If previously, Jack Ma's company Alibaba was fined US $ 2.75 billion by the Chinese government, this time another entity owned, Ant Group was urged to carry out a comprehensive overhaul so that the financial technology firm acts as a bank.
The launch of Ant Group's mega -stock market worth US $ 37 billion in November last year, was thwarted by Chinese authorities following concerns about its financial model.
The insistence is part of Beijing's crackdown on the country's fast -growing technology platform.
The reshuffle directed by the People’s Bank of China will result in Ant Group being under strict regulatory oversight and minimum capital requirements.
Ant Group is the largest payment service provider in China with more than 730 million monthly users using its digital payment service, Alipay.
According to the central bank, under the ‘comprehensive restructuring plan’, Ant Group will have to ‘sever any unnecessary linkages’ between Alipay and its credit card services and consumer loans.
The user data owned by Ant Group is one of the advantages of the firm compared to other competitors.
Ant Group also agreed to set up a personal credit reporting company that will effectively strengthen the protection of personal information and prevent data misuse.
Jack Ma became a target of Chinese authorities after he claimed Beijing was blocking the innovation of technology firms.
After the fines were announced last Friday, Alibaba's share price jumped more than 8% after investors believed it marked the end of an investigation into the company.
