November 13, 2020 - An investor in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws by Alibaba Group Holding Limited in connection with certain allegedly false and misleading statements made between October 21, 2020 and November 3, 2020.

Alibaba is an online and mobile commerce company. Alibaba Group Holding Limited owns a 33% equity interest in Ant Small and Micro Financial Services Group Co., Ltd. (“Ant Group”), a financial technology company that is best known for operating Alipay, one of the largest mobile and online payments platforms.

On July 20, 2020, Ant Group announced that it had begun the process of a concurrent initial public offering (“IPO”) on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

On October 26, 2020, Ant Group priced its IPO and was set to raise $34.5 billion.

On November 2, 2020,it was reported that Chinese regulators had met with Ant Group’s controller Jack Ma, executive chairman Eric Jing, Chief Executive Officer Simon Hu. The article stated that, though regulators did not provide details, “the Chinese word used to describe the interview – yuetan – generally indicates a dressing down by authorities.” The article also included a statement from Ant Group that it will “implement the meeting opinions in depth.”

On November 3, 2020, Ant Group’s IPO was suspended following a meeting between its controller Jack Ma, executive chairman Eric Jing, Chief Executive Officer Simon Hu and regulatory authorities in China. According to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Ant Group had reported significant issues such as the changes in financial technology regulatory environment, which may result in [the] company not meeting the conditions for listing or meeting the information disclosure requirements. Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) declined from $315.58 per share on October 29, 2020, to as low as $264.33 per share on November 10, 2020.

According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges on behalf of purchasers of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) common shares between October 21, 2020 and November 3, 2020, that the defendants violated Federal Securities Laws.

More specifically, the plaintiff claims that between October 21, 2020 and November 3, 2020, the Defendants failed to disclose to investors that Ant Group did not meet listing qualifications or disclosure requirements for certain material matters, that that certain impending changes in the Fintech regulatory environment would impact Ant Group’s business, that, as a result of the foregoing, Ant Group’s IPO was reasonably likely to be suspended, and that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.