Foreign news: Citi fined over cards, China hits P2P lenders, BRICS bank opens, and more 23 July 2015 4:04PM Banking Day staff Foreign news, The United States Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has ordered Citigroup to pay a US$70 million fine and US$700 million in compensation for mis-selling credit cards. Bloomberg reports that Citi and its contracted telemarketers used deception to induce customers to sign up for products with high fees and additional fees for services they did not need. About seven million Citi customers were affected by the illegal sales tactics, which included promising a "free trial period" but actually charging during the period, charging for services that it did not deliver (such as credit bureau monitoring) and signing up customers who had only agreed to receive product literature. The People's Bank of China is cracking down on fraud and malpractice in the country's P2P lending market, AltFi News reports. One source said up to 80 per cent of China's 2000-plus P2P lenders could be shut down if they did not reform their practices. Up until recently the central bank's policy has been to encourage innovation, especially if directed at providing finance to small business, but now the emphasis is on risk control. Reforms include better disclosure, strengthened consumer protection and a requirement that customer funds must be held in third-party accounts. The New Development Bank of BRICS was launched in Shanghai earlier this week, two weeks after fine details were discussed in the Russian city of Ufa, and three years after the idea was first raised. The NDB or "Brics Bank" will lend money to developing countries to help finance infrastructure projects. The NDB has initial capital of US$50 billion with plans to raise that to US$100 billion over time. Citing India's Minister of State for Finance, Jayant Sinha, the online Business Standard reports that non-performing loans among the country's public sector banks reached Rs 2.67 trillion (A$56.7 billion) at the end of March 2015, up from Rs 2.40 ltrillion a year ago. Further steps taken by the government and Reserve Bank of India for "containment" of the banks' doubtful loans include plans to establish six new Debt Recovery Tribunals and the creation of a Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (Rs 50 million - or A$1.06 million - or more) by the RBI. There are 44 corporate loans of this size outstanding.