility and may be suspended or terminated at any time.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the market price for our ADSs and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our ADSs will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If research analysts do not establish and maintain adequate research coverage or if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our ADSs or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the market price for our ADSs would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which, in turn, could cause the market price or trading volume of our ADSs to decline.

Because we do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future, you must rely on price appreciation of our ADSs for return on your investment.

Our board of directors has discretion as to whether to distribute dividends, subject to our memorandum and articles of association and certain restrictions under Cayman Islands law, namely that our company may only pay dividends out of profits or share premium, and provided always that in no circumstances may a dividend be paid if this would result in our company being unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. In addition, our shareholders may by ordinary resolution declare a dividend, but no dividend may exceed the amount recommended by our board of directors. On July 29, 2017, our board of directors approved a semi-annual dividend policy. Under this policy, semi-annual dividends were set at an amount equivalent to approximately 15% of our anticipated net income after tax in each half year commencing from the second half of 2017. The determination to declare and pay such semi-annual dividend and the amount of dividend in any particular half year will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will be based upon our operations and earnings, cash flow, financial condition and other relevant factors that the board may deem appropriate. Our board of directors decided in August 2018 to suspend the previously adopted semi-annual dividend policy. Accordingly, the return on your investment in our ADSs will likely depend entirely upon any future price appreciation of our ADSs. There is no guarantee that our ADSs will appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which you purchased the ADSs. You may not realize a return on your investment in our ADSs and you may even lose your entire investment in our ADSs.

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Substantial future sales or perceived potential sales of our ADSs in the public market could cause the price of our ADSs to decline.

Sales of our ADSs in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could cause the market price of our ADSs to decline. As of March 31, 2021, we had 167,968,050 ordinary shares outstanding. Among these shares, 23,615,620 ordinary shares are in the form of ADSs. All our ADSs are freely transferable without restriction or additional registration under the Securities Act. The remaining ordinary shares outstanding are available for sale, subject to volume and other restrictions as applicable under Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act. To the extent shares are sold into the market, the market price of our ADSs could decline.

Certain holders of our ordinary shares may cause us to register under the Securities Act the sale of their shares. Registration of these shares under the Securities Act would result in ADSs representing these shares becoming freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act immediately upon the effectiveness of the registration. Sales of these registered shares in the form of ADSs in the public market could cause the price of our ADSs to decline.

We have adopted share incentive plans in September 2015, July 2017 and June 2020, under which we have the discretion to grant a broad range of equity-based awards to eligible participants. See “Item 6. Directors, Senior Management and Employees—B. Compensation—Share Incentive Plans.” We have registered certain ordinary shares that we may issue under our share incentive plans and intend to register all ordinary shares that we may issue under our share incentive plans. Once we register these ordinary shares, they can be freely sold in the public market in the form of ADSs upon issuance, subject to volume limitations applicable to affiliates and relevant lock-up agreements. If a large number of our ordinary shares or securities convertible into our ordinary shares are sold in the public market in the form of ADSs after they become eligible for sale, the sales could reduce the trading price of our ADSs and impede our ability to raise future capital. In addition, any ordinary shares that we issue under our share incentive plans would dilute the percentage ownership held by the investors who purchased ADSs.

You, as holders of ADSs, may have fewer rights than holders of our ordinary shares and must act through the depositary to exercise those rights.

Holders of ADSs do not have the same rights as our shareholders and may only exercise the voting rights with respect to the underlying ordinary shares in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement. Under the deposit agreement, you must vote by giving voting instructions to the depositary. Upon receipt of your voting instructions, the depositary will vote the underlying ordinary shares representing your ADSs in accordance with these instructions. You will not be able to directly exercise your right to vote with respect to the underlying ordinary shares representing your ADSs unless you withdraw the shares and become the registered holder of such shares prior the record date of the general meeting. Under our current memorandum and articles of association, the minimum notice period required to convene a general meeting is seven days. When a general meeting is convened, you may not receive sufficient notice of a shareholders’ meeting to permit you to withdraw the shares underlying your ADSs and become the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date of the general meeting to allow you to cast your vote with respect to any specific matter. In addition, the depositary and its agents may not be able to send voting instructions to you or carry out your voting instructions in a timely manner. Under our current memorandum and articles of association, for the purposes of determining those shareholders who are entitled to attend and vote at any general meeting, our directors may close our register of members and/or fix in advance a record date for such meeting, and such closure of our register of members or the setting of such a record date may prevent you from withdrawing the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs and becoming the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date, so that you would not be able to attend the general meeting or to vote directly. We will make all reasonable efforts to cause the depositary to extend voting rights to you in a timely manner, but we cannot assure you that you will receive the voting materials in time to ensure that you can instruct the depositary to vote the shares underlying your ADSs. Furthermore, the depositary and its agents will not be responsible for any failure to carry out any instructions to vote, for the manner in which any vote is cast or for the effect of any such vote. As a result, you may not be able to exercise your right to vote and you may lack recourse if the shares underlying your ADSs are not voted as you requested. In addition, in your capacity as an ADS holder, you will not be able to call a shareholders’ meeting.

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Except in limited circumstances, the depositary for our ADSs will give us a discretionary proxy to vote our ordinary shares underlying your ADSs if you do not vote at shareholders’ meetings, which could adversely affect your interests.

Under the deposit agreement for our ADSs, the depositary will give us a discretionary proxy to vote our ordinary shares underlying your ADSs at shareholders’ meetings if you do not give voting instructions to the depositary, unless:

·                  we have failed to timely provide the depositary with our notice of meeting and related voting materials;

·                  we have instructed the depositary that we do not wish a discretionary proxy to be given;

·                  we have informed the depositary that there is substantial opposition as to a matter to be voted on at the meeting;

·                  a matter to be voted on at the meeting would materially and adversely affect the rights of shareholders; or

·                  voting at the meeting is made on a show of hands.

