Reported by Julie Zhu and Jane Xu

Chinese authorities announced on Friday a 7.12 billion yuan ($984 million) fine for Ant Group, ending a years-long regulatory overhaul of the fintech company and marking a key step to concluding a crackdown on the country’s internet sector.

China’s central bank said that financial regulators would fine Ant and its subsidiaries a total of 7.12 billion yuan, require it to stop operations of its crowdfunded medical aid service Xianghubao and compensate users.

The penalty amounts to one of the largest ever fines for an internet company in China.

Ant and its subsidiaries had violated laws and regulations in areas including corporate governance, financial consumer protection, payment and settlement business, as well as anti-money laundering obligations, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement.

Sources had earlier said that the fine on Ant had been revised to at least 8 billion yuan. Reuters reported in April that Chinese regulators were considering fining Ant about 5 billion yuan, a lower sum than what they initially had in mind.

Ant’s fine is the largest regulatory penalty imposed on a Chinese internet company since ride-hailing major Didi Global was fined $1.2 billion by China’s cybersecurity regulator last year.

Read full report: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-china-end-ant-groups-044747838.html