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 A series of lawsuits have been filed in the United States after an
unusually public fracas with a Chinese regulator last month over the
issue of fakes being sold on Alibaba's websites.
"As for the lawsuits that came about from recent events, I ask that
Alibaba employees be at ease," Ma said in his annual letter, sent
out before Lunar New Year.
"The Group will attach high importance to these, and we will uphold
the principles of objectivity, transparency and honesty to handle
this."
Since the beginning of the year, Alibaba has faced a number of
setbacks, with shares down 16.2 percent. Last month's third-quarter
results failed to impress investors after revenue growth missed
expectations, initially wiping off more than $25 billion from the
e-commerce titan's market value.
Also on Friday, a Chinese antitrust regulator said pricing tactics
in the nation's e-commerce sector would be probed to ensure a "fair"
market, potentially putting new scrutiny on businesses such as
Alibaba and JD.com Inc.
Last month, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce
(SAIC) said in a now-retracted 'white paper' that it had met with
Alibaba before the firm's blockbuster New York listing to discuss
the issue of fakes sold on its platform, but had withheld publishing
any report so as not to affect the initial public offering in
September.
Shares fell 4.4 percent the day the SAIC report was published,
spurring U.S. law firms to file lawsuits alleging Alibaba failed to
disclose risk factors to investors and thus harming their
investments.
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"We are monitoring the lawsuits triggered by the so-called 'White
Paper' and the related events," said an Alibaba spokeswoman by email
on Friday.
"We have always been transparent in our corporate governance and
daily business operations, and make our best efforts to protect the
interest of each and every shareholder. We will vigorously defend
ourselves and our business practices."
In his letter to Alibaba employees, Ma said the lawsuits were an
inevitable result of going public, as well as being a Chinese
company.
"Almost every large multinational company runs into these kinds of
challenges - IBM, Microsoft, Wal-Mart," Ma said.
(Reporting by Paul Carsten; Editing by Mark Potter)
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