The effect of this discretionary proxy is that, if you fail to give voting instructions to the depositary, you cannot prevent our ordinary shares underlying your ADSs from being voted, absent the situations described above. This may make it more difficult for shareholders to influence our management. Holders of our ordinary shares are not subject to this discretionary proxy.

Your rights to pursue claims against the depositary as a holder of ADSs are limited by the terms of the deposit agreement.

Under the deposit agreement, any action or proceeding against or involving the depositary, arising out of or based upon the deposit agreement or the transactions contemplated thereby or by virtue of owning the ADSs may only be instituted in a state or federal court in New York, New York, and you, as a holder of our ADSs, will have irrevocably waived any objection which you may have to the laying of venue of any such proceeding, and irrevocably submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts in any such action or proceeding. However, the depositary may, in its sole discretion, require that any dispute or difference arising from the relationship created by the deposit agreement be referred to and finally settled by an arbitration conducted under the terms described in the deposit agreement. Also, we may amend or terminate the deposit agreement without your consent. If you continue to hold your ADSs after an amendment to the deposit agreement, you agree to be bound by the deposit agreement as amended. See “Item 12. Description of Securities Other Than Equity Securities—D. American Depositary Shares” for more information.

Your right to participate in any future rights offerings may be limited, which may cause dilution to your holdings.

We may from time to time distribute rights to our shareholders, including rights to acquire our securities. However, we cannot make such rights available to you in the United States unless we register both the rights and the securities to which the rights relate under the Securities Act or an exemption from the registration requirements is available. Under the deposit agreement, the depositary will not make rights available to you unless both the rights and the underlying securities to be distributed to ADS holders are either registered under the Securities Act or exempt from registration under the Securities Act. We are under no obligation to file a registration statement with respect to any such rights or securities or to endeavor to cause such a registration statement to be declared effective and we may not be able to establish a necessary exemption from registration under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you may be unable to participate in our rights offerings in the future and may experience dilution in your holdings.

You may not receive cash dividends if the depositary decides it is impractical to make them available to you.

The depositary will pay cash dividends on the ADSs only to the extent that we decide to distribute dividends on our ordinary shares or other deposited securities, and we do not have any present plan to pay any cash dividends on our ordinary shares in the foreseeable future. To the extent that there is a distribution, the depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian receives on our ordinary shares or other deposited securities after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of ordinary shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary may, at its discretion, decide that it is inequitable or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. For example, the depositary may determine that it is not practicable to distribute certain property through the mail, or that the value of certain distributions may be less than the cost of mailing them. In these cases, the depositary may decide not to distribute such property to you.

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You may be subject to limitations on transfer of your ADSs.

Your ADSs are transferable on the books of the depositary. However, the depositary may close its transfer books at any time or from time to time when it deems expedient in connection with the performance of its duties. In addition, the depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of ADSs generally when our books or the books of the depositary are closed, or at any time if we deem or the depositary deems it advisable to do so because of any requirement of law or of any government or governmental body, or under any provision of the deposit agreement, or for any other reason.

We were previously subject to two shareholder class action lawsuits that were subsequently dismissed. However, we cannot assure you that we will not be subject to other shareholder class action lawsuits in the future.

We were previously subject to two shareholder class action lawsuits that were subsequently dismissed. See details on the putative shareholder class action lawsuits in “Item 8. Financial Information—A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Legal Proceedings.” On July 12, 2017, the United States District Court for the Central District of California dismissed the class action lawsuits and concluded that the plaintiff’s action, which was not certified as a class action, shall be dismissed with prejudice. However, we cannot assure you that we will not be subject to other shareholder class action lawsuits in the future. If we are subject to other shareholder class action lawsuits, we will be unable to estimate the possible loss or possible range of loss, if any, associated with the resolution of these lawsuits. In the event that our initial defense of these lawsuits is unsuccessful, there can be no assurance that we will prevail in any appeal. Any adverse outcome of these cases, including any plaintiff’s appeal of a judgment in these lawsuits, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operation, cash flows and reputation. In addition, there can be no assurance that our insurance carriers will cover all or part of the defense costs, or any liabilities that may arise from these matters. The litigation process may utilize a significant portion of our resources and divert our management’s attention from the day-to-day operations of our company, all of which could harm our business. We also may be subject to claims for indemnification related to these matters, and we cannot predict the impact that indemnification claims may have on our business or financial results.

Certain judgments obtained against us by our shareholders may not be enforceable.

We are an exempted company limited by shares incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. We conduct substantially all of our operations in China and substantially all of our assets are located in China. In addition, a majority of our directors and executive officers reside within China, and most of the assets of these persons are located within China. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for you to effect service of process within the United States upon us or these individuals, or to bring an action against us or against these individuals in the United States in the event that you believe your rights have been infringed under the U.S. federal securities laws or otherwise. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, the laws of the Cayman Islands and of the PRC may render you unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers.

There is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the federal or state courts of the United States (and the Cayman Islands are not a party to any treaties for the reciprocal enforcement or recognition of such judgments), a judgment obtained in such jurisdiction will be recognized and enforced in the courts of the Cayman Islands at common law, without any re-examination of the merits of the underlying dispute, by an action commenced on the foreign judgment debt in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, provided such judgment (i) is given by a foreign court of competent jurisdiction, (ii) imposes on the judgment debtor a liability to pay a liquidated sum for which the judgment has been given, (iii) is final, (iv) is not in respect of taxes, a fine or a penalty, and (v) was not obtained in a manner and is not of a kind the enforcement of which is contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands. However, the Cayman Islands courts are unlikely to enforce a judgment obtained from the U.S. courts under civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities law if such judgment is determined by the courts of the Cayman Islands to give rise to obligations to make payments that are penal or punitive in nature. Because such a determination has not yet been made by a court of the Cayman Islands, it is uncertain whether such civil liability judgments from U.S. courts would be enforceable in the Cayman Islands.

