Tencent Shares Dive on Report of Record Fine for Money Laundering

As of 2021, WeChat Pay handled an estimated 40% of China’s mobile payments, second only to Alipay.

(Bloomberg) — Tencent Holdings Ltd. shares extended losses to close more than 10% lower after The Wall Street Journal reported it faces a record fine for violating Chinese anti-money laundering regulations.

The People’s Bank of China found that Tencent’s WeChat Pay allowed the transfer of funds for illicit purposes such as gambling, the newspaper reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. WeChat Pay was also judged noncompliant with other rules that required Tencent to identify users and merchants conducting transactions on the platform, the Journal said.