Chinese business mogul Jack Ma’s Alibaba-affiliated Ant Group has launched a digital banking service in Singapore to address the needs of small businesses that conduct cross-border transactions.
Ant’s wholly owned subsidiary, ANEXT Bank, will provide wholesale banking services in collaboration with Proxtera, based in Singapore’s Marina, which operates an online marketplace connecting small businesses.
It has agreed a two-year MoU with the Singapore company, which has been set up to realize Business Sans Borders (BSB), an initiative of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), as well as some private sector entities.
The launch comes after MAS granted ANEXT Ban a digital wholesale banking license.
As reported, Annex Bank will use Ant Group’s technologies and know-how, as well as collaborate with partners, to provide simpler, safer and more rewarding financial services to SMEs.
MAS, a unit of Singapore-based consumer tech giant C and a consortium of ride-hailing giant Grab and Singapore Telecom Limited, commonly known as SingTel, granted a digital banking license to ANEXT Bank.
Ant’s license only allows wholesale banking, while Grab&C will be able to serve both retail and corporate customers. As reported, Greenland Financial Holdings Group, Linklogis Hong Kong and Beijing Co-operative Equity Investment Fund Management, the fourth recipient, will also provide wholesale banking.
Ant recently fueled its Southeast Asian expansion by announcing in April that it had acquired a majority stake in Singapore-based fintech company 2C2P. The agreement will connect existing 2C2P merchants with Ant Group’s cross-border e-wallet Alipay+.
pressure from china
Ant Group is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding that was targeted by the Chinese Communist Party in relation to regulatory action, with officials speeding up Ant’s plan. IPO At the last minute at the end of 2020.
After Ma criticized the country’s authorities in a speech, officials responded by taking sweeping regulatory action on technology firms.
According to some reports, after more than a year, it is understood that Beijing will ease its crackdown on the technology sector. As a result of this ongoing investigation, it has brought down high-ranking politicians and powerful businessmen such as Alibaba’s founder Ma.
In April last year, China implemented a comprehensive restructuring of Ant Group. It came days after Ma’s Alibaba Group was slammed with a record antitrust fine of $2.75 billion as China tightens its grip on expanding the “platform economy”.
Ant was subjected to strict regulatory oversight and capital requirements as a result of the reform, which forced it to sever ties between its massively successful payments platform Alipay and its other operations, which have been called a truce due to Alipay’s vast collections. was seen as a major advantage. consumer data.
Ant, based in Hangzhou, China, was positioned as a tech company in 2018, when it received $14 billion in the world’s largest single fundraiser at a valuation of about $150 billion.
However, in January this year, it was said that Beijing “should show no mercy” to political gangs, small circles and individuals involved in vested interests within the party, according to the statement, which warned of more investigations into the financial and state It was also given – misconduct of the companies owned.
The warning came after a state television program alleged that the Ant group was involved in a corruption scam. According to the TV show, the unnamed corporations were accused of paying the brother of a former Hangzhou executive in exchange for favorable treatment.
According to company records provided by business database Tianyancha, Ant Group reportedly invested in two Subway payments companies operated by the officer’s brother through Ant subsidiary Yunxin Venture Capital Management Company.
However, Ant Group’s mutual aid platform Jianghubao suspended operations earlier this year due to Beijing’s financial risk concerns. But in recent months, the corporation has also taken off other businesses to streamline its investment portfolio.
It is understood that Ant Group is revamping its operations after being pressured by Chinese authorities to fully comply with financial standards.
In June this year, reports surfaced that the chairman of the operator of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has joined its board of directors, according to Ant Group, as the company undergoes a restructuring after postponing its IPO in 2020.
Ant Group has published a 94-page sustainability report outlining the company’s environmental, social and governance plan. The company’s website was also changed to include the names of two new directors – Laura Cha, who chairs the board of Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Ltd., and Xiaoli Yang, a veteran lawyer.
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