The decision to suspend the initial public offering of the fintech company Ant Group was made in order to "better safeguard capital market stability and protect investors' interests," a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry unveiled on Wednesday.
According to a report published by the Nikkei, the firm will have to "open itself up to greater regulatory scrutiny" to be able to list. The report cited two people familiar with the matter who also said that Ant will "have to use more of its own funds for loans it underwrites."
Due to the fact that Ant Group's IPO has been halted in both Shangai and Hong Kong, the world's highest-valued fintech firm will have to refund approximately $167.7 billion, which would be the highest refunded figure so far.
