China Hits Ant Group with $985 Million Fine
Chinese authorities announced a fine of nearly $1 billion for financial technology firm Ant Group on Friday, nearly three years after regulators halted the company’s plan for a record-breaking public offering that ushered in a period of intense government scrutiny of technology firms.
The fine announced by China’s top securities regulator is seen as a sign that the authorities are wrapping up investigations into technology firms, bringing to a close a period of tough regulation for the industry. Officials said earlier this year that they would start to relax oversight of tech firms. The 2020 crackdown on Ant was followed by a record $2.8 billion antitrust fine for e-commerce giant Alibaba, Ant’s sister company, and a $1.2 billion penalty for ride sharing service Didi.
Regulators fined Ant and its subsidiaries 7.1 billion renminbi ($985 million), and ordered the company to shut down its crowdfunding platform for medical costs, Xianghubao. Regulators also announced a shift in their focus, because “most of the prominent problems in the financial business of technology giants have been rectified.”
Ant Group said in a statement that it “has been conducting business rectification proactively since 2020” and that it would “comply with the terms of the penalty in all earnestness and sincerity.”
Source: The New York Times
