Tencent Faces Potential Fine for Violating Central Bank Regulations

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK)  could be fined at least hundreds of millions of yuan for violating central bank regulations on mobile network WeChat Pay.

According to the report, financial regulators recently discovered that WeChat Pay has violated China's anti-money laundering rules and violates Know-Your-Customer and Know-Your-Business regulations.

According to the report, the mobile payments network was also found to have permitted the transfer and laundering of funds with illicit transactions such as gambling. The central bank of China found out about the violations during a routine inspection of WeChat Pay, that concluded in late 2021.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd was also fined by China last year 18 billion yuan for its anti-monopoly violations. In an effort to fight money laundering the country has also launched a three-year campaign led by the People’s Bank of China and the Ministry of Public Security.