Ant Group Probe
Financial regulators have identified major problems in Ant Group’s business operations and urged the company to set a timetable as soon as possible to fix them in accordance with supervision requirements.
Ant Group, an affiliate fintech company of e-commerce giant Alibaba, operates Alipay, a mobile payment platform with an estimated 1 billion users.
The company’s major operating problems include flaws in its corporate governance mechanism and poor legal awareness, flouting regulatory compliance requirements, foul play for regulatory arbitrage, leveraging market dominance to exclude competitors, and hurting consumers’ legitimate rights and interests, which led to consumer complaints, Pan Gongsheng, Vice Governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBC), said.
The rectification requirements were put forward during the regulatory talks carried out by the PBC, the China Banking and Insurance
Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on December 26, 2020.
The Ant Group has been asked to return to its original business as a payment services provider and enhance transparency of transactions, and it is strictly prohibited from unfair competition, Pan said when answering questions from the press.
The company should carry out individual credit reporting business that is compliant with laws and regulations, and should protect personal data privacy, he added.
It must set up a financial holdings company in accordance with laws, strictly implement supervision requirements and ensure capital sufficiency and legality of relevant businesses.
The company has also been urged to improve corporate governance and strictly rectify illegal credit loans, insurance, wealth management and other financial activities in accordance with supervision requirements.
Pan said Ant Group should strengthen risk management and control, maintain business continuity and normal operations, and ensure quality financial services for the public.
The three telecom companies also saw a steady increase in the number of fixed broadband Internet users, with subscribers rising 6.9 percent year on year to 483 million, a net increase of 33.49 million from the end of 2019.