Some of the pressure on Chinese companies came fromВ the TrumpВ administrationвЂ™s haphazard trade warВ against China, which included efforts to force the mainlandвЂ™s companies to delist from U.S. Indeed, the public reason AlibabaвЂ™s financial arm Ant Group saw itsВ Hong Kong and Shanghai IPO plans squashed at the eleventh hour in 2020 was due to concerns over regulating the company as a financial firm, rather than aВ technology one вЂ“ the suspension came just after China drafted new rules forВ microlending online. The mainland began implementing regulations over the past two years, sometimes overdue, on new technology areas which had been allowed to engage in a В«Wild EastВ» strategy.

Tencent's shares are still down around 16 percent so far this year, and off more than 40 percent over the past 12 months. That comes barely a day after Chinese equities had rallied after government bodies had vowed to provide market support, including progress on issues related to listing on U.S. The news of the potential ring-fencing of WeChat Pay may be a factor in the drop Friday in TencentвЂ™s share price, which was off around 1.7 percent at 2:00 p.m. That news had decked TencentвЂ™s shares, which had already been hurt by ChinaвЂ™s tech sector crackdown The news follows a report earlier this week from the Wall Street Journal, citing sources, that Tencent may face a potentially record fine for alleged money-laundering violations by the WeChat Pay network. The report said WeChat Pay is an integral feature of the WeChat superapp, and making it less convenient to use could reduce its appeal. Tencent, like Ant Group, had been told last year to put its banking, insurance and other financial services into a financial holding company to be regulated like a bank, the report said.Д«ut regulators are now considering requiring WeChat Pay be included in the financial holding company, operating separately from the main social media arm, Bloomberg reported, citing the sources.

ChinaвЂ™s regulators may tell Tencent Holdings to house its WeChat Pay in a financial holding company, with potentially new licensing requirements, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Tencent china wechat pay