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Ant Group Chairman Eric Jing Breaks Silence After World’s Largest Initial Public Offering Disruption With Corporate Overhaul and Rehabilitation Plan
Ant Group has conducted a comprehensive review of its operations and will be fully aligned with national development priorities over the next five years, Chief Executive Officer Eric Jing said in his first public comments since Chinese regulators suspended the initial public offering of the firm for US $ 37 billion. He also promised to make Ant Group, the fintech arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, more “transparent and predictable” to the public during a speech at the Fourth China Internet Finance Forum on Tuesday. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. The Shanghai Stock Exchange withdrew Ant Group’s IPO on November 3, halting what would have been the world’s largest fundraiser. Chinese regulators unleashed a torrent of new rules soon after designed to control the Chinese fintech business sector. Regulators criticized the industry for jeopardizing financial stability and disrupting traditional banking. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the great stories originating from China. “If it’s going to be disruptive in an industry as heavily regulated as finance, there is a duty of care to be transparent,” said former IBM executive Richard Turrin, who is writing a book on fintech in China. “Comments from Jing are exactly what the market needs to hear, and they are Ant Group’s first step in getting its IPO back on track. ”Jing, who is also a major shareholder in Ant Group, said the operator of the largest payments app in China, Alipay, has been handling the aftermath of the failed listing plan for the past month, under the guidance of regulators. Hangzhou-based Ant Group has been complying with regulation and listening carefully to public opinion, including criticism, Jing said. He compared the group’s introspection since the IPO debacle to “conducting a body check.” Regulators have made scathing remarks about players’ credit practices. of fintech in recent months. Chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), earlier this month. “With the advantage of the data monopoly, Big Tech firms tend to hinder fair competition and seek excessive profits,” Guo Wuping, director of the consumer protection office of the banking and insurance watchdog, wrote in a statement. op-ed saying the two loans from Ant Group Unit companies, Huabei and Jiebei, were similar to credit cards and suggested they should be regulated as such. In what appears to be an acknowledgment that even privately owned companies must put the public good before shareholder benefits, Jing said the company’s goal is to make financial services not only more accessible, but also affordable. lower costs for our clients ”. Globally, regulators are still catching up to the boom in digital finance triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, when millions of consumers turned to online financial services to avoid catching viruses in shopping malls or bank branches. They fear that dramatic change online could destabilize financial systems and their reaction is accelerating. The University of Cambridge surveyed 118 authorities, and nearly three-quarters of them said they had accelerated or introduced initiatives in digital infrastructure this year, while 58% said they had pushed regulatory and oversight technology. China traditionally allowed startups to flourish and experiment with business models as they advanced the government’s goal of expanding financial services in rural regions. To be sure, there were periodic crackdowns, such as peer-to-peer lending in 2016. This time, China is leading a broad assault on the industry, eliminating monopoly behavior and defending itself against systemic risks. for Ant Group, and Alibaba in general, to repent and make sure their business model is moving forward, ”said Zennon Kapron, founder of Asian financial services research firm Kapronasia. Jing highlighted the close relationship between sustainable financial development and regulation, saying that as a pioneer, he had often had to feel his way. He also noted regulators’ fears about fintech’s potential to spread chaos throughout the financial system and said the company will pay close attention to guidance from regulators. “Recently, we at Ant Group have spared no effort to study the 14th Five-Year Plan, and the government’s policy on financial security and financial stability,” Jing said in his speech, delivered in Mandarin Chinese. Jing’s speech contrasts sharply with the combative statement by Jack Ma, who co-founded Ant and controls 50.5 percent of its voting rights, at a financial conference on October 24 in Shanghai. Jing’s speech appears to herald a more sensitive approach to political concerns. “Ant it will definitely continue to improve itself, improve its sense of the big picture and its responsibilities, consciously integrate corporate development into the new development landscape and the new regulatory environment, and respond to the requirements and expectations of the country and society with shares “, the executive said. Analysts said regulators would respond positively to Jing’s assurance about being more tra nsparentes. ” Transparency in digital finance in China has been lacking over the past decade as the industry has developed and a key goal of the government has been to increase transparency so that they can better manage fiscal and monetary policy, ”Kapron said. There was certainly a lot in the speech that pointed out that business is business as usual. Jing is committed to keeping Ant Group at the forefront of financial technology by continuing to invest in foundational cutting-edge technologies such as databases, blockchain, intelligent risk control, and intelligent security. Ant Group will also continue to focus on serving small and micro enterprises and business owners and providing digital financial services to support the development of agriculture, rural regions and farmers. “Eric Jing is committed to greater transparency with both regulators and banks. This is not to say that Ant will stop being innovative, “said Turrin. More from South China Morning Post: * Ant Group’s IPO ‘hiccup’ and technology sale ignored by investors amid rush to take advantage of recovery of China’s economy * Secondary floats of Chinese firms listed in the US boost the outlook for 2021, as Hong Kong ranks second in the global IPO rankings to stop in the world’s largest initial public offering with A corporate ‘check-up’ and rehabilitation plan first appeared on the South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post, download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
