Asia

September 13, 2026 @ 1:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

India’s capital market regulator has begun a closely watched experiment that could reshape how corporate debt is issued, recorded and paid for. At the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra and Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman Tuhin… Read More

September 13, 2026 @ 2:48 am By Michael Wong  |  

Asia-Pacific hardware and software companies that make products with digital elements available on the European Union market are now required to report actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe incidents impacting product security under the bloc’s Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). The reporting obligations took effect on Sept…. Read More

September 12, 2026 @ 5:54 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Singapore’s central bank is urging financial institutions to prepare for a rapid transformation driven by artificial intelligence, tokenisation, and quantum computing, while strengthening governance and cybersecurity as increasingly autonomous AI systems reshape the financial system. Chia Der Jiun, managing director of the Monetary Authority of… Read More

September 12, 2026 @ 3:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tether, the issuer of the world’s most widely used dollar-linked stablecoin, has been publicly thanked by the US Department of Justice for helping investigators disrupt a sprawling marketplace accused of supporting crypto fraud and money laundering. The company said on September 11, 2026, that the… Read More

September 11, 2026 @ 1:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

On September 9, 2026, US authorities took action against Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language marketplace investigators describe as a central hub for Southeast Asia’s industrial-scale online fraud economy. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) listed the platform as a significant transnational criminal organization and also designated… Read More

September 11, 2026 @ 7:59 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital asset exchange Gemini (NASDAQ:GEMI) has completed a long-running regulatory process in Singapore, and its local subsidiary now holds a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The approval, announced by the company in early September 2026, authorizes Gemini Digital Payments Singapore Pte. Ltd…. Read More

September 10, 2026 @ 2:13 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Iran-linked cyber spies have been approaching technology specialists in aviation, aerospace and financial services with fabricated job opportunities that conceal previously unseen malware, according to recent findings from Kaspersky. The cluster, which the Russian firm tracks as Mirage Kitten, has focused on developers and other… Read More

September 10, 2026 @ 12:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has set a clearer path for companies that take digital assets in the course of trade. The Federal Tax Authority has published Directive on Tax Transactions No. 3 of 2026, which tells taxable persons exactly how to turn cryptocurrency consideration… Read More

September 9, 2026 @ 7:25 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL), the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Tazapay, a Singapore-based specialist in business-to-business cross-border payments. The announcement, made on September 8, 2026, positions the transaction as a way to broaden Circle’s payments infrastructure and… Read More

September 8, 2026 @ 3:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Saudi Arabia based payments group PayTabs has struck an agreement to take over Amazon Payment Services’ operations across the MENA region, in a transaction both sides have already approved and valued at more than $100 million. The move would fold Amazon’s regiplatform onal merchant-acquiring and processing… Read More

September 8, 2026 @ 2:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

DBS (SGX: D05) and Citi (NYSE: C) have shown that commercial banks can move US dollars across the Pacific on a Saturday, without waiting for Monday morning clearing windows. On 5 September 2026, the two institutions completed a live dollar transfer between DBS in Singapore… Read More

September 8, 2026 @ 1:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Metaplanet’s (TYO: 3350) stock weakened again after Chief Executive Simon Gerovich tried to answer shareholder criticism in a public note and left the market unconvinced. The Tokyo-listed Bitcoin treasury company dropped nearly 10 percent on Tuesday to 244 yen, after a 7.5 percent decline on… Read More

September 8, 2026 @ 5:17 am By Michael Wong  |  

Saudi Arabia’s Al Qadsiah Club has signed a memorandum of understanding with cybersecurity provider LogRhythm | Exabeam to explore the use of cloud-based security and AI  tools to protect the sports club’s growing digital operations. The agreement, signed on the sidelines of technology conference LEAP… Read More

September 7, 2026 @ 11:13 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Singapore-based Ant International has received a payment institution licence from Brazil’s central bank, expanding its regulated presence as the financial technology company strengthens its local and cross-border payment capabilities in Latin America’s largest economy. The licence from Banco Central do Brasil builds on services Ant… Read More

September 7, 2026 @ 10:01 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved an initial public offering (IPO) by Mynt Inc., operator of the GCash mobile wallet, that could raise up to 92.32 billion pesos ($1.6 billion), potentially making it one of the country’s largest-ever listings. The regulator approved… Read More

September 7, 2026 @ 3:02 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has warned the public to stay alert to phishing scams involving the unauthorised binding of payment cards, including ATM cards, to contactless mobile payment services. The HKMA said it recently received reports from banks of scams in which fraudsters… Read More

September 7, 2026 @ 9:14 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) has expanded its digital-asset services in the United Arab Emirates, introducing institutional spot trading in Bitcoin and Ethereum through its Dubai International Financial Centre unit. The bank said the offering makes it the first global systemically important bank to provide this… Read More

September 6, 2026 @ 5:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Informal money-transfer systems such as hawala have grown more organised and now lean heavily on digital tools to hide criminal proceeds, a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) report concludes. Drawing on information from about 45 countries and organisations, including Pakistan and India, the Paris-based body… Read More

September 6, 2026 @ 3:16 pm By Michael Wong  |  

German development finance institution DEG is proposing an additional $10 million loan to JC Growth Credit Fund 1 LP, a venture debt vehicle managed by Singapore-based investment firm January Capital, according to a disclosure seen by CrowdFund Insider. The proposed financing would top up an… Read More

September 6, 2026 @ 2:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

South Korea is preparing what appears to be one of the most progressive official programs yet to put conventional capital-market products onto blockchain rails. On September 4, 2026, the Financial Services Commission presented a staged policy roadmap for tokenized securities after a public-private council meeting… Read More