People's Bank of China (PBOC) Vice Governor Pan Gongsheng speaks at a news conference in Beijing, China March 3, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo Acquire…
The party s Central Organization Department announced the decision at a meeting on Saturday afternoon, the bank said in a statement on its website. | World News
Is the Ant Group shake-up a sign of things to come?
By Tim McDonald
image captionJack Ma
China’s central bank hauled in executives from Ant Group over the weekend, and ordered a major shake-up of the company’s operations.
The move comes about a month after regulators scuppered the company’s listing on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges.
Some see the move as a vengeful communist party lashing out at the company’s outspoken founder Jack Ma.
But analysts note that reforming the financial sector is a long-standing policy goal, and other companies could also end up in the crosshairs of regulators.
By Reuters Staff
4 Min Read
BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s central bank disclosed on Sunday it had asked the country’s payments giant Ant Group Co Ltd to shake up its lending and other consumer finance operations, the latest blow to its billionaire founder and controlling shareholder Jack Ma.
The announcement came more than a month after Chinese regulators abruptly suspended Ant’s blockbuster $37 billion initial public offering in Shanghai and Hong Kong, and only days after the country’s antitrust authorities said they had launched a probe into Ma’s e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Chinese regulators and Communist Party officials have set about reining in Ma’s sprawling financial empire after he publicly criticized the country’s regulatory system in October for stifling innovation.