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SHANGHAI: Chinese President Xi Jinping has personally decided to cancel Ant Group’s $ 37 billion initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday (Nov 12), citing Chinese officials with knowledge of the matter.
The decision to stop what would have been the world’s largest IPO came days after the billionaire founder of the financial technology giant, Jack Ma, launched a public attack on the country’s financial bodies and banks.
President Xi ordered Chinese regulators to investigate and effectively close Ant’s IPO, according to the report.
Ant Group did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. The Information Office of the State Council, China’s cabinet, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Ma had said at a summit in Shanghai on October 24 that the regulatory system was stifling innovation and needed to be reformed to boost growth. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the speech set off a chain of events that torpedoed Ant’s list.
Shortly after Ma’s scathing speech, state regulators began compiling reports, including one on how Ant had used digital financial products like Huabei, a virtual credit card service, to encourage the poor and the young to accumulate debt.
The general office of the State Council compiled a report on public opinion on Ma’s speech and presented it to senior leaders, including President Xi, Reuters reported.
