10 Dec 2020/Maarten Visser and Zack Kramer, Prague Security Studies Institute

This new addition to the PSSI perspectives reacts to the suspension of Jack Ma’s Ant Financial Group on the Chinese Stock Exchanges, on November 3rd, 2020. Drawing on groundbreaking research conducted by our partner RWR Advisory Group, this perspective provides unique insights into the motivations behind the suspension, and, beyond, it offers a forensic analysis which exposes Ant Group’s reprehensible character.

On November 3, 2020, the Chinese government suspended Ant Technology Group’s anticipated record-setting ($37 billion) initial public offering. The Chinese Communist Party did so because Ant Group’s founder, Jack Ma, was too successful and not playing by their rules. The suspension followed CCP concerns about Ant Group’s possible placement on the U.S. Entity List. RWR Advisory Group highlighted Ant’s problematic corporate record of national security, human risk and investor protection abuses. PSSI’s Maarten Visser and Zack Kramer draw on research partner RWR Advisory Group’s data to explain why China’s Communist Party was forced to choose unchallenged authority over financial gain. 

You can find the new PSSI Perspective entitled "Why Ant Technology Group Became a Chinese Communist Party Target and Why Its IPO Still Matters" here.