The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) takes seriously all IT incidents that affect the availability of digital banking services, said Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Minister in charge of MAS in a parliamentary reply. He added that four major retail banks have reported a total number of eight interruptions to their digital banking services since July 2021. While the incidents were mostly resolved within three hours, they affected on average about 12,000 customers, with the numbers ranging from 500 to 37,000. The longest interruption of 39 hours was experienced by DBS Bank from 23 to 25 November 2021, arising from…
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Binance has embarked on an aggressive expansion plan in Southeast Asia where the cryptocurrency exchange is looking to capitalize on booming trading activity to establish leadership in the region, and build influence in local markets. These ambitions were materialized by a series of appearances Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao – commonly known as “CZ” – has made over the past month across the region during which the business executive met with government officials, regulators and industry players to discuss his company’s plans and aspirations, ink strategic partnerships, and assert his desire to be part of regulatory discussions. In Cambodia,…
Singapore-based crypto platform Vauld announced that it will suspend all withdrawals, trading and deposits on its platform with immediate effect. Vauld said in a statement that it is facing financial challenges as it had to contend with customer withdrawals in excess of US$197.7 million since 12 June 2022. The crypto lender blamed the decline of the cryptocurrency market that was triggered by the collapse of Terraform Lab’s UST stablecoin, Celsius network’s pausing of withdrawals, and Three Arrows Capital defaulting on their loans as reasons for its woes. Vauld added that it has engaged the services of Kroll Pte Limited as…
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has been carefully considering the introduction of additional consumer protection safeguards to protect them against sharp speculative price swings. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Minister in charge of MAS said in a parliamentary reply that the regulator may consider placing limits on retail participation, and rules on the use of leverage when transacting in cryptocurrencies. However, he acknowledged that there will be a need for regulatory coordination and cooperation globally given the borderless nature of cryptocurrency markets Tharman revealed that these issues are being discussed at various international standard setting bodies where MAS actively participates.…
Homegrown insurer Singlife with Aviva announced the launch of a cross-industry collaboration “A Better Odyssey” which will help promising startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore to digitalise and scale their operations. In the initial phase, A Better Odyssey looks to partner with up to 200 entities on their digitalisation and growth journey. A Better Odyssey brings together international digital solutions partners, including Google and GrabForBusiness, homegrown fintechs such as, Razer Fintech, ShopBack PayLater, Debia, Exabytes, Pand.ai, Quickdesk, Sleek and Volopay. These partners will work across multiple industry verticals and focus on empowering emerging businesses through innovative digitalisation…
Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC). Binance and SERC will collaborate to develop the securities sector in Cambodia where the former will share its technical knowledge and experience on digital asset operations. Additionally, Binance will also support the development of the legal framework for regulating and bolstering the digital asset businesses in the country. Under the MoU, Binance will conduct proper training on digital assets for the region. H.E Sou Socheat, Delegate of Royal Government in Charge as Director-General of SERC said, “We hope to…
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has reprimanded cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (TAC) for providing false information to the regulator and exceeding the assets under management (AUM) threshold allowed for a registered fund management company (RFMC). In August 2013, TAC obtained its RFMC status which allowed it to carry on fund management business with no more than 30 qualified investors and manage assets of no more than S$250 million. TAC novated the management of the only fund it managed to an offshore entity in the British Virgin Islands on 1 September 2021. While it resumed management of a…
Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has partnered with Khaby Lame, the Italian Senegalese creator who grew to fame through his viral TikTok videos, to join as a global brand ambassador. Binance will partner with Khaby on exclusive NFT collections as well as to increase Web3 awareness and adoption. Khaby became a sensation for his spin on “life hack” videos, navigating overly complicated scenarios without saying a word while doing the famous “Khaby move.” He’ll use his signature style to tackle some of the misperceptions around Web3 in this multi-year partnership. Lame is currently the most-followed creator on TikTok, with more than…
Payment technology platform Global Processing Services (GPS) announced that it will be promoting its current CEO, Joanne Dewar, to Vice Chair while Kevin Schultz takes her place effective immediately. Joanne will maintain her position on the GPS board, where she will focus on the group’s growth and global profile, and continue to work alongside Chair, Gene Lockhart, in a newly created Office of the Chair. She had been CEO at GPS for over four years and was instrumental in scaling the company and securing investment from the likes of Mastercard, Temasek, Advent International and more. Meanwhile, Kevin brings a wealth…
Climate Impact X (CIX), a global marketplace and exchange for quality carbon credits, has selected Nasdaq to power its new global carbon exchange to help unlock price transparency and liquidity in the voluntary carbon market. The agreement will see CIX leverage Nasdaq’s robust matching technology to power its spot trading platform, which will launch in early 2023 for financial institutions and institutional investors worldwide. Carbon credits have a range of attributes that can influence their price – such as the type of project or its location – since buyers value these characteristics differently. This inconsistency creates challenges in matching an…
Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global might lay off more than 30% of its workforce due to a sharp drop in revenue, according to crypto reporter Colin Wu. This was due to Beijing’s crypto ban which forced Huobi to drop its Chinese users by the 31st December last year. The hits keep coming for Huobi as just two weeks ago Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission had revoked its operating license, forcing it to shut down in July. In a series of failed expansion ambitions, the crypto exchange had announced in November last year that it will no longer be able to offer…
Australian neobank Volt announced that it will be shutting down its deposit-taking business, return all deposits to its customers and turn in its banking license. The neobank has advised its account holders to transfer any balances in their Volt accounts to another financial institution before the 5th of July 2022. According to the report by Australian Financial Review (AFR), Volt holds about A$106 million in deposits from 6000 customers. Volt said that it has also executed a transaction to sell its mortgage portfolio and begun the process of returning all deposits to customers in full. The company has the necessary…
Funding Societies, a Southeast Asian digital financing platform for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), today announced that it is acquiring regional payments solution, CardUp, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals. Through the move, Funding Societies will acquire CardUp’s payments capabilities such as card payments to non-card accepting recipients (domestic and cross-border), online payments acceptance, invoice automation tools as well as its licenses and integrations with third-party business software. With presence in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, CardUp has served tens of thousands of businesses including micro-businesses, SMEs, and corporates across a spectrum of B2B and…
Despite realizing the opportunities brought about data and analytics, banks and financial institutions in Asia-Pacific (APAC) are still struggling to draw critical insights from their data in an effective and timely manner. This is one of the findings drawn from a new study by tech provider InterSystems and data analyst firm Vitreous World. The survey, which polled 176 line of business leaders in APAC, sought to uncover the biggest technology and data challenges faced by financial services organization across the region, as well as their key data initiatives and priorities for the coming year. Results show that while most financial…
Neobanking has been one of the most talked-about fintech segments of the past decade, a buzzing industry that’s seen an average of 68 new ventures being launched each year since 2017, data from consulting firm Simon-Kucher show. But despite the craze, a new research shows that neobanks are actually struggling to turn a profit, with only a mere 5% of the world’s reported 400 digital banks reaching breakeven. This is according to a new paper by the consulting firm which looks back at the developments that occurred in the neobanking industry in 2021 and gives an overview of the current…
Matrixport, a digital assets financial services ecosystem, announced the launch of Warm and Cold custody services for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) via its third-party institutional custody service, Cactus Custody™. This latest NFT asset management offering provides institutions the ability to safely store and manage their NFT and crypto assets in one place. Embedded with enhanced risk management features, the Cactus Custody™ NFT asset management offering enables institutions to customise user access controls and whitelisting of decentralised application (dApp) smart contracts. Only approved NFT marketplaces, DeFi, GameFi, SocialFi and Web3 protocols will be permitted to interact with the wallets on the platform.…
Over the past decade, podcasts have evolved exponentially, attracting a growing population of professionals to explore new ideas, gain insights and learn directly from industry experts. In the fintech world, podcasts have exploded in number and it can sometimes be daunting for the public to figure out the best programs to tune in. To help the fintech enthusiasts and aficionados out there, we’ve curated a list of the most insightful podcasts to listen to this year. These shows feature some of the world’s most successful fintech entrepreneurs and innovators to discuss the hottest trends and most pressing issues the industry…
In Asia, adoption of digital assets as an investment is growing at a staggering pace, emerging this year as the fifth largest asset class in the region. But despite soaring demand from investors, the majority of wealth management firms are still holding back from offering the asset class, turning their back on a US$54 billion market opportunity. This is according to an Accenture study, which polled more than 3,200 affluent investors across eight Asian markets, 550 relationship managers, and 21 senior executives of wealth firms operating across the region, to understand the state of wealth management in Asia and the…
Global financial centers such as Singapore and Switzerland need to set aside competition to collaborate on new frontiers as pioneering work thrives on the circulation of innovation and ideas said Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies. He added that this is especially of great importance as the global fintech community faces several headwinds. This includes the rising interest rates and falling valuation, broader geo-political and macro-economic challenges posed by the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the threat of another global recession. At the opening of the Point Zero Forum, he said that while the…
Digital assets trading platform Sparrow announced that it had secured an in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for a major payment institution (MPI) license to provide Digital Payment Token (DPT) services. The company said that it is currently working to obtain the formal MPI license. Sparrow was one of the three recipients of the in-principle approvals that was announced by Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, at the Point Zero Forum. The platform has started accepting PayNow transfers among institutional clients so clients can easily buy or sell cryptocurrencies using fiat…