UPDATE 1-Chinese regulator to continue to push ahead with Ant’s rectifications

Adds words of Guo, background

BEIJING, March 2 (Reuters) – China will continue to push ahead with Ant Group’s rectifications, said China Banking and Insurance Regulator Chairman Guo Shuqing on Wednesday.

Ant, an affiliate of Alibaba Group BABA.N, has been subjected to a sweeping restructuring by China. The internet finance giant’s initial public offering was halted in less than 48 hours before it was due, after its billionaire founder Jack Ma criticised China’s financial system publicly in a meeting at the end of 2020.

Guo said at a press conference that the self-checking within Ant was nearly complete, but there are still issues remaining to be investigated, but added that overall progress was smooth.

Chinese regulators asked state-owned firms to roll out a fresh round of checks about their investments in Ant, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, Reuters reported last week. nL4N2UX1HS

Guo said that China encourages financial innovation, but it has to strictly comply with laws and regulations to guarantee fair competition and avoid the disorderly expansion of capital.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; writing by Ryan Woo, Sophie Yu; Editing by Louise Heavens)

((Ryan.Woo@thomsonreuters.com;))