Hi there. It’s Brady.
The notable news coming out of China yesterday was that state-owned enterprises and banks must report to the government and indicate their financial exposure to Ant Group.
On the surface, this may look like a standard review of balance sheets. But in the context of what has been happening to Jack Ma Inc. for more than a year, it’s the latest development in a series of terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days for Alibaba and Ant Group.
This isn’t the first time for a directive of this nature to be issued. In October 2021, regulators examined links between state-backed financial institutions and firms like Evergrande and Ant Group. Given Ant’s tanking valuation—from USD 280 billion before its IPO was halted in late 2020 to half that or even less now, depending on who you ask—it’s a matter worth looking into!
It’s tough to say what will happen to Ant next. In any case, Jiaxing covered the latest developments. You can read her report here.
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