Alibaba Group Holding’s financial affiliate has appointed a new chief executive officer as it prepares for a highly anticipated 2017 initial public offering. Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group named finance veteran and President Eric Jing to take the helm from Lucy Peng.

The management shuffle comes as Ant Financial is said to plan an IPO in Hong Kong next year, which could be one of the city’s biggest debuts since 2010. Since its inception as the operator of Alipay, the online payments system with 450 million active users, Ant Financial has expanded into wealth management, credit scoring and peer-to-peer lending.

Ant Financial, whose Alipay also forms the financial backbone of China’s largest e-commerce service, is worth at least $75 billion, according to CLSA. The company has said repeatedly it has set neither a timeline nor a destination for a listing.

China’s largest online financial services company competes with Tencent Holdings Ltd. in online payments as well as internet services from dining to food delivery. Its rapid expansion into multiple arenas of internet finance has increased the need for risk management, even as Tencent’s own payments service on social media platform WeChat takes market share away from Alipay.

Jing, recently named an Alibaba board member, majored in economics and was formerly chief financial officer of Guangzhou Pepsi Cola Beverage Co. He joined Alibaba in 2007 in the corporate finance division.