Alibaba’s founder Ma Win, the affiliated CEO of Ant Group, also flew… Sudden resignation due to target regulation by the Chinese government

Input 2021.03.13 16:15 | Revision 2021.03.13 21:44

Simon Hu (Hu Xiaoming, 51), chief executive officer of Ant Group, a Chinese fintech (financial technology) company, resigned. Ant Group, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, a Chinese e-commerce company, has been listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai after criticism from the government by former chairman Ma Yun, and is undergoing a corporate restructuring as a financial holding company in accordance with government orders. It is interpreted that the sudden resignation of CEO Hu Xiao-ming shows the confusion that Ant Group is experiencing.

Ant Group announced on the 12th that Hu Xiaoming resigned as CEO for personal reasons. He also stepped down from the board of directors.

Eric Shendong Jing (Jing Shendong 48), Chairman of the Ant Group’s board of directors, will also serve as the CEO. The new CEO Jing Xian Dong served as the CEO of Ant Group from October 2016 to December 2019.

Both the former and the successor CEOs were summoned to Chinese financial regulators along with Ma Yun just before the cessation of the Ant Group listing. Ma Yun publicly criticized the Chinese government’s financial regulation policy at the Shanghai Bund Financial Summit on October 24 last year. Nine days later, on November 2, Chinese financial authorities called Ant Group’s controlling shareholder Ma Yun and executives Jing Xian Dong and Hu Xiao Ming to point out Ant Group’s financial business. Then, on the night of the 3rd, a day later, Ant Group’s simultaneous listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which was scheduled for the 5th, was stopped. They cited the reason for the change in the regulatory environment. The listing of Ant Group was expected to become the world’s largest public offering of $34 billion (about 38 trillion won).

The Chinese government then instructed Ant Group to change its business structure to a financial company. Ant Group started with a mobile payment service (AliPay) and expanded its business to financial services such as loans, investments, insurance, and credit evaluation. Last year, 10% of personal loans in China were reportedly made through Ant Group. In fact, they were in financial business like banks and insurance companies, but they were free from strict regulations and supervisions like financial companies.

In the future, the Chinese government intends to apply strong regulations to Ant Group to stabilize the financial system. The Chinese government has been promulgating regulations on the fintech industry one after another. It is interpreted that the intention was to curb the influence of Ant Group, which has data of more than 800 million people, more than half of the population.

Ant Group also announced self-discipline as a fintech platform on this day. It also said it would strengthen credit risk control and prevent funds from flowing into the real estate and stock markets. This is a measure that follows the Chinese government’s stance to prevent risks in the financial system.

Hu Xiaoming is a key person who has grown Ant Group from a payment service company to a fintech group. After passing through China Construction Bank and China Guangda Bank, it moved to Alibaba in 2005. He has held several positions across Alibaba and Ant Group, and was selected as Ant Group CEO after Jing Xiantung in 2019.

Jingxiandong<사진>After joining Alibaba in 2007 through Pepsi Cola Beverage in Guangzhou, she moved to Alipay China, the predecessor of Ant Group in September 2009. He was mainly responsible for finance at Alibaba and Ant Group. He has been chairman of the board of directors since April 2018.

Hu Xiaoming and Jingxiantung hold a significant number of Ant Group stocks. Both of them, including directors Ma Yun and Zhang Fang, have a 22% stake in Ant Group. Hu Xiaoming said that he will devote himself to charity activities at Ant Group and Alibaba in the future. Earlier in January, In-Ming, CEO of Ant Group’s insurance division, resigned.