Asia

April 5, 2021 @ 10:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has provided an updated set of regulatory guidelines that are meant to serve as a framework to support the operations of Fintech companies. Many of these startups offer third-party services to clients of… Read More

April 5, 2021 @ 9:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The National University of Singapore (NUS), a leading research university and the oldest higher education institution in the city-state, will reportedly be providing two new graduate-level programs focused on Fintech during the upcoming academic year. The program aims to assist with creating a comprehensive ecosystem… Read More

April 5, 2021 @ 4:00 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Huabei Announces Agriculture Promotion Plans On March 29th, Huabei, the consumer credit platform of Ant Group announced the launch of a series of agriculture promotion plans. For example, Huabei will offer consumption subsidies and platform traffic to help the farms sell more products. Besides, Huabei… Read More

April 5, 2021 @ 9:35 am By JD Alois  |  

UP Fintech Holding Limited (NASDAQ: TIGR) an online brokerage firm that wants to service global investors, reports that a consortium of institutional investors has subscribed to purchase convertible notes in an aggregate principal amount of USD $90 million through a private placement. The convertible notes… Read More

April 5, 2021 @ 9:14 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) revealed on Monday (April 5, 2021) that it has officially started Phase 1 of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilots and related experiments. The initial phase of testing will mainly focus on assessing the basic functions of CBDCs as… Read More

April 4, 2021 @ 9:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Elaine Sun, Compliance Director of digital assets firm Huobi Technology, recently noted that the traditional financial infrastructure and the idea or concept of money are “changing before our eyes.” Sun adds that the concept of “store of value” has mostly been associated or tied to… Read More

April 4, 2021 @ 8:00 pm By Daniel Daboczy  |  

It seems hard to believe, especially after a decade where it dominated new finance, but equity crowdfunding is still just in its infancy. Originally coined by entrepreneur Michael Sullivan in 2006, the true modern crowdfunding boom kicked off at the start of the previous decade… Read More

April 3, 2021 @ 10:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Razer, a leading gaming hardware producer, has managed to diversify its business operations during the past few years. Razer CEO and Co-founder Min-Liang Tan first launched the company in 2005 with the goal to develop a computer mouse that would be ideal for avid gamers…. Read More

April 2, 2021 @ 8:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pine Labs, an Asian merchant commerce solution provider that’s backed by payments giant Mastercard, has introduced a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solution in Malaysia. Pine Labs aims to offer a technology-focused offline payments platform where several different credit card issuers can use a common… Read More

April 2, 2021 @ 7:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has confirmed the launch of the delivery-versus-payment (DvP) link for cross-currency securities transactions between the Hong Kong dollar (HKD) CHATS and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) Financial Network System. These transactions wll reportedly involve Japanese Government Bond (BOJ-NET JGB) Services…. Read More

April 2, 2021 @ 6:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Uppsala Security has revealed that it received a Financial Sector Development Grant from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Uppsala Security, an established provider of tools for Crypto AML, Risk Management, Regulatory Compliance, and Cybersecurity confirmed on April 2, 2021, that they were chosen by… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 9:47 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Endowus, a Singapore-based wealthtech, announced on Thursday it raised $23 million through its Series A funding round, which was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from SoftBank Ventures Asia. Founded in 2017, Endowus stated it is seeking to empower people to “take control” of… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 8:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Atome Financial, the parent firm of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) company Atome, has reportedly finalized its acquisition of financing service provider PT Mega Finadana Finance in Indonesia. The terms of the deal have not been shared publicly. The acquisition should help Atome Financial with… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 10:34 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Paidy, a Japan-based buy now pay later brand, announced on Wednesday it raised $120 million through its Series D funding round, which included participation from JS Capital Management LLC, Soros Capital Management LLC,  Tybourne Capital Management Ltd, and Wellington Management. Paidy reported that since late… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 10:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) revealed on March 31, 2021, that Singapore plans to take part in global efforts to improve the overall capacity of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide assistance to “vulnerable” low-income nations in “dealing with the economic fallout from… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 12:57 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  imToken, a Singapore-based blockchain technology company, announced on Tuesday it raised $30 million through its Series B financing round, which was led by Qiming Venture Partners, with participation from its lead Series A investor IDG Capital and new investors including Breyer Capital, HashKey, Signum… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 12:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, is reportedly looking into adopting a virtual banking framework so that it may be leveraged to enable greater financial inclusion. The new digital banking guidelines are being developed to support a regulatory environment… Read More

March 30, 2021 @ 11:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bangkok Bank, one the largest commercial banks in Thailand, has introduced an international QR payments solution that will run between Thailand and Vietnam. The solution is reportedly being deployed with assistance from the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and State Bank of Vietnam (SBV). Bangkok Bank… Read More

March 29, 2021 @ 11:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ripple has agreed to acquire a 40% stake in cross-border payments Fintech Tranglo, according to a public release. Tranglo, based in Malaysia but operates across Asia, reports 1300 partners having completed 20 million transactions at $4 billion in value. Tranglo claims to be one of… Read More

March 29, 2021 @ 11:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fitch Ratings reports that the Islamic banking ecosystem in Oman is expected to continue growing during 2021-2022 after rather strong momentum last year. This, despite the COVID-19 outbreak and historically low oil prices, Fitch Ratings noted. Islamic financing in the MENA region country expanded by… Read More