Alibaba Applies to Establish Commercial Bank
Xinhuanet, 9/25/10
Alibaba Commercial Bank of Zhejiang Province, which has received investment from Alibaba Group, has reportedly passed the inspections of the People's Bank of China (PBC), China's central bank, and the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), and will soon receive official notification to this end.
In response, a spokesperson at the Zhejiang Province Banking Regulatory Bureau stated that although both Zhejiang Province and the city of Hangzhou welcomed the news, the final right of approval belonged to the PBC and the CBRC, and as of yet, they had not received an official response to their application to open the bank. "Their approach has been to say that investing in a new bank is no simple matter, and will require approval from the State Council. Since Alibaba is located in Hangzhou, the city government hopes it can help to speed the process, but for the time being the official process of examination and approval is still underway. The application is still being researched and deliberated."
Sources at Alibaba group state that its small loan services have already received approval from the central bank and the CBRC, but this was unrelated to the establishment of the commercial bank.
Editor's Note: The Alibaba Commercial Bank is a joint enterprise of Alibaba Group and the Provincial Government of Zhejiang, with additional venture capital supplied by Softbank Corp. and CDH Investments. The Chairman of the Board, Jack Ma, previously served as the CEO of China Merchants Bank's Credit Card Center, and Zhong Jiwei will serve as CEO. Alibaba Group will release an official statement on this matter in the next few days.
Keywords: Alibaba Commercial Bank Jack Ma Internet Softbank CDH Investments Zhong Jiwei Alibaba Group e-commerce B2B VC
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