Ant Group

Chinese fintech giant Ant Group published self-discipline rules on Friday, vowing to further strengthen the protection of consumer rights and build a more responsible digital financial platform, amid tightened regulation.

Composed of five parts - wealth management, insurance, consumer credit, loans for small and micro operators as well as Zhima Credit - the guidelines clarify self-discipline requirements for financial technology innovation and business development, and propose practical measures to strengthen the construction of ethical standards.

Specifically, the rules stipulate that small and micro business loan platforms should actively guide users to use funds reasonably, and prevent the funds from flowing into the stock market and property market. Consumer credit platforms should also follow appropriate principles in granting credit lines, and should not lend to people under the age of 18.

Fu Weigang, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law, said that it is the first self-regulatory standard in the industry that can be practically implemented. 

"It clarifies a lot of standards on issues that current laws have not yet clearly defined but that have become common concerns in society," Fu said.

Promoting the construction of financial technology ethics has become an important part of building up the financial system, but it is far from enough to have only one company do so, Fu noted, hoping that more institutions will follow up and make self-discipline a common practice in the industry.

Ant Group, Alibaba Group's fintech offshoot, has underscored its determination for a makeover following interviews with Chinese financial regulators, saying it has been in close consultation with regulators on rectification plans to resolve the issues.

Regulators pointed out at the end of last year an array of major problems confronting Ant's current operations that included poor governance mechanisms, weak legal awareness, defiance of regulatory and compliance requirements, and illegal regulatory arbitrage.

Ant ought to improve corporate governance and rework offending financial activities such as loan extensions, insurance and wealth management in accordance with prudent regulatory needs, according to a statement from the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank.

Eric Jing, executive chairman of Ant Group, is committed to getting the company listed, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier in March, citing an internal memo of the firm.

Jing will also serve as the CEO of Ant as Simon Hu Xiaoming resigned from the post late on Friday, domestic news site 36kr reported.

Ant saw its mega dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong come to a halt on November 3 last year amid regulatory changes that aim to put fintech businesses on an equal footing with traditional financial institutions when it comes to capital requirements, among other rules.

Global Times