Lufax, one of China’s largest online lenders, has put its flotation on ice until it receives clarity on a new licensing regime expected to be imposed by Chinese authorities, according to people briefed on the plan, as regulators clamp down on the nascent sector.

The latest delay of the listing previously projected to raise up to $5bn shows China’s online lenders — a hot investor theme of 2017 — remain under a cloud as Beijing scrutinises groups’ credit controls and reports of high-interest lending.

Lufax, which is part of Ping An, one of the world’s biggest insurers by market value, had been aiming to file for an initial public offering in Hong Kong earlier this year, according to bankers briefed on the process. The latest postponement follows an attempted listing in 2017 that was likewise thwarted by Beijing’s probes into online lenders.