The agency said the Alibaba affiliate violated various regulations, including requirements on corporate governance, consumer protection and anti-money laundering.
The fine, one of the largest ever imposed on a Chinese internet company, marks the end of a years-long review and restructuring process for Ant Group that began in late 2020 when the company canceled its initial public offering that was expected to raise $37 billion.
Ant has since been forced to overhaul its business, including becoming a financial holding company regulated by the PBOC.
Alibaba owns about 33% of Ant Group. Billionaire Jack Ma is the founder of both companies.
In a statement on July 7, the PBOC said that most of the problems in the financial operations of platform companies like Ant Group have been resolved. The central bank’s job now is to “supervise the normalization process.”
For its part, Ant Group said it “scrupulously and sincerely complied with the penalty and strengthened internal governance compliance.” The company’s listing has attracted much attention, but Ant’s valuation has fallen significantly over the past two and a half years.
The Chinese government has tightened its grip on the domestic tech sector since Ant Group's IPO in November 2020, introducing a slew of new rules ranging from data protection to antitrust that have cost mainland tech giants billions of dollars.
Among them, Jack Ma's "empire" Alibaba and Ant Group are the most affected names. In 2021, Alibaba's parent group received an antitrust fine of up to 2.8 billion USD.
In addition, food delivery giant Meituan will pay a 3.44 billion yuan fine in 2021 related to an antitrust investigation. Last year, ride-hailing company Didi was fined 8.02 billion yuan by China's cyberspace administration for violating data protection laws.
(According to CNBC)
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