Le Holdings Co. Ltd., also known as LeEco, may set up a privately owned online bank in Shanxi province, China, after a host of other such banks obtained approval from the banking regulator, Tencent Finance reported Dec. 13, citing industry sources.
LeEco's business spans video streaming to electric cars. At a public conference earlier this month Jia Yueting, founder of the company, received supportive signals from a top provincial government official regarding the establishment of an online bank.
Wang Yongli, CEO of the company's financial services platform, also discussed setting up a privately run bank in Shanxi in a meeting with the government official in October.
The company, however, is understood to have not yet filed a formal application.
As of December 2016, the China Banking Regulatory Commission has approved the establishment of 11 privately run banks. Six of the approved banks have already received the green light to start operations.