Business/Finance
See other Business/Finance ArticlesTitle: Jack Ma's Latest U.S. Expansion Plan Threatened by Trump Agenda
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URL Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti ... -lawmakers-cite-china-concerns
Published: Apr 1, 2017
Author: jj
Post Date: 2017-04-01 09:07:52 by HAPPY2BME-4UM
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Views: 64
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s latest U.S. expansion plan is facing rising political obstacles.
On Friday, two members of the House of Representatives urged the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to conduct a "full and thorough" investigation of Ant Financial’s proposed acquisition of MoneyGram International Inc., a money-transfer service.
"The proposal merits careful evaluation as it would provide Chinese access to the U.S. financial infrastructure, a move that would pose significant national security risks if completed," Congressman Kevin Yoder and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
MoneyGram shares fell 0.50 percent to $16.81 at the close in New York. They have more than doubled in the past year.
Euronet CEO Michael Brown wrote to Mnuchin this week arguing Ant’s offer raises national security concerns because money transmitters collect confidential data on users which the government requires them to retain for several years. Money transmitters also get confidential requests from the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network about transactions that may be connected to terrorism or money laundering.
Yoder and Johnson reiterated those concerns in their letter on Friday, pointing out that Ant Financial is partly owned by Chinese state institutions. This could give a foreign government access to critical infrastructure and could be used for "intelligence purposes, location tracking, and identifying vulnerabilities for coercion," they said.
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