China’s Ant publishes financial self-discipline rules amid tougher scrutiny

China’s Ant Group flagged a set of financial self-discipline rules on Friday amid intense scrutiny on its activities by authorities and the country’s overall tightening of financial technology regulations.

The rules, the first of their kind released publicly by the financial technology giant, comes some four months after China suspended the group’s $37 billion plan for a share listing in both Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Chinese regulators have tightened their grip on fintech companies, amid concerns over systemic financial risks brought by the financial empire affiliated to China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.

In response to the intense regulatory pressure, the group has been reining in some of its operations, taking steps to bring its capital requirements in line with those of banks, and revamping itself into a financial holding firm.