(Yicai Global) Jan. 21 -- The general manager of Ant Group’s insurance business department has left the fintech giant to work for traditional insurer Sunshine Property and Casualty Insurance amid growing uncertainty over the future of the firm’s online insurance products, Shanghai Securities News reported today.

Yin Ming, who is also vice president at Ant, will take up the post of general manager at Beijing-based Sunshine P&C Insurance, the report said. He will be replaced by fellow VP Shao Wenlan as head of Ant’s insurance services.

Yin is the first senior executive to depart since Hangzhou-based Ant’s initial public offering was suspended in November last year amid a crackdown by authorities on monopolistic behavior by internet-based giants. It also comes at a time when Chinese regulators are toughening their stance on the entry of these firms into peripheral fields, such as insurance, without the necessary permits.

Yin, who joined Ant five years ago from China Life Property and Casualty Insurance, has presided over the growth of its mutual aid health platform Xianghubao into the country’s biggest online insurance site. More than 570 million users of Ant’s mobile payment service Alipay took part in the mutual insurance program for the 12-month period ended June 30 last year.

Online mutual aid offers financial aid for medical treatment by getting members to club together and share expenses equally. It is a form of insurance, although the platforms claim to act as intermediary services, said Xiao Sa, partner of Beijing-based Dacheng Law Offices.

However, these operators do not have a license to practice insurance and as a result pose a risk to stakeholders, the country’s banking and insurance regulators said last September. They have a large number of members, can gather a huge amount of idle funds, but there exists no regulation to govern them as well as solve compensation and other issues.

Ant has said it might have to close Xianghubao if it cannot meet regulators’ requirements. Internet giant Baidu shut its private insurance scheme Denghuo Huzhou in August last year, less than one year after opening, and leading on-demand food delivery firm Meituan announced this month it will close its service Meituan Huzhou.

Shao joined Ant in 2015. She has served as the general manager of its north China business group and the consumer finance business group. Shao has been the chair of Ant’s private credit scoring and loyalty program Zhima Credit since June 2019.

Editor: Kim Taylor