The central has asked Ant to shake up its lending and consumer finance arms.
Ant Group is considering folding most of its online financial businesses into a holding firm that would be regulated like traditional financial firms, reports Reuters.
The regulators, mainly the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), want Ant to fold its wealth management and insurance distribution businesses as well as minority-owned MYbank online lender into a financial holding company, the news service has shared.
The PBOC also said that Ant was drafting a plan to set up a financial holding firm, and that the company should ensure that all its financial operations are placed under regulatory supervision. It has also asked the firm to shake up its lending and other consumer finance operations.
The move, if finalised, would slash the valuation of the revamped Ant, which was to be valued at $315b on market debut mainly due to its structure as a technology vendor to financial institutions, rather than as a financial firm itself.
It was not clear if Ant’s payments unit Alipay would also come under the holding company structure.
Here’s more from Reuters.
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