Under the financial holding company structure, Ant's businesses would likely be subject to more capital restrictions, potentially curbing its ability to lend more and expand at the pace of the last few years.
SoftBank Group Corp rose 4.5 per cent, the most in more than two weeks. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd rose 5.7 per cent in Hong Kong, the most since Nov 5. The Japanese company is the largest shareholder in Alibaba, a major backer of Ant. Ant was last month poised for a public listing that would have valued it at more than US$300 billion, before regulators intervened and scuttled the IPO.