Colliers International, a commercial real estate services and investment management, announced its 2018 class of proptech startups for the Colliers Proptech Accelerator powered by Techstars. This program is part of our focus on targeted innovation that will enable us to create solutions, shape technologies and find opportunities to advance our business and accelerate success. In our inaugural class, we have diverse technologies and entrepreneurs, including: Solutions across the real estate value chain such as commercial datasets for occupiers and investors; office services and tenant engagement; big data, analytics and artificial intelligence; space as a service; marketplaces and space utilization; and, Smart…
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OCBC Bank has piloted two Fintech solutions that leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to bolster its internal controls to safeguard the interests of customers and shareholders. The AI solutions augment the bank’s competency in the detection of trading anomalies during the audit of trading activities. This is done by analyzing trade data using machine learning algorithms. The two Fintech companies – Scila and Cardabel – were among eight that were shortlisted to be part of the 2018 TOV Innovation Challenge. The annual challenge is one of the programmes run by OCBC Bank’s Fintech unit, The Open Vault at OCBC (TOV), aimed…
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued for consultation proposed requirements for financial institutions (FIs) in Singapore to implement essential cyber security measures to protect their IT systems. These requirements will help FIs strengthen their cyber resilience and guard against cyber attacks. FIs will be required to implement six cyber security measures: address system security flaws in a timely manner; establish and implement robust security for systems; deploy security devices to secure system connections; install anti-virus software to mitigate the risk of malware infection; restrict the use of system administrator accounts that can modify system configurations; and strengthen user authentication for…
Mileslife, an app where users can earn miles from dining and everyday spending, has recently launched their latest initiative – Mileslife Health. The new function rewards users with bonus miles upon completion of activity targets in a bid to motivate Singaporeans to hit their recommended step count every day, starting from 5,000 steps onwards. Short-term benefits, long-term impacts According to data from the Health Promotion Board (HPB), the average Singaporean today is heavier and Singapore is at risk of hitting obesity rates of 15% by 2024. People who are obese are at higher risk of developing health problems such as…
Just three more weeks until the F10 Fintech Hackathon in Singapore. Read here how a Hackathon changed the lives of some entrepreneurs. After taking part in FinTech Hackathons, they quit their jobs and started to revolutionize the global finance sector: here are the stories of four Startup founders whose lives changed drastically thanks to their Hackathon ideas. Andrea Girasole was sent to the SIX Hackathon in Zurich by his then-employer to scout talented developers in March 2017. But everything turned out different: “One of the workshops offered at the Hackathon was about the digitalization of paper invoices. As I often forget…
After the successful launch of Australia’s first blockchain university short course, Developing Blockchain Strategy, RMIT Online announced the launch of two additional blockchain courses. This courses will provide students with a comprehensive overview of the technology, including the understanding of how to design blockchain infrastructure, to further their skills and learn how to think strategically about implementing a blockchain solution into the core of their businesses. Accenture identified a skills gap in qualified blockchain professionals, prompting the partnership with RMIT Online to add Designing Blockchain Solutions (commences 8 October) and Developing Blockchain Applications (commences 21 January) to its robust program offerings.…
INSEAD, the business school for the world, today announces the appointment of Don Tapscott, a leading authority on the digital age, as Adjunct Professor of Technology and Operations Management with effect from September 2018. INSEAD has also agreed a two-year partnership with The Blockchain Research Institute (BRI), a think tank co-founded by Mr. Tapscott. Blockchain is transforming business with far reaching implications for the global economy and society. It is widely known as the technology that underpins Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, and is referred to by Mr. Tapscott as the “Internet of value.” Blockchain also holds great potential for…
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) have signed a FinTech Agreement that allows referrals of innovative businesses between the two authorities. The Agreement reflects the commitment of both authorities to support the continuous development of FinTech and innovation to deliver new and enhanced financial services to manage risks better, reduce costs, and increase efficiency. The Agreement centres on a referral mechanism which will enable the authorities to refer FinTech companies to each other, as well as facilitate the sharing of information on financial sector innovation in their respective markets. Both authorities have also…
Coinbase regularly engages with students and universities across the country as part of recruiting efforts. They partnered with Qriously to ask students directly about their thoughts on crypto and blockchain — and in this report, they outline findings on the growing roster of crypto and blockchain courses amid a steady rise in student interest. When David Yermack, the finance department chair at New York University Stern School of Business, first offered his course on blockchain and financial services in 2014, 35 students signed up, eight fewer than the school’s typical elective. By spring 2018, the number of enrolled students climbed to 230,…
Standard Chartered announced today a collaboration with Siemens Financial Services, the financing arm of Siemens, and TradeIX, a digital trade provider, to carry out an industry-first client pilot to create an end-to-end blockchain-based smart guarantees proposition in trade finance. With a view to transform the traditionally paper intensive Bank Guarantees business, this is the first blockchain client pilot that fully digitises the process, from initiation of the bank guarantee to the claim handling. Motasim Iqbal, Head, Transaction Banking UAE, Standard Chartered, said, “This is an industry-defining solution which we believe will transform the way guarantees are issued and processed in…
