Ant Group Co., the financial technology giant controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, will apply to become a financial holding company overseen by the central bank, which will review its business to adapt to a new era of stricter regulation for internet companies.
In a statement, the People’s Bank of China said representatives of the ant were summoned Monday after a meeting with four regulatory agencies, which also includes the country’s overseers of banking, securities and foreign exchange. It is said that a “comprehensive, viable redress plan” for Ant has been formulated over the past few months under the supervision of the regulators.
That directive follows an intense assault on Mr. Mom’s business empire that began suspending the company’s initial public offering in November. Ant was on course to sell more than $ 34 billion worth of shares and list them on stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai, when Beijing withdrew the deal after Mr. Mother criticized legal advice in a public speech on financial regulators.
In January, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ant intended to fully comply with China’s financial regulations by transforming itself into a financial holding company, a relatively new name for companies with significant financial assets.
Ant, which owns the ubiquitous mobile payment and lifestyle app Alipay, will rectify what regulators call unfair competition in its payment industry and improve its corporate governance. The Hangzhou company will have to reduce the liquidity risks of its investment products and reduce the assets under management of Yu’e Bao, its giant money market mutual fund. Ant will also be expected to break an ‘information monopoly’ over the extensive and detailed consumer data he has collected, the central bank said.