A bevy of major investment banks will potentially lose out on up to US$400 million in fees as a result of Chinese regulators suspending Ant Group’s public-market debut this week. The bookrunners on Ant’s Hong Kong listing were poised to receive a one per cent fee on the US$37-billion offering. (South China Morning Post)

Talking point: There were two dozen investment banks that led the Hong Kong portion of the IPO, but Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and China International Capital served as sponsors of the listing, meaning that they would collect the biggest portion of the one per cent fee. The banks in charge of the Hong Kong IPO have reportedly not received any underwriting commissions, though they will still be likely to collect a nominal payment for structuring the offering. Ant did not publicly disclose fees for the Shanghai leg of the IPO. The fintech giant founded by Jack Ma was forced to suspend what was expected to be the biggest share offering in history, after regulators raised issues about its ability to meet its listing requirements. It is unclear when an IPO could take place again, but Ant has promised to refund US$167.7 billion in deposits by Hong Kong retail investors.