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The recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments are provided for under the PRC Civil Procedures Law. PRC courts may recognize and enforce foreign judgments in accordance with the requirements of the PRC Civil Procedures Law based either on treaties between China and the country where the judgment is made or on principles of reciprocity between jurisdictions. China does not have any treaties or other forms of reciprocity with the United States that provide for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. In addition, according to the PRC Civil Procedures Law, the PRC courts will not enforce a foreign judgment against us or our directors and officers if they decide that the judgment violates the basic principles of PRC laws or national sovereignty, security or public interest. As a result, it is uncertain whether and on what basis a PRC court would enforce a judgment rendered by a court in the United States.

You may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through U.S. courts may be limited, because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law.

We are an exempted company limited by shares incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. Our corporate affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from the common law of England, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding, on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a less developed body of securities laws than the United States. Some U.S. states, such as Delaware, have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law than the Cayman Islands. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action in a federal court of the United States.

Shareholders of Cayman Islands exempted companies like us have no general rights under Cayman Islands law to inspect corporate records or to obtain copies of lists of shareholders of these companies. Our directors have discretion under our current memorandum and articles of association to determine whether or not, and under what conditions, our corporate records may be inspected by our shareholders, but are not obliged to make them available to our shareholders. This may make it more difficult for you to obtain the information needed to establish any facts necessary for a shareholder resolution or to solicit proxies from other shareholders in connection with a proxy contest.

As a result of all of the above, our public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a company incorporated in the United States.

It may be difficult for overseas regulators to conduct investigations or collect evidence within China.

Shareholder claims or regulatory investigation that are common in the United States generally are difficult to pursue as a matter of law or practicality in China. For example, in China, there are significant legal and other obstacles to providing information needed for regulatory investigations or litigation initiated outside China. Although the authorities in China may establish a regulatory cooperation mechanism with the securities regulatory authorities of another country or region to implement cross-border supervision and administration, such cooperation with the securities regulatory authorities in the Unities States may not be efficient in the absence of mutual and practical cooperation mechanism. Furthermore, according to Article 177 of the PRC Securities Law, or Article 177, which became effective in March 2020, no overseas securities regulator is allowed to directly conduct investigations or evidence collection activities within the territory of the PRC. While detailed interpretation of or implementation rules under Article 177 have yet to be promulgated, the inability for an overseas securities regulator to directly conduct investigations or evidence collection activities within China may further increase difficulties faced by you in protecting your interests.

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Our memorandum and articles of association contain anti-takeover provisions that could discourage a third party from acquiring us and adversely affect the rights of holders of our ordinary shares and ADSs.

Our memorandum and articles of association contain certain provisions that could limit the ability of others to acquire control of our company, including a provision that grants authority to our board of directors to establish and issue from time to time one or more series of preferred shares without action by our shareholders and to determine, with respect to any series of preferred shares, the terms and rights of that series. These provisions could have the effect of depriving our shareholders and ADSs holders of the opportunity to sell their shares or ADSs at a premium over the prevailing market price by discouraging third parties from seeking to obtain control of our company in a tender offer or similar transactions.

We are a foreign private issuer within the meaning of the rules under the Exchange Act, and as such we are exempt from certain provisions applicable to U.S. domestic public companies.

Because we qualify as a foreign private issuer under the Exchange Act, we are exempt from certain provisions of the securities rules and regulations in the United States that are applicable to U.S. domestic issuers, including:

·                  the rules under the Exchange Act requiring the filing with the SEC of quarterly reports on Form 10-Q or current reports on Form 8-K;

·                  the sections of the Exchange Act regulating the solicitation of proxies, consents, or authorizations in respect of a security registered under the Exchange Act;

·                  the sections of the Exchange Act requiring insiders to file public reports of their stock ownership and trading activities and liability for insiders who profit from trades made in a short period of time; and

·                  the selective disclosure rules by issuers of material nonpublic information under Regulation FD.

We are required to file an annual report on Form 20-F within four months of the end of each fiscal year. In addition, we intend to publish our results on a quarterly basis as press releases, distributed pursuant to the rules and regulations of the NYSE. Press releases relating to financial results and material events will also be furnished to the SEC on Form 6-K. However, the information we are required to file with or furnish to the SEC will be less extensive and less timely compared to that required to be filed with the SEC by U.S. domestic issuers. As a result, you may not be afforded the same protections or information that would be made available to you were you investing in a U.S. domestic issuer.

As a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, we are permitted to adopt certain home country practices in relation to corporate governance matters that differ significantly from the NYSE corporate governance listing standards; these practices may afford less protection to shareholders than they would enjoy if we complied fully with the NYSE corporate governance listing standards.

As a Cayman Islands company listed on the NYSE, we are subject to the NYSE corporate governance listing standards. However, NYSE rules permit a foreign private issuer like us to follow the corporate governance practices of its home country. Certain corporate governance practices in the Cayman Islands, which is our home country, may differ significantly from the NYSE corporate governance listing standards. We rely on the exemption available to foreign private issuers for the requirements in terms of (i) shareholder approval of equity compensation plans and any material revisions to the terms of such plans under Section 303A.08 of the NYSE Listed Company Manual, (ii) shareholder approval of issuance of common stock in any transaction or series of related transactions under Section 312.03 of the NYSE Listed Company Manual, and (iii) the requirement of holding an annual meeting during each fiscal year under Section 302.00 of the NYSE Listed Company Manual. As a result of our election to follow home country practice with respect to the foregoing matters, our shareholders will not have the same protection that they otherwise would enjoy under the NYSE corporate governance listing standards applicable to U.S. domestic issuers. Other than the home country practice disclosed above, we have followed and intend to continue to follow the applicable corporate governance standards under NYSE rules.

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We believe that we were a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, for United States federal income tax purposes for the taxable year ended December 31, 2020, which could subject United States investors in our ADSs or ordinary shares to significant adverse United States income tax consequences.

