The influence of the largest private shareholder on bank loans: Evidence from China

We point out that the largest private shareholders can use their information advantage of the industry to influence banks’ industry lending behavior. Using a sample of Chinese city commercial banks, we find that increasing of ownership stake of the largest private shareholders leads banks to lend more to their industries. Interestingly, the largest state-owned shareholders do not have this effect. More importantly, we confirmed the channel of the information advantage by analyzing the bank’s industry NPL ratio and the listed company’s maximum loan amount in the bank. Of course, the effect of the largest private shareholders is achieved by intervening in board decisions. In addition, the ownership structure can influence this effect.