Ant Group Imposes New Fintech Rules on Itself to Avoid Regulators’ Ire

What’s new: Ant Group Co. Ltd. has released new self-disciplinary rules on how to conduct its financial businesses as the fintech giant faces increased regulatory scrutiny.

The rules focus on five of Ant Group’s fintech businesses: wealth management, insurance, consumer loans, small-and-micro-business loans and its personal credit-scoring platform Zhima Credit, according to a statement issued on Friday.

Ant Group said its consumer credit platforms will not grant young users borrowing limits that exceed what they need for everyday life and will promote more “rational” spending habits. Its wealth management platforms should help investors understand the risks associated with their investments better and should not mislead investors into putting money in high-risk products, the statement said.

“We fully appreciate that a responsible digital finance platform has to do more than putting operational compliance, risk prevention and consumer protection as our business’s baseline principles,” Ant Group General Counsel Jonathan Zhou said in the statement.

The background: Over the past few months, fintech companies have faced tougher oversight as regulators have warned about systemic risks posed by their aggressive expansion that was once able to sidestep some of the more stringent regulations imposed on traditional financial institutions.

Related: What You Need to Know About Ant Group’s Suspended IPO and the Future of Chinese Fintech

Analysis: Stricter Regulations Challenge Ant Group and Fintech’s Rapid Rise

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full Caixin article in Chinese, click here.

Contact reporter Tang Ziyi (ziyitang@caixin.com) and editor Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@caixin.com)

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