Ant Group Issues Financial Self-Discipline Rules

The internal guidelines come amid increased scrutiny by Chinese regulators of the country’s financial technology sector.

In a statement, Ant said it will stop issuing loans to minors on its consumer loan platforms and will prevent small business loans from flowing into stock and property markets. The group’s credit-rating service Zhima Credit will also not be available to financial institutions including microloan lenders.

The publication of the rules on Friday comes four months after the technology giant’s scrapped $37 billion IPO. The group has since agreed with Chinese regulators to restructure itself into a financial holding company, which will make it subject to capital requirements similar to those for banks in mainland China.

Last month, the governor of the People’s Bank of China Yi Gang suggested a listing revival was possible for Ant, saying that you just follow the standard of legal structure and you will have the result.

However, no timeline was specified, and the restructuring is expected to take some time with the listing revival not within the scope of the high-level government agenda right now, according to a report which highlighted greater focus by Beijing on Ant’s shareholders.