Ant Financial's takeover of MoneyGram draws US lawmakers' criticism

Chinese firm Ant Financial’s 1.2-billion-dollar acquisition of US cash-transfer group MoneyGram is in doubt after US lawmakers criticized the deal as a threat to national security.

Republican senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran wrote letters to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claiming that the buyout of MoneyGram could hurt the US's financial infrastructure, according to the Financial Times.

Several US lawmakers have requested the Committee on Foreign Investment conduct a review of the deal.

Led by the US Treasury Department, the committee has the power to veto deals. A verdict is expected to be issued by midsummer, said the Financial Times.

Roberts wrote that the Chinese takeover of MoneyGram “should trigger no less concern than if a Chinese company were seeking to take control of a large, well-known bank.”

Moran said that handing over financial data of US citizens, including a large number of US military personnel, to a Chinese company is a cause for concern.

The two senators are both from Kansas, home to the headquarters of Euronet, a rival money transfer company that failed to gatecrash Ant’s deal with MoneyGram.

Last month, Euronet said its proposed offer to acquire MoneyGram was more likely to be completed as it did not require approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

MoneyGram shareholders will vote on the deal on Tuesday.

(CGTN)