U.S. officials are concerned that Ant Group and other Chinese fintech platforms will come to dominate global digital payments, the people said. That in turn could give China access to banking and personal data of hundreds of millions of people.
The U.S. discussions are sure to cast a shadow over the Ant Group share sale, where many investors are lining up to invest billions of dollars. Restrictions would also impact U.S. investors who have already sunk millions of dollars into Ant. In 2018, Silver Lake Management LLC, Warburg Pincus LLC, and Carlyle Group Inc. invested at least $500 million each in the financial technology giant, people familiar with the matter said at the time.