A potential U.S. blacklisting of Ant Group, a Chinese financial technology giant, is unlikely to have a big impact on its business, experts told CNBC, given that the firm’s focus is on its domestic market.
Washington is trying to get Ant Group, which is 33% owned by Alibaba and controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, onto the U.S. “Entity List”, a blacklist which restricts American companies from doing business with individuals or firms listed. That’s according to a Reuters report, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Entity List requires American companies to get a license before exporting certain products to blacklisted firms.
Ant Group is currently preparing for a blockbuster concurrent initial public offering (IPO) in Shanghai and Hong Kong, so the threat of blacklisting comes at a very sensitive time.
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