According to the Complaint, PPDAI Group Inc. is an online P2P consumer finance company in China and the first online consumer finance marketplace in China connecting borrowers and investors whose needs are unserved or underserved by traditional financial institutions.

The Complaint alleges that Defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) PPDAI was engaged in predatory lending practices that saddled subprime borrowers and those with poor or limited credit histories with high interest rate debt they could not repay; (2) many of PPDAI’s customers were using PPDAI-provided loans to repay existing loans they otherwise could not afford to repay, thereby inflating PPDAI’s revenues and active borrower numbers and increasing the likelihood of defaults; (3) PPDAI was experiencing increasing delinquency rates, negatively affecting PPDAI’s reserves; (4) PPDAI’s purported “rapid growth” in the number and amount of loans had materially dropped off; (5) PPDAI was providing online loans to college students despite a government ban on the practice; (6) PPDAI was engaged in overly aggressive and improper collection practices; and (7) as a result of its improper lending, underwriting, and collection practices, PPDAI was subject to heightened risk of adverse actions by Chinese regulators.

Plaintiff filed an amended Complaint on January 8, 2019. On February 21, 2019, the Court ordered the cases to be consolidated under Docket 18-CV-06716 and appointed Lead Plaintiff and Counsel. Lead Plaintiff filed a second amended Complaint on April 22.

On January 17, 2020, the Defendants filed a joint motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.

On December 9, 2020, the parties notified the Court that they had reached a Settlement in principle.

On March 26, 2021, the Court issued an Order granting Defendants' request to terminate the pending motion to dismiss with leave to renew the motion if parties' contemplated settlement does not receive final approval.

On June 11, 2021, the parties entered into a Stipulation of Settlement. The Court granted preliminary approval of the Settlement on August 13. On January 21, 2022, the Court issued an Order awarding attorneys' fees and expenses, and also granted awards to plaintiffs. On the same date, the Court granted final approval of the Settlement and entered Final Judgment. The Clerk of Court was directed to close this case.

On August 16, 2022, the Court issued an Order granting distribution of the Settlement fund.