The People's Bank of China's (PBOC) expected approval of the plan is a sign that Ant, a tech giant with financial businesses stretching from payments to wealth management, is poised to emerge from a regulatory crackdown.
Although Ant has been working with financial regulators for months on a broad revamp, the central bank's agreeing to review the application signals the company could get its licence soon, according to Reuters.
Aiming to file a preliminary prospectus for the share offering as early as July 2022, Ant is awaiting final feedback from financial regulators, especially the PBOC, on the set-up of the financial holding firm.
Apart from the financial holding company licence, Ant's personal credit-scoring joint venture has applied for a permit, as part of the fintech business revamp.
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