BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s central bank on Sunday urged Ant Group to draft a concrete plan as soon as possible to meet regulatory demands and fully understand the seriousness of the “rectification” work it has to do.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) also urged Ant to rectify illegal financial activities, including credit, insurance and wealth management businesses, and regulate its credit rating business to protect personal information, he said. Vice Governor Pan Gongsheng a day after meeting with representatives of the fintech group.
Chinese regulators abruptly suspended the initial $ 37 billion public offering planned by Ant, which had been on track to become the largest in the world, just two days before its shares began trading in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Ant did not immediately respond to a request for email feedback.
On Thursday, authorities said they had launched an antitrust investigation into Alibaba Group and would convene Ant in the coming days, the last blow for e-commerce and Jack Ma’s fintech empire.
The PBOC’s demands also include that Ant be more transparent about its third-party payment transactions and not engage in unfair competition, and that its set-up of financial corporations comply with the law to ensure capital adequacy, Pan said.
China’s annual Central Economic Work Conference, a meeting of leaders and policymakers to chart the course of the economy in 2021, promised this month to bolster antitrust efforts and curb “disorderly capital expansion.”
Pan said Ant must intensify its risk management and maintain the continuity of its services and the normal operations of its business.
During the meeting, regulators pointed to Ant’s issues, including its poor corporate governance, challenge to regulatory requirements, arbitrary illegal regulation, use of its market advantage to eliminate competitors, and harm to interests. consumer legal, he said.
Reports from Stella Qiu, Cheng Leng, Yilei Sun and Ryan Woo; Edited by William Mallard