Biggest bust in stock-market history 

China’s decision to torpedo Ant Group’s initial public offering (IPO) sent the fintech giant scrambling to abide by new financial regulations that could cut the company’s value by as much as $140 billion


Ant Group: Parent of Alipay, China’s most powerful online e-payment system

Alipay: Offers credit and debit card, insurance and other financial services to 1.3 billion users

Alipay app: Used by more than 730m people every month
 
$17.6 trillion
Online payments: Processed by Alipay in 12 months to June 2020


Oct 16: Communist Party-controlled People’s Bank of China drafts new risk-mitigating rules. Online lending companies required to provide at least 30% of funding for loans

Loans: Only 2% of $270bn of loans sit on Ant’s balance sheet. Under new rules Ant needs to underwrite $81bn of credit

Oct 21: Ant wins final nod from China’s top securities watchdog to register its IPO

Oct 23: Jack Ma – Ant Group’s controlling shareholder – condemns financial regulators for being obsessed with minimizing risk. Ma compares traditional banks to “pawn shops”

Oct 26: Ant Group announces dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai. IPO set to be world’s biggest – worth $34.4bn – putting company’s valuation at about $315bn

Oct 30: Banks and brokerages provide about $64.5bn of margin loans to retail and “mom-and-pop” investors to buy Ant shares, charged at up to 5%
   
Oct 31: Vice Premier Liu He flags concerns over rise of fintech players such as Ant

Nov 3: Shanghai stock exchange suspends Ant’s IPO, citing regulatory risk factors


Sources: Reuters, South China Morning Post 
Pictures: Getty Images 
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