A firm with ties to the Chinese industrial conglomerate Wanxiang Group is set to become the first privately-owned company to obtain a license to operate a financial holding company in China, reports Caixin. The successful application would move them ahead of fintech giants such as Tencent and Ant Financial.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said it is processing China Wanxiang Holding’s application in accordance with rules that took effect in November 2020. The submission was accepted on January 29, the PBOC said in a notice published on its website on January 30.
The new regulations were released by the State Council and the PBOC as part of efforts to step up oversight of non-financial conglomerates that had expanded into the finance industry after a string of corporate scandals exposed the risks they posed to the financial system. The growing dominance of technology groups such as Ant Group and Tencent in the booming online financial services industry also underscored the need to subject them to the same level of scrutiny and regulation as traditional banks and insurance companies.
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