With Ant’s IPO on hold, China emphasizes need for fintech regulation

With Ant’s IPO on hold, China emphasizes need for fintech regulation

People walk past the headquarters of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, in Beijing, China September 28, 2018. Jason Lee | ReutersBEIJING — Just days after the abrupt suspension of Ant Group's IPO — which was set to be the world's largest offering — China's financial authorities emphasized the need to ensure sufficient regulation.But they did not discourage entities from working with Ant — an Alibaba-affiliate which runs one of the two major mobile payments systems in the country, Alipay, and operates many subsidiaries for tech-driven business lending and personal investment. Ant also has many partnerships with major banks and financial institutions.Ant Group's dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong was originally planned for Thursday, but it was called off just two days before then."At the same time, (regarding) Ant Group,