Chinese authorities will look to further tighten against fintech giant Ant Group with the creation of a dedicated task force involving various regulators and the central bank.
The task force will be led by the Financial Stability and Development Committee, according to a «Bloomberg» report citing unnamed regulatory officials, along with «various departments of the central bank and other regulators».
According to the task force, it is already in «regular contact» with Ant to collect data and information, study its restructuring and draft other rules for the fintech industry.
New Rules
The report outlined that Ant will now need to apply for a separate financial holding company license and be regulated as one due to its activities in more than two financial segments. It will also need to apply with the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission for new licenses for its micro-lending platforms – Huabei and Jiebei – though the report said that regulators are unlikely to approve two licenses for Ant.
Ant will also slow down the packaging of existing loans into asset-backed securities sold to investors, the report added.
The new requirements are in addition to the micro-lending draft rules issued earlier this month which would force Ant to replenish an estimated $12 billion of capital.
Ant IPO: 2023 and Beyond?
In addition to having its valuations slashed by up to 50 percent by analyst forecasts, Ant also faces a serious postponement in its fundraising plans.
According to the report, the latest regulatory developments could prevent Ant from completing its IPO before 2022.