We will be a “passive foreign investment company,” or “PFIC,” if, in any particular taxable year, either (a) 75% or more of our gross income for such year consists of certain types of “passive” income or (b) 50% or more of the value of our assets (generally determined on the basis of a quarterly average) during such year produce or are held for the production of passive income (the “asset test”). Although the law in this regard is unclear, we intend to treat our variable interest entities as being owned by us for United States federal income tax purposes, not only because we exercise effective control over the operation of these entities but also because we are entitled to substantially all of their economic benefits, and, as a result, we consolidate their results of operations in our consolidated financial statements.  Based on the market price of our ADSs and the composition of our assets (in particular the retention of a substantial amount of cash), we believe that we were a PFIC for United States federal income tax purposes for our taxable year ended December 31, 2020, and we will likely be a PFIC for our current taxable year unless the market price of our ADSs increases and/or we invest a substantial amount of the cash and other passive assets we hold in assets that produce or are held for the production of active income.

If we are a PFIC in any taxable year, a U.S. holder (as defined in “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations”) may incur significantly increased United States income tax on gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of the ADSs or ordinary shares and on the receipt of distributions on the ADSs or ordinary shares to the extent such gain or distribution is treated as an “excess distribution” under the United States federal income tax rules and such holder may be subject to burdensome reporting requirements. Further, if we are a PFIC for any year during which a U.S. holder holds our ADSs or ordinary shares, we generally will continue to be treated as a PFIC for all succeeding years during which such U.S. holder holds our ADSs or ordinary shares. For more information see “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—Passive Foreign Investment Company Considerations.”

We may incur increased costs as a result of being a public company, particularly after we have ceased to qualify as an “emerging growth company.”

As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as rules subsequently implemented by the SEC and the NYSE, impose various requirements on the corporate governance practices of public companies. We expect these rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some corporate activities more time-consuming and costly. As we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” we expect to incur significant expenses and devote substantial management effort toward ensuring compliance with the requirements of Section 404 and the other rules and regulations of the SEC. We also expect that operating as a public company will make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. In addition, we will incur additional costs associated with our public company reporting requirements. It may also be more difficult for us to find qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to these rules and regulations, and we cannot predict or estimate with any degree of certainty the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs.

In the past, shareholders of a public company often brought securities class action suits against the company following periods of instability in the market price of that company’s securities. If we were involved in a class action suit, it could divert a significant amount of our management’s attention and other resources from our business and operations, which could harm our results of operations and require us to incur significant expenses to defend the suit. Any such class action suit, whether or not successful, could harm our reputation and restrict our ability to raise capital in the future. In addition, if a claim is successfully made against us, we may be required to pay significant damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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Item 4.                                 Information on the Company

A.                                    History and Development of the Company

We commenced our online consumer finance marketplace business in March 2012 as a business unit under our parent company, CreditEase, which remains our parent company and controlling shareholder. CreditEase incorporated Yirendai Ltd. in the Cayman Islands to be our holding company in September 2014. We then established a wholly owned subsidiary in Hong Kong, YouRace Digital Holdings HK Limited (formerly known as Yiren Digital Hong Kong Limited or Yirendai Hong Kong Limited), YouRace HK, in October 2014, and YouRace HK further established YouRace Hengchuang Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Yiren Hengye Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd.), or YouRace Hengchuang, our wholly owned subsidiary in China, in January 2015. YouRace HK further established Chongqing Hengyuda Technology Co., Ltd., or Hengyuda, our wholly owned subsidiary in China, in March 2016. YouRace Hengchuang further established Yiren Information Consulting (Beijing) Co., Ltd. or Yiren Information, our wholly owned subsidiary in China, in August 2017. We established a wholly owned subsidiary, Yiren Blue Boyage Limited, or Blue Boyage, in Cayman Islands in May 2019. We acquired, through Blue Boyage, all outstanding shares of China Glory Securities Company Limited (formerly known as Varengold Capital Securities Limited), or China Glory, a limited liability company incorporated in Hong Kong, in January 2020. China Glory is a securities dealer registered with Hong Kong Securities and Future Commission possessing Type 1 and Type 2 License. We established Yiren Green Management Limited, a limited liability company incorporated in Hong Kong, in December 2019, to support the business operation of China Glory. In September 2019, we renamed our company as Yiren Digital Ltd. We have obtained 100% control over Shenzhen Zhongbang Information Consulting Service Co., Ltd. as a result of business realignment with CreditEase. Shenzhen Zhongbang Information Consulting Service Co., Ltd. became a wholly-owned subsidiary of YouRace Hengchuang in December 2019. Yiren Hengsheng Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd. is currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of YouRace Hengchuang, which provides technology and system support to our inter-group companies.

Hengcheng Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or Hengcheng, was established in China in September 2014. We obtained control and became the primary beneficiary of Hengcheng in February 2015 by entering into a series of contractual arrangements with Hengcheng and its shareholders. Hengcheng acquired Dekai Yichuang Asset Management (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., or Dekai Yichuang, in May 2019 from CreditEase as a part of our business realignment with CreditEase. Dekai Yichuang acquired the majority of the equity interest of Hainan Haijin Yichuang Data Information Service Co., Ltd., or Yichuang Data, in May 2019 and Yichuang Data became our wholly owned subsidiary in October 2019. Yichuang Data established two wholly owned subsidiaries, Haijin Yichuang Commercial Factoring (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., to conduct factoring business, in April 2017, and Haijin Yichuang Financial Leasing Co., Ltd., or Yichuang Financial Leasing, to conduct financial leasing business, in March 2017, respectively. Yichuang Data and Yichuang Financial Leasing collectively established Hainan Haijin Yichuang Micro-lending Co., Ltd., holding 50% and 50% equity interests in Hainan Haijin Yichuang Micro-lending Co., Ltd., respectively, to conduct micro-lending business, in May 2017. CreditEase Puhui acquired all the equity interests of Dekai Yichuang in September 2020 from Hengcheng. On December 31, 2020, as a result of a business restructuring, our contractual arrangements with Hengcheng and its shareholders had been terminated and CreditEase had, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, obtained control over Hengcheng.

