Nearly a year after billionaire Jack Ma pledged to relinquish his hold on Ant Group Co., the company has successfully completed the procedure to eliminate its controlling shareholders.
The central bank of China, the People’s Bank of China, has approved an application that allows for the removal of all controlling shareholders from Ant’s Chinese payment platform, Alipay. Consequently, the bank now regards Alipay as a company without an actual controller.
Earlier this year, Ma, who co-founded Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., announced his withdrawal from Ant as part of a series of measures intended to placate Chinese regulators. The finance firm disclosed in January that it would offer voting rights to 10 individuals, including management and staff members, effectively neutralizing Ma’s control.
The changes will not impact the economic interests of any shareholders. An Ant representative, in response to the statement from the central bank, assured that the change in status with the PBOC would not impact the company’s daily business operations.
