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The Appointment

Alan Refkin, Author

  Now in Print – The Appointment: A Mauro Bruno Detective Series Thriller   When I come up with a title, it’s usually descriptive of what the reader is about to encounter. The Appointment is no exception—but in more ways than you might expect. This isn’t a story about an appointment someone keeps or misses. That would be far too simple for one of my novels.   The title carries several meanings, and they run deeper than the surface suggests. Most literally, characters throughout the book keep appointments they never chose—a recurring irony that runs the length of the story. On … Continue reading The Appointment

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Peer-to-Peer Lending in China

Alan Refkin, Author

In performing our due diligence of smaller companies, we sometimes run across peer-to-peer lending (P2P lending). It’s a concept that wasn’t prevalent when we started in China in 2003, but it’s since become a significant source of financing for small companies who can’t obtain bank loans as banks tightened their credit policies and focused their lending efforts on larger companies and state-owned enterprises. Peer-to-peer lending is a fast growing financial segment that first began in China in 2006. In P2P lending an intermediary, or microfinance company, connects lenders and borrowers for a fee, ranging from 1% to 4%. Lenders, seeking … Continue reading Peer-to-Peer Lending in China