HONG KONG, June 17 (Reuters) - China's central bank has accepted Ant Group's application to set up a financial holding company, three people with knowledge of the matter said, a key step in finishing a year-long revamp of Jack Ma's fintech business and reviving its stock market debut.
Ant and the PBOC did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on Friday.
Although Ant has been working with financial regulators for months on a broad revamp, the central bank's agreeing to review the application signals the company could get its long-awaited license soon, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to confidentiality constraints.
Chinese authorities abruptly pulled the plug on Ant's IPO, set to raise $37 billion in the world's biggest listing, in November 2020, soon after tech billionaire founder Ma gave a speech accusing financial watchdogs of stifling innovation.
The authorities put Ant, whose businesses span payment processing, consumer lending to insurance products distribution, under the revamp.
As part of that overhaul, the PBOC in December 2020 told Reuters in a statement that Ant was drafting a plan to set up a financial holding firm and that Ant should ensure that all its financial operations were placed under regulatory supervision.
Ant had been valued as a tech firm for its IPO, but the forced change to a financial holding company will make it subject to capital requirements and regulations similar to those for banks.
Alibaba shares jumped 10% in premarket trading.
