A top official at the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said fintech companies should be subject to identical supervision and risk-management requirements as traditional banks. The comments by vice-chairman of the commission, Liang Tao, offered some insight into the abrupt halting of fintech giant Ant Group’s mammoth IPO last week, at the behest of Chinese regulators. (Bloomberg, South China Morning Post)

Talking point: At a conference in Beijing on Wednesday, Liang said a balance needs to be struck between “financial development, stability and security,” adding that China needs to pay “close attention to the risks from internet security, data protection and market monopoly.” Billionaire entrepreneur Jack Ma’s Ant Group was the target of regulator scrutiny just days before it was set to go public—Ma was summoned into a discussion with various regulators including the banking commission, though their specific concerns remain unclear. Lending requirements are stringent at large state-owned Chinese banks, which has handed companies like Ant and Tencent a large market of consumers with poorer credit, a situation that has made regulators nervous. Meanwhile, the share price of Ma’s e-commerce giant Alibaba plunged over eight per cent, wiping off more than US$60 billion in value in a single day, after regulators issued new antitrust regulations.