There’s been a lot of hand-wringing over Ant Financial’s failed acquisition of MoneyGram International this week. But the decision by US officials to effectively block the deal isn’t an indication of souring US-China ties or of Trumpian protectionism. Instead, it’s simply an acknowledgement of a new reality: in the information age, consumer data is a national-security interest. As a money-transfer service with some 350,000 locations in 200 countries, MoneyGram was a sensible strategic target for Ant, which is hoping to expand its business overseas. The problem was that the $1.2bn deal would’ve given a Chinese company with government ties extensive access to US consumer financial data, including a large military customer base. This caught the attention of US regulators and members of Congress, who objected strongly. Ant pledged to keep MoneyGram’s servers and data within the US, but it soon became clear that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) — a panel that reviews...
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