On December 18, 2015, our ADSs commenced trading on the NYSE under the symbol “YRD.” We raised from our initial public offering approximately US$64.9 million in net proceeds after deducting underwriting commissions and the offering expenses payable by us. Concurrently with our initial public offering, we sold 2,000,000 ordinary shares to Baidu (Hong Kong) Limited, or Baidu Hong Kong, in a private placement, resulting in net proceeds to us of approximately US$9.0 million.

To execute our strategy of offering more value-added services to investors, we established Yiren Wealth Management, in China in October 2016 to mainly conduct our wealth management business, aiming to provide investors with an expanded array of investment options, including fund and insurance products offered by third parties. Pucheng Credit Assessment and Management (Beijing) Co., Ltd., Mr. Ning Tang, Mr. Fanshun Kong and Ms. Yan Tian are the shareholders of Yiren Wealth Management, owning 84.53%, 6.19%, 4.64% and 4.64% of the equity interest in Yiren Wealth Management, respectively, as of the date of this annual report. We obtained control and became the primary beneficiary of Yiren Wealth Management by entering into a series of contractual arrangements with Yiren Wealth Management and its shareholders in October 2016. In December 2019, we acquired 100% shareholding ownership of Harbin Wanbang Funong Agricultural Machinery Service Co., Ltd., or Wanbang Funong, a PRC limited liability company, and expect to use Wanbang Funong to conduct finance related business operation. As of the date of this annual report, Wanbang Funong has not engaged in any business operation.

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In March 2019, we entered into a series of definitive agreements with CreditEase regarding a business realignment between CreditEase and us. In July 2019, we and CreditEase amended the original definitive agreements and closed the business realignment. Pursuant to the business realignment, we assumed from CreditEase and its affiliates certain target businesses, including online wealth management targeting the mass affluent, unsecured and secured consumer lending, financial leasing, SME lending and other related services and businesses. After the business realignment, we continue to receive certain business consulting and other support services from CreditEase. The target businesses have been consolidated into our consolidated financial statements. Concurrently with the execution of foregoing definitive agreements and as a part of the transactions, we obtained control over CreditEase Puhui, and CreditEase Huimin Investment Management (Beijing) Co., Ltd, or Huimin, through a series of contractual arrangements and started to consolidate their financial results since March 2019. In December 2019, after a series of internal re-organization, CreditEase Puhui became our wholly owned subsidiary and Huimin was divested from us after transferring its online consumer lending business to Hengcheng. Subsequently, we sold Huimin to a subsidiary of CreditEase.

We established Tianjin Linyang in China in June 2019. Mr. Yueyue Chen and Ms. Yang Wang, our employees, are the shareholders of Tianjin Linyang, owning 90% and 10% of the equity interest in Tianjin Linyang, respectively, as of the date of this annual report. We obtained control and became the primary beneficiary of Tianjin Linyang by entering into a series of contractual arrangements with Tianjin Linyang and its shareholders in December 2019. In August 2019, Tianjin Linyang established Beijing Yiding Technology Co., Ltd., to conduct our insurance referral business.

On September 30, 2019, with the approval of our shareholders, we changed our name from “Yirendai Ltd.” to “Yiren Digital Ltd.”

We established Beijing Kechuang Xinlian Technology Co., Ltd., or Kechuang Xinlian, in China in November 2019, to operate our business related to Waka, a credit card management app. Yiren Wealth Management is the sole shareholder of Kechuang Xinlian as of the date of this annual report.

We acquired, through Yiren Wealth Management, all outstanding shares of Baijunda Logistics (Wuhan) Co., Ltd., or Baijunda, and Wuhan Linyi Business Consulting Co., Ltd., or Wuhan Linyi, in May 2020. Baijunda and Wuhan Linyi jointly established a subsidiary named Hexiang Insurance in September 2011. Upon the completion of this acquisition, Hexiang Insurance and its wholly owned subsidiary, Hejun Auto Rescue (Wuhan) Co., Ltd, or Hejun, have become our wholly-owned subsidiaries in May 2020, and Hexiang Insurance has been operating our insurance brokerage business since then.

We established Fujian Jiaying Financing Guarantee Co. Ltd. in September 2020 to provide financing guarantee services for our loan facilitation business and Zhenzhi Youpin (Hainan) Technology Trade Co., Ltd. in October 2020 to operate our e-commerce platform.

On December 31, 2020, we consummated another business restructuring with CreditEase to streamline our service lines and reposition us as a comprehensive personal financial service platform. In connection with the business restructuring, we had disposed of and ceased control over the online consumer lending platform targeting individual investors as the funding source. The Disposed Business was operated by Hengcheng, a variable interest entity of our company, and CreditEase had, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, obtained control over Hengcheng and the Disposed Business operated by Hengcheng, and paid the designated subsidiaries of our company an aggregate amount of RMB67.0 million in cash. As a result of the restructuring, the funding source for Yiren Credit will include institutional funding partners only.

We currently conduct our online consumer finance marketplace business in China through two wholly owned subsidiaries, YouRace Hengchuang and Hengyuda, and our two consolidated variable interest entities, Yiren Wealth Management and CreditEase Puhui. CreditEase Puhui operates www.yxpuhui.com and provides referral and other services through its nationwide service network. Yiren Wealth Management operates our wealth management website and mobile application, which serves as an online portal for investment products, including the loan products offered by us as well as other investment products offered by third parties. Yiren Wealth Management is in the process of applying for an ICP License.

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Our principal executive offices are located at 10/F, Building 9, 91 Jianguo Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China. Our telephone number at this address is +86 10 5395-3680.

