Chinese officials have told 13 of the country’s biggest tech companies to “rectify prominent problems” on their platforms, a sign that the regulatory pressure on the fintech sector is spreading beyond Jack Ma’s Ant Group.
While praising the “overall positive” development of the fintech sector in recent years, regulators complained of anti-competitive practices and harm to consumers. Officials demanded that the platforms increase their capital to cover 30 per cent of the loans they offer jointly with banks, after imposing similar changes on Ant. The measures were in line with the recent guidelines issued to the broader fintech sector. Analysts have warned that the rules would raise financing costs for larger fintech companies and cause the sector to shrink significantly. But they added that some smaller players could enjoy more opportunity to expand.
https://www.ft.com/content/e69d7064-a126-47c4-a57c-58489ba59d0b