Jack Ma’s fintech giant Ant Group and Chinese regulators have agreed on a restructuring plan that will turn the company into a financial holding company.
According to Bloomberg, this plan calls for putting all of Ant’s business into the holding company, which includes its tech offerings. The company’s earlier proposals to regulators envisioned putting only financial operations in the new structure.
The move to restructure Ant Group into a financial holding company will make it subject to capital requirements similar to those for banks.
China introduced a framework for financial holding companies 4 months ago. The rules will provide more regulatory clarity for Ant and they are expected to force the company to slow the pace of expansion it has made in China.
According to sources that told Bloomberg, an official announcement on the overhaul could come before the start of China’s Lunar New Year next week.
This news comes after the company halted its initial public offering (IPO) that was slated to happen in November last year. It was expected to be the world’s largest share sale with a $37 billion listing. Jack Ma also disappeared from public view after several weeks which drove up speculation about his well being and later on appeared in a live streamed video conference in January.
