China reins in tech giants’ finance arms after hobbling Ant

Regulators have pledged to curb the ‘reckless push’ of technology firms into finance and this month outlined an overhaul of Ant, which will drastically revamp its business and be supervised more like a bank. — Reuters

Chinese regulators imposed wide-ranging restrictions on the fast-growing financial divisions of 13 companies including Tencent Holdings Ltd and ByteDance Ltd, levelling many of the same curbs employed against Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co in a crackdown on the tech sector.

Units of JD.com Inc, Meituan and Didi Chuxing were also among firms summoned to a meeting with several watchdogs including the central bank, which spelled out a raft of requirements including stricter compliance when listing abroad and curbs on information monopolies and the gathering of personal data.