A major Chinese shadow bank has filed for bankruptcy on the grounds it was unable to pay its debts.
A Beijing court accepted the application from Zhongzhi Enterprise Group which has lent billions to real estate firms.
Chinese officials launched an investigation into suspected crimes against the firm in November.
It followed reports that ZEG had declared it was insolvent.
A Beijing court published a statement on the social media network WeChat saying that ZEG's "assets are insufficient to pay off all debts, and it cannot repay in full.
Unregulated shadow banking is not subject to the same kinds of risk, liquidity and capital restrictions as traditional banks.