World News – AU – China’s central bank urges Ant Group to swiftly put in place a plan to correct it

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s central bank on Sunday urged Ant Group to work out a concrete plan as soon as possible to meet regulatory requirements Understand the seriousness of the « corrective work » that needs to be done , Completely.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) also urged Ant to rectify illegal financial activities, including its lending, insurance and asset management businesses, and regulate its rating business to protect personal data, Vice Governor Pan Gongsheng said meeting with officials a day later the fintech group.

Chinese regulators last month abruptly suspended Ant’s planned $ 37 billion initial public offering, slated to be the largest in the world, just two days before it began trading its shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

On Thursday authorities said they had opened an antitrust investigation into parent company Alibaba Group and would summon Ant in the coming days, the latest blow to Jack Ma’s e-commerce and fintech empire.

The PBOC is also demanding that Ant be more transparent about its payment transactions with third parties and not engage in unfair competition, and that the formation of financial holding companies complies with the law to ensure capital adequacy, Pan said.

China’s annual Central Economic Workers Conference, a gathering of top leaders and policymakers to set the course for the economy in 2021, promised this month to step up anti-monopoly efforts and curb « disorderly capital growth. ». ”

Pan said Ant needs to strengthen its risk management and maintain the continuity of its services and normal business operations.

During the meeting, regulators highlighted Ant’s problems, including poor corporate governance, disregard for regulatory requirements, arbitrarily regulating illegal rules, using its market advantage to knock out competitors, and violating consumers’ legal interests.

All offers were delayed by at least 15 minutes. A full list of exchanges and delays can be found here.

Alibaba Group, China, Jack Ma