{"id":142696,"date":"2020-12-28T12:14:02","date_gmt":"2020-12-28T09:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/china-orders-ant-group-to-return-to-online-payment-roots\/"},"modified":"2020-12-28T12:14:02","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T09:14:02","slug":"china-orders-ant-group-to-return-to-online-payment-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/china-orders-ant-group-to-return-to-online-payment-roots\/","title":{"rendered":"#China orders Ant Group to return to online payment roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#China orders Ant Group to return to online payment roots<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\n Ant Group’s massive IPO was halted at the last minute by Chinese authorities
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Chinese fintech giant Ant Group has been ordered by regulators to drastically change its business model and return to its roots as a payment services provider, as the state squeeze continues on the once unbridled empire of tech tycoon Jack Ma.<\/p>\n

China’s central bank summoned Ant executives over the weekend and demanded the company “strictly rectify” its lending, insurance and wealth management services, according to a statement released on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The edict comes just weeks after Ant Group’s record-breaking IPO was halted at the last minute by Beijing, which has been ruthless in its takedown of a company once vaunted as the poster child for Chinese technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last Thursday regulators also launched an anti-monopoly investigation into Alibaba\u2014of which Ant Group is a subsidiary\u2014sending the share price of the e-commerce giant tumbling and intensifying the troubles of its billionaire founder Ma. <\/p>\n

Alibaba’s dropped nearly nine percent in Monday trading in Hong Kong, as investors grow increasingly nervous over a company in the teeth of Beijing’s regulators.<\/p>\n

Ant Group made its name via its main product Alipay, the online payments platform and super-app<\/a> that is now deeply embedded in China’s economy.<\/p>\n

But the company also expanded into offering loans, credit, investments and insurance to hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses, spurring fear and jealously in a wider banking system geared more for supporting state policy and large corporations.<\/p>\n

Xinhua news<\/a> agency reported Ant Group is now “strictly prohibited from unfair competition” and is urged to redress its “illegal” financial activities.<\/p>\n

The online payment titan’s problems include alleged flaws in corporate governance, poor legal awareness and a lack of regulatory compliance, while it stands accused of “leveraging market dominance to exclude competitors”.<\/p>\n

Its reach into the daily spend of Chinese has also caused anxiety over the potential for personal debt to turn sour and poison the wider economy.<\/p>\n

As global demand for the dual Hong Kong-Shanghai listing pushed the IPO toward record valuations\u2014potentially handing Ma and Ant Group even more funding, legitimacy and clout\u2014Chinese regulators acted.<\/p>\n

The outspoken and charismatic Ma\u2014a former teacher\u2014had previously lashed out at China’s outdated financial system, calling state-owned banks “pawn shops” in an October speech that led to him being summoned for regulatory talks shortly before Ant’s IPO was suspended.<\/p>\n

He has edged away from the limelight since the IPO collapsed.\n <\/p>\n\n

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China begins anti-monopoly probe into tech giant Alibaba\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2020 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n China orders Ant Group to return to online payment roots (2020, December 28)
\n retrieved 28 December 2020
\n from https:\/\/techxplore.com\/news\/2020-12-china-ant-group-online-payment.html<\/p>\n

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