Strength-to-strength: Alibaba finance arm gets approval for private bank

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s finance arm has been given government approval to set up a private bank, China’s banking regulator said on Monday, the latest step in the e-commerce company’s push into the financial services sector. Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group, an Alibaba affiliate that contains the company’s Alipay payment processing and financial services arm, will hold 30 percent of the bank, the regulator said. Other partners will hold the remainder. Shanghai JuneYao Group Co Ltd, the parent of Juneyao Airlines, also received regulatory approval to set up its own bank, and will own a 30 percent stake, according to the regulator. The approvals herald China’s latest batch of new private banks, part of a pilot program launched earlier this year and the first tentative step by the country to open its closely guarded banking sector to private investors.

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