Image Source: Visual China

BEIJING, June 1 (TMTPOST) — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group’s fintech arm Ant Group has added two new independent directors to its board, according to the company’s announcement.

Yang Xiaolei and Laura Cha, two seasoned businesswomen, are appointed as new independent directors to Ant Group’s board. This means that over one third of the independent directors of Ant Group’s board are women. Independent directors now take up 50% of Ant Group’s board. Board directors representing the shareholders have been decreased from three directors to two. Jiang Fang will no longer serve at Ant Group’s board.

The move signifies that Ant Group continues to improve its corporate governance and the independence of the board.

Yang, one of the new independent directors, is also an independent director at Hengfeng Bank Co., Ltd. Yang used to be a lawyer for a law firm under CITIC Group, partner at Jingtiangong Cheng Law Firm and King & Wood Mallesons.

Cha is a businesswoman and politician in Hong Kong. She is a non-official member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, Chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Non-Executive Deputy Chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Cha is also a non-executive director at Unilever.

After the adjustment, Ant Group’s board will consist of two executive directors, two non-executive directors representing the shareholders and four independent directors.

To adapt to the changing regulations, Ant Group has taken several measures to improve its corporate governance to manage regulatory risks. Measures taken by Ant Group include enhancing the company board’s role, setting up a committee for managing conflicts of interest at the board, risk management and consumer right protection committee and privacy protection and data security committee. It is said that Ant Group will add more independent directors to the board so as to increase the ratio of independent directors to over 50%.