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Ant Group has been ordered by Chinese regulators to “cut off” the “improper connections” between its payment platform and its financial products, in the first public comments on the fintech giant’s “rectification programme” since its blockbuster public offering was shelved.

The move could strip Ant down to a mobile payments platform and severely weaken its credit businesses, said analysts. Only 36 per cent of Ant’s revenues at present come from its payment services, with the remainder coming from digital finance.

The announcement by the People’s Bank of China on Monday clarifies some of the uncertainty that has hung over Ant since November when Beijing halted the group’s initial public offering in Shanghai, days before it was set to raise a record $37bn.

It also comes days after Alibaba, the Chinese technology group that owns a 33 per cent stake in Ant, was fined a record $2.8bn by Chinese antitrust regulators over restrictions it placed on merchants on its ecommerce platform.

After Alibaba shares rose sharply on Monday, #techFT’s Chris Nuttall writes that the jump is explained by the ecommerce company’s assertion that the fine represented the end of its antitrust travails, and by investors’ views that $2.8bn was not particularly damaging as a final price to pay. (FT)

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In the news

Minnesota police chief says officer shot and killed black man in error
Head of Brooklyn Center police Tim Gannon said an officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright, a young black man, during a traffic stop on Sunday intended to use a Taser and mistakenly fired her gun instead. In nearby Minneapolis, the judge in Derek Chauvin’s trial refused a defence request to sequester the jury after Wright’s killing triggered unrest. (FT, AP)

UK government launches probe into Cameron and Greensill  Boris Johnson has ordered an independent inquiry into the Greensill scandal that has engulfed his predecessor David Cameron amid concerns it has exposed a lax lobbying culture in Whitehall. (FT)

US distances itself from alleged attack on Iran’s nuclear site The US denied involvement in the incident at the Natanz underground site, while Germany warned the episode could harm the nuclear accord negotiations that resumed in Vienna on Tuesday. (FT)

• Gando, an Iranian TV action thriller, delivers a warning to Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister and nuclear negotiator. The series was made by an institute believed to be affiliated to the elite and hardline Revolutionary Guards. (FT)

HSBC to produce documents in Meng Wanzhou extradition row The US Department of Justice had obtained the documents from HSBC bank as part of its investigation into whether Huawei breached sanctions against Iran, resulting in the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, deputy chair of the board and chief financial officer, who is also the daughter of Huawei’s founder, on charges of fraud. (FT)

Hyundai faces regulator probe over alleged insider trading South Korea’s financial regulators are examining allegations that Hyundai Motor executives traded on inside information about the company’s talks with Apple on developing an autonomous electric car, according to people with knowledge of the situation. (FT)

Millionaire businessman elected Ecuador’s president Guillermo Lasso will be Ecuador’s next president after pulling off a remarkable victory in Sunday’s election, overcoming a deficit of 13 percentage points between the first and second rounds to beat leftwing candidate Andrés Arauz. (FT)

US executives discuss co-ordinated voting law response Chief executives from some of America’s biggest companies joined together at the weekend to oppose contentious voting legislation bills that have been introduced in 47 states. The movie Emancipation will change plans to shoot in Georgia in response to the law, director Antoine Fuqua and actor Will Smith said on Monday. (FT, Vulture)

The day ahead

Iranian foreign minister to host Russian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif will host his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday. The pair are expected to discuss joint energy and transport projects, the Iran nuclear deal and other international issues.

US defence secretary visits Germany Lloyd Austin, US defence secretary, is scheduled to make his inaugural visit to Germany on Tuesday when he will meet counterpart Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as part of a European tour which also takes him to Israel, Nato’s headquarters and the UK. (FT)

The Financial Times and Nikkei present an exclusive online discussion on Tuesday on the Biden administration’s policies as it nears its first 100 days in power, and the implications for Asia, post-pandemic. Register for the event here.

What else we’re reading

The $14bn rise of rapid grocery delivery services Despite Deliveroo’s disappointing IPO, investors are pouring money into “dark store” disrupters that allow users to be go from an app-purchase to sipping on a Coca-Cola and pistachios at a board room meeting table in mere minutes. (FT)

US put off derivatives rules before Archegos blew up Crucial parts of 2010 legislation meant to shore up big banks and temper excessive risk taking in the derivatives market, were delayed again and again. Critics argue that faster implementation could have prevented the implosion of Bill Hwang’s family office and the multibillion-dollar losses it caused two banks. (FT)

‘I’m concerned that what is being done is substantially excessive’ Former treasury secretary Larry Summers tells Martin Wolf that the scale of Joe Biden’s fiscal policy could lead to overheating and wasted resources. This is the latest in our Economist Exchange collection of interviews in which leading FT commentators talk to economists about what recovery from the pandemic looks like. (FT)

• The World Bank and IMF were excoriated in the 1980s and ‘90s for making the poor pay for basic health provision or presuming that deficits were bad for growth. Their conversion, on display at last week’s spring meetings, could put Saul of Tarsus to shame, writes Martin Sandbu.

The future of finance The pandemic provides one answer to quickly emerging financial trends from non-fungible tokens to meme-stocks: some people have more time on their hands and many need to make quick cash from home. It might also be a sign of a much larger shift in how we think about money. (NY Mag)

FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year 2021 To celebrate the launch of this year’s Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award, we asked longlisted, shortlisted and winning authors to choose a book to add to a post-pandemic reading list. (FT)

Esther Perel’s new podcast lays bare working lives Perel is primarily an expert on sex and relationships, but the overlaps between working partnerships and romantic ones are stark. Her new podcast How’s Work? underlines the similarities. (FT)

Video of the day

What does ESG-friendly really mean? Environmental, social and governance-focused indices advanced 40 per cent in 2019-20. But what counts as ESG is far from straightforward, says FT data journalist Brooke Fox. (FT)