Asia

October 12, 2025 @ 8:12 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Banglalink and its sole shareholder VEON have written to Bangladesh Bank expressing interest in securing a digital bank licence, the companies said in an expression-of-interest (EoI) sent to Governor Ahsan H Mansur, according to people familiar with the matter. The approach follows earlier discussions with… Read More

October 12, 2025 @ 4:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tax authorities in India are said to be investigating over 400 high-net-worth individuals that are using crypto exchange Binance. These accounts are being suspected of attempting to bypass India’s high taxes on crypto transactions, a report from The Economic Times has claimed. The traders could… Read More

October 11, 2025 @ 11:06 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong’s de facto central bank published a tentative six-month issuance schedule for institutional government bonds under its Infrastructure Bond Programme and Government Sustainable Bond Programme, outlining planned offerings in both Hong Kong dollars and offshore yuan via competitive tenders from October 2025 to March… Read More

October 10, 2025 @ 11:18 am By Michael Wong  |  

Singapore-based YY Group Holding Limited said it will integrate enterprise-grade stablecoin payment infrastructure from Obita to power cross-border receivables, payables and treasury operations across its global gig-work platforms, under a memorandum of understanding. YY Group, a workforce solutions and integrated facilities management provider, said the… Read More

October 10, 2025 @ 1:51 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) demonstrated during Q3 2025 its commitment to upholding the integrity of the financial sector through a series of regulatory and enforcement measures. From July to September, MAS says that it has addressed critical issues ranging from licensing non-compliance and… Read More

October 9, 2025 @ 10:54 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Gulf Bank said it signed a partnership with the Institute of Banking Studies to deliver specialised training as the lender prepares to convert into a Sharia-compliant institution, after preliminary approval from the Central Bank of Kuwait in August. The agreement was signed by Bader Al-Ali,… Read More

October 9, 2025 @ 10:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), in collaboration with the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), announced the launch of the IADS Developer Hackathon and held the Kick-off Ceremony, marking the beginning of a journey to foster tech breakthroughs and advancements for the… Read More

October 9, 2025 @ 10:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Japan is one of the world’s largest digital economies, and the demand for integrations between traditional finance and digital assets continues to grow at a steady. To unlock this potential, Binance Japan and PayPay have entered into a capital and business alliance that will aim… Read More

October 9, 2025 @ 10:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

India’s regulatory ecosystem for digital currencies remains a study in contrasts. While the country claims the world’s highest grassroots cryptocurrency adoption rate, as highlighted in Chainalysis‘ 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, policymakers continue to favor Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) like the digital rupee (e₹)… Read More

October 8, 2025 @ 11:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Elliptic analysis reveals that North Korea-linked hackers have reportedly stolen over $2 billion in crypto-assets so far this year, which is said to be the largest annual total on record, with around 3 months still to go before 2025 comes to an end. But to… Read More

October 8, 2025 @ 9:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

Gemini (NASDAQ:GEMI)has expanded its platform to Australia, according to a note from the company. Gemini has registered with AUSTRAC and plans banking integrations to make trading crypto easier for Australians. Gemini, founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, has recently become a publicly traded company in… Read More

October 7, 2025 @ 2:48 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Ant International, a global digital payment, digitisation, and financial technology provider, today officially launched AI SHIELD to protect AI systems from threats and vulnerabilities, a toolkit to “help AI-powered financial services stay secure and compliant as AI transforms global finance.” Ensuring security is at the… Read More

October 5, 2025 @ 3:40 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Thailand has the ingredients to develop into a regional centre for digital assets, according to Binance, which cited regulatory clarity, relatively high public awareness and supportive macroeconomic conditions as the key pillars for growth. S. B. Seker, the exchange’s newly appointed Asia-Pacific head, told local… Read More

October 5, 2025 @ 7:34 am By Michael Wong  |  

The United Arab Emirates’ drive to modernise its monetary system, including the rollout of a Digital Dirham and new rules for stablecoins, is improving policy transmission and supporting financial resilience, the International Monetary Fund said at the end of its 2025 Article IV mission. “Enhancements… Read More

October 4, 2025 @ 6:26 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Indonesia-based private equity firm Sriwijaya Capital has signed a memorandum of understanding with Abu Dhabi’s BlueFive Capital to form a strategic alliance aimed at channeling more Gulf capital into Southeast Asia and expanding access for ASEAN investors to Middle Eastern opportunities, the firms stated. The… Read More

October 4, 2025 @ 2:20 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Singapore strengthened its position as the world’s third-largest foreign exchange trading hub, with average daily turnover rising 60% to $1.485 trillion in April 2025 from April 2022, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said, citing results of the Bank for International Settlements’ 2025 Triennial Central… Read More

October 4, 2025 @ 2:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

HarbourVest Partners, an independent private markets asset manager with more than $147 billion assets under management (as of March 31, 2025), announced the opening of its office in ADGM, the International Financial Centre (IFC) of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The expansion underscores the firm’s… Read More

September 30, 2025 @ 3:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital assets firm OKX noted that the so-called “next generation” of stablecoin payments begins with the launch of OKX Pay in Singapore. OKX Pay is Singapore’s stablecoin-powered scan-to-pay service, “enabling customers to pay with USDT or USDC stablecoins at GrabPay merchant-partners by scanning their GrabPay… Read More

September 29, 2025 @ 5:38 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Singapore’s financial regulator said disputes over investment-linked policies (ILPs) more than doubled in 2024, prompting new consumer protection measures as the city-state seeks to strengthen oversight of complex financial products. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said 211 ILP-related cases were handled by the Financial… Read More

September 29, 2025 @ 4:45 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong-based fintech platform WeLab announced an artificial intelligence partnership with Google to accelerate digital banking across Asia Pacific, as the company targets serving 500 million users by 2032 with AI-powered financial services. The collaboration will see WeLab leverage Google’s advanced AI models and cloud… Read More