B.                                    Business Overview

We are a leading comprehensive digital financial management platform in China. Since our inception, we have been operating one of China’s largest digital financial management platforms by leveraging technology to seamlessly deliver wealth management solutions to China’s mass affluent population through our wealth management business as well as credit and financial solutions to individual borrowers and small business owners.

Our strategic business realignment with CreditEase in 2019 enables us to operate our business on a more diverse and scalable mix of service platforms. Our wealth management business specifically targets mass affluent investors and provides them with one-stop asset allocation-based wealth management solutions. We believe we are well positioned to capture the significant synergy opportunities presented by this business realignment and deliver long-term operating performance and improvements through our increased scale.

Before our strategic business realignment with CreditEase, (i) Yiren Credit was a pure online peer-to-peer lending platform offering unsecured consumer loan products only and primarily focused on attracting and serving borrowers and investors through online channels, and (ii) the wealth management platform we acquired from CreditEase as part of the business realignment primarily focused on offering fixed-income loan products and had extensive offline user acquisition and service network.

After our strategic business realignment with CreditEase, (i) by integrating the credit business we acquired from CreditEase, Yiren Credit has been transforming to a platform that offers a comprehensive suite of credit products and services, including unsecured and secured consumer lending, financial leasing, SME lending and other related services and businesses; (ii) by integrating the online wealth management platform we acquired from CreditEase, Yiren Wealth is being developed as an omni-channel one-stop financial advisory platform targeting the mass affluent and offering a wide spectrum of wealth management products and services; and (iii) by integrating CreditEase’s nationwide service network we acquired as part of the business realignment, we are equipped with both online and offline borrower acquisition capabilities and extensive online and offline network and multi-channel asset sourcing capabilities, helping the user acquisition for both our platforms.

When assessing and structuring the business realignment, our management believed that the business realignment would provide for a deeper level of customer engagement and significant meaningful opportunities for revenue generation and operational synergies for both our Yiren Credit and Yiren Wealth platforms. First, both platforms are expected to bring enhanced revenue realization from the existing client base, as we believe that Yiren Credit’s mass affluent investors will be attracted by the breadth of Yiren Wealth’s asset management products and services and, likewise, Yiren Wealth’s investors will be attracted by Yiren Credit’s credit products and services. As a result of our strategic business realignment with CreditEase, we have seen an increase in commissions associated with our clients’ purchase of third-party financial products on our platforms. Second, the business realignment further diversifies the operating risk profile of our overall business compared with standalone businesses. Third, the integration of Yiren Credit and Yiren Wealth platforms is expected to bring operational synergies, including (i) a reduction in duplicative executive and administrative headcount and their related expenses, (ii) a reduction in facilities expense due to corporate and other office consolidations, (iii) a reduction in aggregate marketing costs due to deeper relationships with more customers, (iv) integration of complementary technologies and processes, (v) expanded workforce with greater know-how and greater experience, and (vi) the standardization and integration of information technology and accounting functions. Fourth, we are taking a disciplined and thoughtful approach to the integration of the two platforms, a process managed by a dedicated and experienced integration team.

We provide wealth management services to China’s affluent and high-net-worth individuals as well as business owners. Our wealth management business connects investors with over 4,000 financial products from over 60 financial institutions and over 150 insurance companies. We use proprietary robo-advisors and financial advisors to provide asset allocation services that match customer risk appetite, risk preference and financial objectives with a portfolio of investment options. Our Yiren Wealth platform specifically targets the mass affluent population in China, who are looking for tailored investment solutions with low entry barriers. Our platform automates and integrates key aspects of our wealth management business, including KYC, investor education, asset allocation planning, portfolio review and rebalancing and cross-sale and up-sale, and offers analytic tools and data to facilitate investor decision making. Products offered on Yiren Wealth’s platform include short-term cash management and mutual fund investment products. Hexiang Insurance is our one-stop insurance solution provider that offers individual and corporate clients life insurance products and property insurance products. China Glory is our digitalized brokerage platform that launched in December 2020 as a pilot program and offers offshore securities and stock products to China’s mass affluent and high-net-worth population. Through our rigorous product selection and risk management processes, we have established long-term relationships with top tier fund managers, insurance brokers and asset managers of licensed financial institutions. We currently conduct our business operations only in China, and we do not facilitate investments by investors located in the United States.

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We provide retail credit facilitation services to high-quality borrowers in China. Our credit business automates key aspects of our retail credit facilitation business and enables us to provide an effective solution to address largely underserved borrower demand in China. Borrowers can access loans products through a fast and easy-to-use online interface or through our nationwide service network. Our credit-tech platform enables more efficient credit decisioning, pricing, servicing and support operations. We provide a diversified portfolio of loan products, including both unsecured and secured loans. As of December 31, 2020, we had served approximately 5.2 million borrowers and approximately 2.3 million individual investors. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, we facilitated RMB63,329.1 million, RMB39,103.0 million and RMB11,651.5 million (US$1,785.7 million) in loans. Funds provided to our borrowers are sourced from institutional funding partners primarily including banks, trusts, and microloan and financial leasing companies. We have ceased accepting new funding from individual investors on our online lending information intermediary platform since September 2020.

Before the transfer of the Disposed Business, we recommended the consumer loan products offered on Yiren Credit to individual investors on Yiren Wealth and matched the risk profile of the borrowers and the associated consumer loan products on Yiren Credit with the investment needs of the individual investors on Yiren Wealth. We charged borrowers transaction fees for the work we performed in connecting borrowers with investors and for facilitating loan transactions and charged investors management fees for using the automated investing tool and the self-directed investing tool.

