HONG KONG (Reuters Breakingviews) – Ant mania is getting a reality check from Beijing. Days ahead of the company’s record-setting $34 billion initial public offering, founder Jack Ma was hauled in by regulators for a chat. Newly unveiled rules also would treat technology middlemen more like banks.
Chinese authorities on Monday released a terse statement that the central bank and three financial regulators had held a rare joint meeting with Ma and two Ant executives. Details were not disclosed, but the assemblage comes less than two weeks after Ma publicly blasted the system of oversight. Read more…..
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The Chinese fintech titan Ant Group—co-founded by Alibaba billionaire Jack Ma—is set to go public in what could be one of the largest listings ever. WSJ explains how Ant’s backbone service, Alipay, has revolutionized payments and investing in the world’s most populous country.
