667: CCP’s suspension of Ant Group IPO: a mafioso casino. Roger W Robinson, @pssi_prague, @GordonGChang
Image: Circus Circus Casino sign, Las Vegas, Nevada Roger W Robinson, @pssi_prague, chairman of Prague Securities Studies Institute; and Gordon Chang, @GordonGChang, Daily Beast; in re: in re: The Guardian: “Jack Ma is tamed” [by suspending the IPO]. Ma is China’s richest man. Alibaba; Alipay has over a billi0n Chinese users (58% mkt share). The Ant Group was expected to mount the largest IPO in history, so Xi and the CCP could see Ma as an existential threat. Ma said in a speech, “China has a pawn-shop mentality in finance/economics.” This is the communist party eating one of its own. There were $3 trillion dollars invested in this IPO – imagine the CCP watching this level of power. This is a political invention that should signal that investment in China is in a casino; a sort of mafioso circumstance behind the scenes. CCP cannot control Ma’s power; have done so now in a ham-handed and destructive way in the global markets. Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, and Citigroup, US investors, probably found out from the press—humiliating. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/04/jack-ma-ant-group-is-tamed-social-media-reacts-after-china-blocks-ipo