Chinese regulators are considering requiring tech giant Tencent to include digital wallet service WeChat Pay in a newly created financial holding company, Bloomberg reported Friday, as part of an overhaul that could require a new license for the mobile payments service.
China is now weighing whether WeChat Pay should be included in that holding company and operate separately from the main social media arm, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The news comes after The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Tencent was facing a potential fine of at least hundreds of millions of yuan for violating some central bank regulations on its WeChat Pay mobile network. Tencent has yet to comment on the matter.
Reuters had reported earlier this week citing sources that Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent were preparing to cut tens of thousands of jobs combined this year in one of their biggest layoff rounds as the internet firms try to cope with China's sweeping regulatory crackdown.
China recently launched a three-year campaign led by its central bank and Ministry of Public Security, to fight money laundering.