It seems like every day that another gaming company is receiving a 100-million-dollar capital injection from a major tech overlord or private investor. Korea’s Long, Booming Relationship with Gaming The amount of investment that is piling into the Korean gaming market is simply astonishing. By 2021, the eSports industry will be worth well over 1.6 billion dollars. When did all of this start happening? Korea has been a leader in gaming since StarCraft rose in popularity at internet cafes in the late 90s and early 2000s. The early days of PC Bangs laid the groundwork for a revolution in gaming…
Travelstop, a Singapore based travel startup that plans to re-imagine and simplify business travel in Asia, has raised US$1.2 million (S$1.65 million) from leading investors in Singapore and USA, and is launching in Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia today. The Seed investment was led by Singapore-based venture capital firm SeedPlus, along with a leading, travel focused venture capital firm based in the US. Several industry veterans including Dan Lynn and Vikram Malhi (ex-Expedia senior business leaders and founders of Zuzu Hospitality Solutions), David Ko (President & COO of Rally Health), and Jarrod Howe (Regional Operations Director at Hyper…
CGS-CIMB Securities launches eWealth in Singapore. The robo-advisory platform taps on the Company‟s research capabilities to provide goal-based and thematic portfolios to help investors meet their need for investment diversification through pairing portfolios with investors‟ risk profiles and investment objectives. Ms Carol Fong, Group CEO of CGS-CIMB Securities (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., said, “CGS-CIMB eWealth is a good complement to our existing brokerage business which helps clients to grow their wealth with mid-to-long term strategies. Leveraging our strong research capabilities, we will provide clients with a wide range of portfolio selections, from conservative options for those with a low-risk appetite to…
The Monetary Authority of Singapore and Singapore Exchange announced a collaboration to develop Delivery versus Payment (DvP) capabilities for settlement of tokenised assets across different blockchain platforms. This will allow financial institutions and corporate investors to carry out simultaneous exchange and final settlement of tokenised digital currencies and securities assets, improving operational efficiency and reducing settlement risks. Three companies, Anquan, Deloitte and Nasdaq have been appointed as technology partners for this project. They will leverage on the open-source software developed and made publicly available in Project Ubin Phase The project will produce a report that examines the potential of automating DvP…
OCBC Bank claims to become the first bank in Southeast Asia to launch a robo-investment service, OCBC RoboInvest. Targeting young and tech-savvy investors, it requires an initial investment amount of SGD3,500.00. Just as they might pick a playlist using a digital music service, customers can choose from 28 diverse portfolios of equities and exchange traded funds across six markets, constructed based on themes like technology, real estate investment trusts, fast-moving-consumer-goods companies, property, healthcare and food & beverage. OCBC RoboInvest uses algorithms to monitor each portfolio automatically and periodically re-balance assets if there are economic and market movements that impact the portfolio.…
We talked to Dr Cambria ahead of his presentation at the Big Data and AI Leaders Summit (September 12 & 13, Singapore), to discuss AI and the challenges it can both solve and create. Dr Erik Cambria is an Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University and recipient of many awards, including the IEEE Outstanding Early Career award and the AI’s 10 to Watch award by IEEE Intelligent Systems. He is also the founder of SenticNet, a spinoff offering B2B sentiment analysis services. Tell us about yourself, your background and what you do I have been always passionate about reasoning and, in…
While the coherent regulation of blockchain and fintech industry is yet to be developed, fintech startups find themselves navigating through regulatory jungles of various dos and don’ts when formulating their business models. Recent actions and statements of most state regulators showed that many tokens currently in circulation are likely to be considered investment instruments regulated by securities laws, and even non-security tokens may fall under the regulation, such as payment services or insurance, as well as KYC/AML requirements and customer protection laws. Thus, fluency in financial regulation becomes an important success factor for fintech projects in crypto industry. Teams of…
A little more than 3 months after their successful ICO, the German company Unibright is making headlines with high potential partnerships s and first customers for real use cases. Being a team of developers with 20+ years of experience in business integration, Unibright seems to know how to address common key problems of any company when it comes to new technology, especially in terms of Blockchain. Marten Jung, CEO from UNIBRIGHT states: „Nowadays most companies have a strong interest in Blockchain technology, but struggle to use it. That is why we created the Unibright framework. It’s an easy-to-use, non-techie approach…
Sophisticated and intelligent threats have become the norm rather than the exception in the cryptocurrency space. Sentinel Protocol is conceived as a fundamental collective intelligence system, enabling the entire crypto community to support one another in reducing crypto scams and frauds. Sentinel Protocol has a unique story: founder and CEO Patrick Kim, experienced an Ether wallet theft. In 2016, he lost 7,218 Ether from a geth-mist wallet due to previously unrecognized security vulnerabilities. Following the attack, Patrick dedicated himself to investigating the attack vectors which led to security patches to the wallet, mitigating the risk for future geth-mist users. While…
Commonwealth Bank has been mandated by the World Bank to be the sole arranger of the first bond globally to be created, allocated, transferred and managed using blockchain technology. The $AUD Kangaroo bond, termed ‘bond-i’ – Blockchain Offered New Debt Instrument – has been developed with the support and input of the investor community including Northern Trust, QBE and Treasury Corporation of Victoria. Once launched the bond will be issued and distributed on a blockchain platform operated by the World Bank and CBA in Washington and Sydney, respectively. This collaboration built on the longstanding partnership between the two organisations, with the World…