Jakarta –
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision to stop the planned initial public offering (IPO) of financial technology company Ant Group was taken two days before the initial listing of shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange and the Shanghai stock exchange. The presidential decree was also announced days after financial tech (fintech) billionaire Jack Ma criticized state bank and financial watchdogs.
President Xi ordered Chinese regulators to launch an investigation and effectively halt the Ant Group bidding for shares. The latest chaos is the accumulation of tensions over the years with the government being wary of the penetration of Ant group’s digital payment services.
Last year Ant recorded a larger number of transactions than global player, Mastercard.
Until now, Ant Group has not yet responded to a Reuters request for an interview. The State Council Information Office, China’s cabinet could not immediately be reached for comment on this matter.
At a summit in Shanghai on October 24, Ma said the regulatory system stifles innovation and must be reformed immediately to boost economic growth.
Shortly after Ma’s speech broke, state regulators began compiling reports including how Ant had used digital financial products such as Huabei, a virtual credit card service, to encourage the poor and young to pile up in debt.
The general office of the State Council compiled a report on the public sentiment of Ma’s speech and handed it over to senior leaders including President Xi.
ha / rzn (Reuters)
(ita / ita)
– .