We maintain robust risk management for our wealth management and credit businesses. We believe we have developed an industry leading risk management system using our proprietary credit decisioning and fraud detection modules. We accumulate data from our expanding borrower base to continually enhance the sophistication and reliability of our risk management system. Our proprietary risk management system enables us to assess the creditworthiness of borrowers more effectively in a market where reliable credit scores and borrower databases are still at an early stage of development. This system also enables us to appropriately price the risks associated with borrowers and offer quality loan investment opportunities to our institutional funding partners. In addition, we have put in place a comprehensive product selection and risk management system in connection with our wealth management business. Our wealth management product development team focuses on meeting the evolving demands of clients by balancing the investment return, investment risk, and liquidity of the products we offer. Each product offered to our wealth management clients has gone through a strictly implemented product screening procedure, including product screening, product evaluation and risk control.

For our wealth management business, we generate revenues primarily from financial products and services we offer to our clients in two ways: (i) commissions paid by clients or product providers when clients purchase financial products offered by us, and (ii) recurring service fees paid by our product providers and clients. We do not bear any loss from our clients’ investments nor do we provide guarantees of return with respect to the products we distribute. For our credit business, we used to charge borrowers transaction fees for services provided through our platform in facilitating loan transactions.

On December 31, 2020, we consummated another business restructuring with CreditEase to streamline our service lines and reposition us as a comprehensive personal financial service platform. In connection with the business restructuring, we had disposed of and ceased control over the online consumer lending platform targeting individual investors as the funding source. The Disposed Business was operated by Hengcheng, a variable interest entity of our company, and CreditEase had, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, obtained control over Hengcheng and the Disposed Business operated by Hengcheng, and paid the designated subsidiaries of our company an aggregate amount of RMB67.0 million in cash. As a result of the restructuring in December 2020, the funding source for our credit business will be from institutional funding partners only, and we charge services fees from institutional funding partners for technology-enabled borrower acquisition and facilitation services provided to them.

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Our total net revenue (reflecting the Acquired Businesses and the Disposed Business) decreased from RMB11,244.1 million in 2018 to RMB8,616.8 million in 2019, and then further decreased to RMB3,962.0 million (US$607.2 million) in 2020. Our net income (reflecting the Acquired Businesses and the Disposed Business) decreased from RMB1,579.8 million in 2018 to RMB1,155.6 million in 2019, and then further decreased to a net loss of RMB692.7 million (US$106.2 million) in 2020.

Wealth Management Solutions

Leveraging the large investor base on our Yiren Wealth platform, we aim to serve the significant unmet need of mass affluent and high-net-worth investors by using our proprietary robo-advisors and financial advisors to provide asset allocation services that match customer risk appetite, risk preference and financial objectives with a portfolio of investment options.

As of December 31, 2020, the total AUA and the average AUA per investor on our Yiren Wealth platform were RMB23,227.4 million (US$3,559.8 million) and RMB151,575.6 (US$23,230.0), respectively.

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As of December 31, 2020, the AUA of fixed income products was nil as we had disposed of and ceased control over the Disposed Business. In 2020, revenue associated with fixed income products accounted for 64.4% of the total revenue generated by our wealth management business and 100.0% of the fixed income product-associated revenue related to consumer loans. We have ceased offering fixed income loan products since September 2020. Other products we offered on Yiren Wealth platform primarily included short-term cash management and mutual fund investment products.

Investors

We accept investments from investors of all income levels. For Yiren Wealth platform, we focus our efforts on attracting mass affluent investors. This large and rapidly growing sector of the Chinese population is currently underserved by traditional investment products in China. We seek to attract mass affluent investors because members of this demographic group are a significant untapped source of capital. We use our China Glory brokerage platform to provide professional, customized and convenient global financial investment services to mass affluent and high-net-worth individuals. We use Hexiang Insurance to offer individual and corporate clients life insurance products and property insurance products.

Investor Profile and Base

Based on the information disclosed to us, as of December 31, 2020, our historical investor profile was 50.8% male and 49.2% female, while 61.6% were 40 years of age or less.

In 2020, 218,565 individual investors invested a total of RMB24.3 billion (US$3.7 billion) through Yiren Wealth.

Investor Acquisition

We acquire investors through online direct marketing, CreditEase ecosystem, member referral, channel partnership and our direct sales team. Our investor acquisition efforts are primarily directed towards enhancing our brand name, building investor trust, and word-of-mouth marketing.

The following table provides the number of investors and new investors who made at least one investment during each quarter presented:

While we observed fluctuation in the number of new investors in historical periods, the average investment amount of new investors increased continuously. This mainly resulted from our strategy to focus more on acquiring quality investors who are more willing to increase their investment amounts or reinvest on our platform. In 2020, 53.1% of our cumulative investors have made more than one investment on our platform.

As of December 31, 2020, the total AUA and the average AUA per investor on our Yiren Wealth platform were RMB23,227.4 million (US$3,559.8 million) and RMB151,575.6 (US$23,230.0), respectively. As of December 31, 2020, approximately 49.4% of the investors on our platforms only funded loans, 40.5% of the investors invested in products other than loans and 10.1% of the investors invested in both loans and products other than loans.

Products Offered to Investors

Our wealth management business primarily distributes short-term cash management products, mutual fund investment products, insurance products and securities and stock products. We have ceased offering new fixed income loan products since September 2020. Using our proprietary robo-advisors and remote financial advisors, we provide our investors with asset allocation solutions that matches customer risk appetite, risk preference and financial objectives with a portfolio of investment options. Through our rigorous product selection and risk management processes, we have established long-term relationships with top tier fund managers, insurance brokers and asset managers of licensed financial institutions. In 2020, we had 60 fixed income products, 810 mutual fund products and 296 insurance products sourced from more than 140 product providers.

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Services Offered to Investors

In addition to the financial products we provide to our customers, we develop and provide tailored value-added financial and related services to better serve their needs. Historically, we offered automated investing tool, self-directed investing tool and a secondary loan market for investors to invest in our fixed-income loan products, though we have ceased to provide these products and services since September 2020.

