Hello fintech friends,
I hope you're doing well. I recently returned from China, where I celebrated the Lunar New Year. I wanted to share a photo I took at the snow-covered Forbidden City in Beijing.
Now, let's get back to our favorite topic - fintechs!February was short but enough eventful!
Highlights of the month includes:
Ant Group outbidding Citadel Securities for Credit Suisse's investment bank venture in China.
Shein opting out of a US IPO and shifting its focus to the UK
Lianlian successfully passing the listing hearing and obtaining government approval for its IPO
Of course, there is more news. Please find below the "This Month in Fintech - China" for February. As always, feel free to reach out to me with any feedback!
Cheers,
Ning
Licensing & Regulations
Bilibili, a leading Chinese online entertainment platform, failed to acquire China’s payment license after regulators rejected its deal to acquire Yoyi Pay, which holds the license.
The Indian government is currently investigating the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) from China into Paytm Payments Services Ltd (PPSL), which is a subsidiary of One97 Communications Ltd.
China’s major stock markets, including the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), and Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE), introduced new guidelines for sustainability reporting by listed companies.
Financing, Investment & Acquisition
Photo Credit: Yahoo
Ant Group outbid Citadel Securities for Credit Suisse's investment bank venture in China, which is expected to face significant regulatory scrutiny. Read more here about Why does Ant Group want to acquire this JV.
Shein is considering an IPO in the UK, due to low likelihood of obtaining approval in the US.
Lianlian DigiTech passed the listing hearing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CICC and J.P. Morgan as the joint sponsors.
In last month’s edition, we reported that Ant Group is finalizing a $200 million deal to acquire Dutch payments firm MultiSafepay. Concerns have been raised over this potential deal. Analysts and European politicians warn that this acquisition could grant Alipay and the Chinese government a strategic position in the EU market.
Product & Partnership Launches
Airwallex is partnering with McLaren F1 team to modernize McLaren’s global financial operations through its treasury management and cross-border pay-outs and settlement product suite.
London-based fintech Ebury introduced a solution for direct transactions between the Brazilian real and Chinese yuan.
Alipay+ formed partnerships with Thailand’s 7-Eleven stores, Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and UAE’s major airports.
Ant Group partnered with Yapily, a European open banking platform, to introduce commercial variable recurring payments for e-commerce.
Ant Group and the Shanghai municipal government have formed a strategic partnership to enhance collaboration in areas including blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI).
Other News
Other Reads
Why subscribe to This Week in Fintech?• Join other execs from Visa, Plaid, Stripe, Robinhood, Revolut, Chime, Rapyd, and more to get the latest insights and deep dives.• Learn from and collaborate with the world's largest fintech community, with 100,000+ members.• Memberships start at $10 per month.👉 Join today!
