Jack Ma speaks boldly, government dares to intervene | After Ant Group was summoned by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, both the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges have temporarily halted its listing.

2020/11/4

Ant Group was scheduled to go public on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on November 5, 2020. However, on November 2, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced that it had interviewed senior executives of Ant Group including Jack Ma. On the evening of November 3, the Shanghai Stock Exchange announced a suspension of the listing, and Ant Group also announced a suspension of its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

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Jack Ma Criticizes China's Financial System

Reports indicate that Jack Ma delivered a speech at the Shanghai Bund Financial Summit on October 25, sharply criticizing the current financial system's rigidity and conservative regulatory approach towards innovation, which he believes poses risks to economic development.

For more details on Jack Ma's speech, please see: "Jack Ma: We don't need digital currency now, but we will need it in the future, and thousands of developing countries and young people in China need it."

Ant Group Executives Summoned for Meeting

On November 2, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued a brief announcement, stating that, due to regulatory concerns, executives of the Ant Group, including Jack Ma, were summoned for a meeting.

"Today, the People's Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange conducted regulatory interviews with Jack Ma, the actual controller of the Ant Group, Chairman Eric Jing, and CEO Simon Hu."

Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges Temporarily Halt Ant Group's IPOs

The Shanghai Stock Exchange announced on the evening of November 3 that, due to the regulatory interviews conducted with the actual controller, chairman, and CEO of the Ant Group by the relevant authorities, as well as significant changes in the financial technology regulatory environment, Ant Group may not meet the conditions for listing or information disclosure requirements, leading to the temporary suspension of its IPOs. Eric Jing, Executive Director of the Ant Group, announced the temporary suspension of the IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.