Investor Education. We offer investor education services online, which cover a wide range of investment and trading topics and offer various types of training programs for the mass affluent investors and their families, including wealth planning, market insights and investment strategies. These programs are offered to investors for free and aim at enhancing investor engagement on our platform. We believe investor education is an important tool for building our business as it increases the financial sophistication of our customers and enables us to broaden our relationships with them, all of which enhance their loyalty and willingness to invest with us.

Asset Allocation Calculator. Our asset allocation calculator recommends our investors asset allocation plans across different asset classes based on each investor’s investment objectives, investment time horizon, risk capacity and risk tolerance.

Fund Picks by Yiren Wealth. All mutual fund products offered on our Yiren Wealth platform are screened through a strict selection and evaluation process. Investors can choose to invest through a fixed monthly investment plan or through setting an investment return target. The minimum threshold for investing through our mutual funds investing tool is RMB1.0.

Insurance Planner. Our insurance planning tool provides one-on-one customized insurance planning services to investors, including risk management consulting and product selection. Our insurance planning services include providing general consultation and tailored insurance plans, product recommendations and claims assistance.

Commission and Service Fees

We generate revenues primarily from financial products and services we offer to our clients in two ways: (i) commissions paid by clients or product providers when clients purchase financial products offered by us, and (ii) recurring service fees paid by our product providers and clients.

Recurring services fees were mainly monthly account management fee charged for using our automated investing tool and self-directed investing tool when investing in our legacy fixed income loan products. The monthly account management fee for using the automated investing tool was the price difference between the interest rates of the underlying loans which range from 10.0% and 12.0%, and the targeted return offered to investors which is up to 12.0%. The monthly management fee for using the self-directed investing tool is equal to 10.0% of the interest that investors receive, which ranges from 10.0% to 12.0%. As we have disposed of and ceased control over the Disposed Business, there has been no revenue from account management services since January 2021. We also charge service fees from the product providers based on the AUA of short-term cash management products and mutual fund investment products invested through our marketplace.

We do not bear any loss from our clients’ investments nor do we provide guarantees of return with respect to the products we distribute.

Transaction Process

Our wealth management product development team focuses on meeting the evolving demands of customers by balancing the investment return, investment risk, and liquidity of the products we offer. Each product offered to our wealth management customers has gone through a strictly implemented product screening procedure.

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Our product selection process involves three key stages: product screening, product evaluation and risk control. In-house experts and professionals, including high-level management team members from our legal department, risk control department, compliance department and product department will gather periodically to carefully screen and evaluate each product we distribute.

In the product screening stage, our professionals will review our internal due diligence findings to determine whether the product may be suitable for distribution to our clients. A prospective product needs to be approved by at least a majority of the members before passed to the next stage for screening. In the product evaluation stage, our professionals will analyze in more depth the legal structure, financial statistics and other aspects of the product and evaluate the potential returns to our clients and the risks of the investment. In the risk control stage, our core management team participates in the meetings to fully evaluate the risk of the product and determine whether appropriate risk management is in place for the distribution of the product. After approved by the risk control meeting, the product will be reviewed by our in-house risk analysts before officially launched.

We have also established a complete risk management system for our daily operations. On the product supplier side, we have policies and procedures regarding, among other things, periodically-reviewed product ratings, anti-bribery control, as well as post investment monitor and alert system. On the customer side, we have strict Know-Your-Client (“KYC”) process and internal procedures for client risk evaluation, investor education policies to raise investors’ risk awareness and give them risk warnings for every product purchased by clients, and regular information disclosure to clients throughout the life cycle of products.

We had adopted extensive guidelines regarding reinvestment of investors’ funds, pursuant to which our automated investing tool automatically reinvested investors’ funds as soon as a loan was repaid, unless the investors specifically opt out of the reinvestment to receive cash. We only raised additional funds from investors after the existing funds under our management had been fully reinvested in available loans. During the three years ended December 31, 2020, there had always been sufficient supply of borrower loans to satisfy the investors’ reinvestment options. If no borrower loans were available to reinvest the investors’ funds, the funds would remain in the investors’ accounts until a borrower loan became available. We were aware of the risk associated with lack of available borrower loans, the occurrence of which might cause the investors to view investing on our platform not being economically advantageous and request a redemption or withdrawal of their funds. As we have disposed of and ceased control over the Disposed Business in December 2020, there has been no loans facilitated to individual investors since then.

Retail Credit Solution

Our retail credit solution embraces the significant opportunities presented by a financial system that leaves many creditworthy individuals and small business owners underserved or even unserved. Our business model is empowered by our technology-driven, user-centric systems and our nationwide service networks. We provide borrowers with fast and convenient access to credit products at competitive rates.

Borrowers

We target prime individual borrowers, including credit card holders with stable credit performance or secured assets, and small business owners with business operations for more than six months and the ability to generate recurring revenues.

Borrower Profile and Base. Based on the information disclosed to us, as of December 31, 2020, our historical borrower profile was 70.2% male and 29.8% female, while 46.1% were 35 years of age or less. In 2020, we facilitated loans to 525,320 borrowers through our platform. The total loan originations in 2020 were RMB11,651.5 million (US$1,785.7 million).

Borrower Acquisition. We attract borrowers through both online and offline channels. Our online borrower acquisition efforts are supported by our big data capabilities and are primarily directed toward search engine marketing, search engine optimization, mobile application downloads through major application stores, partnering with online channels through application programming interfaces, as well as various marketing campaigns. For borrower acquisition through offline channels, we rely on our nationwide service network across over 267 locations in China. Prospective borrowers of our online credit products can also consult with our offline service teams while the customer acquisition process remains online.

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The following table provides a breakdown of the number of borrowers on our platform by channel:

(1)         The number of borrowers for a specified period represents the number of borrowers whose loans were funded during such period. We do not permit borrowers to hold more than one loan that has been facilitated through our platform at a time. A borrower who obtains loans through our platform from both online and offline channels during a period is counted as a borrower acquired from online channels for the purpose of the table above.

The following table provides a breakdown of our loan volume on our platform by channel: