Shanghai Stock Exchange Suspends IPO Of Alibaba-Affiliated Ant Group

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd November, 2020) The planned record-setting initial public offering (IPO) of Ant Group, a financial service and FinTech company affiliated with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has been suspended by the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

"In recent days, the real stakeholder, president and general manager of your company have been summoned by a number of relevant government agencies. The financial and technological regulatory environment your company reported has experienced significant changes. Such important incidents could lead to your company failing to qualify for the requirement of IPO.... Our exchange decided to postpone your company's IPO," the Shanghai Stock Exchange said in a statement.

Ant Group is expected to raise up to $34.4 billion through its IPO in both the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, making it the largest IPO in history.

The surprising decision from the Shanghai Stock Exchange came after a number of top executives of Ant Group, including Alibaba founder Jack Ma, was summoned by four Chinese ministries on Monday over regulatory concerns.

Chinese authorities published a new set of proposed new rules on Monday as part of their efforts to regulate the online lending services Ant Group specializes in.

During a conference on China's financial industry on October 24, Alibaba's founder openly criticized the excessive regulations in the country's financial industry, which he viewed as a major obstacle for the growth of new financial services that Ant Group provides.

The proposed IPO of Ant GRoup was set for Thursday, November 5.