Chinese administration has been at the throat of Jack Ma’s internet empire and is threatening his Ant Group co. to return to its roots as a provider of payment services, else face the threat of getting its growth throttled.
The corporation mostly thrives not in the market of payment services, but businesses of consumer loans and wealth management. Even the central bank of China warned the Ant executives in an official to summon and asked them to change their policy of lending, insurance, and wealth management services.
“This is the culmination of a string of regulations and sets the direction for Ant’s business going forward. We haven’t seen a clear indication of break-up yet. Ant is a giant player in the world and any breakup needs be to be cautious.”
Ant is also being criticized for disdain toward regulatory requirements, and engaging in regulatory arbitrage. The strict probe came after China intensified its scrutiny of the twin pillars of billionaire Ma’s internet domain when it also kicked off an investigation into alleged monopolistic practices at Ant affiliate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Not only is Ma’s empire the target but also several of China’s tech giants which have hundreds of millions of users and gaining influence over almost every aspect of daily life in China are been under scrutiny.
“Ant’s growth potential will be capped with the focus back onto its payments services. On the mainland, the online payments industry is saturated and Ant’s market share pretty much reached its limit.”
