CHINA REGULATORS SUMMON ANT GROUP EXECS BEFORE IPO

Chinese regulators summoned Ant Group founder Jack Ma and two other senior executives to a meeting just days before the company’s shares are due to begin trading following a blockbuster offering expected to be the world’s largest, Zen Soo reported for the Associated Press (AP).

In a statement issued on Monday, the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the Securities Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said they had conducted “regulatory interviews” with Ma, Ant Group’s chairman Eric Jing and its president Hu Xiaoming.

No further details about the meetings were disclosed by the authorities or Ant Group, although such a move by regulators is typically seen as a warning or dressing down of sorts.

“Views regarding the health and stability of the financial sector were exchanged,” Ant Group said in a statement. “Ant Group is committed to implementing the meeting opinions in depth and continuing our course based on the principles of: stable innovation; embrace of regulation; service to the real economy; and win-win cooperation.”