BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s financial regulators 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 central bank, banking, securities and currency regulators urged Ant to rectify illegal financial activities, including its credit, insurance and wealth management businesses, and regulate its credit rating business to protect the personal information, the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Pan Gongsheng said a day after meeting with representatives of the fintech group.
Ant said in a statement that it would establish a “rectification” working group and fully implement the regulatory requirements.
The state-backed Daily Mail said in a comment that Ant should serve the needs and economic development of the people, assuming effective corporate social responsibility.
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.
On Thursday, authorities said they had launched an antitrust investigation into the Alibaba group, father, and that they would summon Ant, the latest hit for e-commerce and the fintech empire of billionaire Jack Ma.
The new demands of the PBOC, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the State Foreign Exchange Administration also include making Ant more transparent about its third-party payment transactions and not make unfair competition and that their financial setup holding companies 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