Suspicions that Alibaba founder Jack Ma is under “house arrest” have not dissipated after his appearance on Jan. 20. Foreign media reported yesterday (28) that Ma’s Ant Group Co. is planning to transform itself into a financial holding company regulated by the Communist Party’s central bank, subject to stricter capital constraints and regulatory rules that could curb revenue and profit growth.
Ant Group is planning to become a financial holding company regulated by China’s central bank in response to pressure to fully comply with financial regulations, people familiar with the matter said, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Chinese regulators recently asked Ant Group, which is controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, to transform itself into a financial holding company as a whole to accept stricter capital constraints, people familiar with the matter said. In response, Ant Group has submitted an outline restructuring plan to regulators. And the plan marks a major shift for the digital payments giant.
Ant Group has been trying to shed its image as a financial services provider in recent years, portraying itself as an Internet technology company. In its prospectus last year, Ant Group said it planned to make one of its subsidiaries a financial holding company and incorporate its licensed financial businesses such as asset management and consumer credit.
At one point, before its initial public offering was called off last November, Ant Group was expected to go public at a valuation of more than $300 billion, well above the market value of some of the world’s top tier banks. And if it becomes a financial holding company at the group-wide level, Ant Group would be subject to strict regulations similar to those governing the banking industry and affecting its growth and profitability.
Sources close to the matter also told the Wall Street Journal that Ant Group is working on separating customer data currently shared across business units and introducing regulations common in the banking industry.
After Ma attended the Bund Financial Forum summit in Shanghai in late October 2020 and publicly criticized the Chinese Communist Party authorities for regulation in his speech, Ant Group’s IPO was abruptly halted in early November on the eve of its official listing, and Ant Group and Alibaba were subjected to a series of purges by the authorities, after which Ma disappeared.
During this period, most outside opinions suspect that he was under “house arrest”. Some foreign media interviewed an employee at HHB Music Bar in Hangzhou, which Ma owns, on January 18, and confirmed that Ma has not been seen since the end of last year.
Chen Yulu, deputy governor of the Central Bank of the Communist Party of China, said at a conference held at the State Information Office on January 15 this year that, under the guidance of the financial management, Ant Group has set up a working group for rectification and is working on a rectification schedule to align with regulatory requirements for rectification.
After that, Ma Yun, who has disappeared for three months, attended the “Ma Yun rural Teacher Award Ceremony” held by Ma Yun Public Welfare Foundation via video on the 20th of this month, met with 100 rural teachers nationwide online and said to them, “When the Epidemic is over, we’ll see you again! “
However, there are views that Ma should still be under control, and the situation is quite unpleasant.
In a recent interview with this station, Hong Kong commentator Liu Ruishao argued that Ma is still under Beijing‘s surveillance and is not a free agent. He stressed that Ma’s appearance does not mean that he can move freely from now on, and that people should not blindly go after the stocks of his group, because they are all controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
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