Asia

September 23, 2026 @ 12:48 am By Michael Wong  |  

Mynt Inc., the parent company of Philippine e-wallet GCash, has received approval from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) for an initial public offering that is set to become the largest in the exchange’s history, marking a major test for investor appetite for the country’s fintech… Read More

September 22, 2026 @ 10:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

South Korea’s consumer finance platforms have taken another step toward tokenized money. Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank have signed a memorandum of understanding with Fireblocks to study secure digital asset infrastructure in the country, with stablecoins at the center of the work. The non-binding pact,… Read More

September 22, 2026 @ 9:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CloudTech Group has introduced RooRooEx, a digital-asset trading venue meant to give professional desks, high-net-worth clients, and individual investors in the Asia-Pacific region access to tools and pricing that have long been associated with large institutions. The Melbourne-based firm built the platform on technology from… Read More

September 22, 2026 @ 2:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Sweden have dismantled a cross-border money-laundering network that investigators say moved millions in criminal proceeds through cash and cryptocurrency, with digital trails pointing toward organized crime and paid assassinations. In a coordinated operation announced this week, UAE security… Read More

September 22, 2026 @ 4:53 am By Michael Wong  |  

The number of credit cards in circulation in Hong Kong rose 36.1% year-on-year to 31.03 million at the end of the second quarter, while the value of credit card transactions increased 6.8%, data from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) showed. Credit card transactions reached… Read More

September 22, 2026 @ 2:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Saudi Arabia has stepped back from Project mBridge, a multi-central-bank digital currency platform closely associated with China, after finishing a limited testing phase last year. The move became public this month when the Saudi central bank confirmed the details to the FT, more than a… Read More

September 21, 2026 @ 9:19 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong companies need to treat artificial intelligence governance as a board-level responsibility rather than an information technology project, with directors maintaining human accountability for AI-assisted decisions, Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Chairman Kelvin Wong said. Speaking at the Corporate Governance Conference 2026, Wong said… Read More

September 21, 2026 @ 9:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

South Korea’s central bank has begun testing a new around-the-clock settlement system designed to make the won easier for overseas investors to use. The Bank of Korea started the trial of its international won wire network on Monday morning, working with four major domestic lenders:… Read More

September 21, 2026 @ 4:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A Hong Kong court has imposed a four-year prison sentence on a former retail banker who accepted more than US$470,000 in Tether (USDT) to lend the appearance of legitimacy to forged standby letters of credit and related documents with a combined face value exceeding US$1.6… Read More

September 21, 2026 @ 12:40 am By Michael Wong  |  

The number of merchants using artificial intelligence to integrate payment services with Ant International has quadrupled over the past year, as the fintech company expands AI into payments, foreign exchange, treasury, and credit operations. Ant International said it expects 95% of merchants to be able… Read More

September 20, 2026 @ 9:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Vietnam and Austria are deepening practical cooperation on financial-market supervision, with digital assets at the center of the conversation. On September 15 in Vienna, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi met Mariana Kühnel, the newly appointed executive director of Austria’s Financial Market Authority… Read More

September 20, 2026 @ 1:42 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Philippine and regional financial authorities are looking to strengthen cross-border payment cooperation and regional emergency financing as ASEAN+3 economies work to improve their resilience to future financial shocks. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippines’ Department of Finance, Japan’s Ministry of Finance, and the… Read More

September 19, 2026 @ 6:37 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong has unveiled a five-year economic plan aimed at strengthening its role as an international financial, maritime, and trade centre while expanding its position as an innovation and technology hub and a centre for high-calibre talent. Chief Executive John Lee announced the First Five-Year… Read More

September 19, 2026 @ 6:32 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Xora, a Temasek-backed investment fund, has led an additional $53 million seed round in enterprise AI services company Hang Ten Systems, bringing the startup’s total funding to $85 million. Mayfield, which led Hang Ten’s first seed round, and Aramco Ventures also participated in the latest… Read More

September 19, 2026 @ 10:32 am By Michael Wong  |  

Singapore and China are expanding cooperation on sustainable finance, including transition activities, climate adaptation, and resilience, as regulators seek to develop financing mechanisms for projects exposed to climate risks. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the People’s Bank of China (PBC) held their fourth… Read More

September 18, 2026 @ 6:39 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based stablecoin payments company dtcpay has completed its Series A financing at US$25 million after bringing Japan’s SBI Group in as a strategic investor. The round was first led earlier in 2026 by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India. SBI Group is participating through SBI… Read More

September 18, 2026 @ 12:44 am By Omar Faridi  |  

North Korea has expanded a covert campaign to place information-technology staff inside American firms by recruiting people in third countries to help hide the true origin of job applicants, according to US officials and cybersecurity researchers. The effort previously relied heavily on stolen US identities… Read More

September 17, 2026 @ 8:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

South Korea’s police have advanced a months-long inquiry into domestic use of Polymarket from investigation into formal charging. Twenty-six local participants on the crypto prediction platform have been booked on suspicion of illegal gambling, and 18 of those cases have already been sent to prosecutors…. Read More

September 17, 2026 @ 2:48 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Grab Holdings (NASDAQ: GRAB) has agreed to take a controlling interest in Atome Financial, a Singapore-based digital lending platform owned by Advance Intelligence Group, in a two-stage transaction that would significantly expand Grab’s consumer-credit business across Southeast Asia. Under definitive agreements announced on 15 September… Read More

September 16, 2026 @ 9:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Saudi Arabia–based fintech Tabby has closed a $233 million Series F equity raise that values the company at $6.5 billion, marking another step up for one of the Middle East’s consumer finance platforms. The round was led by existing backer Blue Pool Capital, the Hong… Read More