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| China urges Jack Ma to scale back financial activities |
The Chinese war against the empire of Alibaba founder Jack does not appear to be over, and the country's regulators have ordered Alibaba's Ant Group to cease operations.
Chinese regulators have ordered the company to return to its roots as a payment service provider and create Ant Financial on Alipay's behalf.
Alipay has grown into the largest digital payment platform in China and has expanded to offer investment and savings accounts, as well as credit, insurance and wealth management services.
The People's Bank of China, the Chinese central bank, stated that the Ant Group has carried out anti-competitive activities and violated regulatory standards. She was accused of lacking legal knowledge and ignoring compliance requirements.
Ban Gongsheng, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, described the services as illegal and said the company should seriously rectify these activities.
As explained by The Guardian, these services are the most profitable and dynamic division of the Jack Ma Group.
The deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, in a statement on its official website, listed all the measures that the Ant Group should take in accordance with the instructions of the Chinese regulator.
These requirements include banning unfair competition, improving corporate governance and making sure everything you do complies with the law.
The British newspaper "The Guardian" said that the company is moving towards establishing a corrective working group to implement these requirements.
"We are expanding the scope and extent of open cooperation to achieve win-win cooperation, reviewing and correcting our work to protect consumer rights, and improve commercial compliance and accountability worldwide.
He added, “Ant Group has formulated a plan and corrective schedule in a timely manner, and has sought guidance from the regulator.”
In November, Chinese regulators banned Ant Group's initial public offerings on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges, which are expected to raise $ 34 billion.
Authorities have also introduced new bills to oversee data collection activities for tech companies, as well as other rules they believe are aimed at protecting consumers.
Regulators began an investigation into the alleged monopoly proceedings against Alibaba earlier this month.
Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, appears to have become a target because he criticized Chinese state banks for giving them unnecessary loans at the Shanghai Financial Summit in October.
His company has attracted attention since then, according to Bloomberg News, and even senior executives have set up a business team that deals with government regulators on a daily basis.