Financial Services
Hong Kong finance M&As plunge to US$1.15b YTD amidst Beijing crackdown
Hong Kong finance M&As plunge to US$1.15b YTD amidst Beijing crackdown
                                                                                                 
                        
                          This could mark the lowest possible deal volume in 13 years.
                    
                                        
                    
                Hong Kong beats Tokyo and Singapore to rank as Asia's top finance location
                                                                                                 
                        
                          Its dominance, however, may be challenged by deepening trade tensions.
                    
                                        
                    
                Exchange Fund recovers from massive hit amidst $1.6b gain in Q3
                                                                                                 
                        
                          However, performance is likely to remain subdued amidst forex losses.
                    
                                        
                    
                Hong Kong fintech investments more than doubled to US$550m in 2017: FS Chan
                                                                                                 
                        
                          The level of investment exceeds that of Singapore, he says.
                    
                                        
                    
                Faster Payment System processed 1.58 million transactions in October
                                                                                                 
                        
                          The value of Hong Kong dollar-denominated transactions hit $33.29b.
                    
                                        
                    
                Do banks have reason to fear as Chinese lending accelerates?
                                                                                                 
                        
                          Mainland Chinese exposure accounted for nearly a third of total assets.
                    
                                        
                    
                Bank loan growth may halve to measly 3% in December
                                                                                                 
                        
                          The steep decline is partially due to higher interest rate environment.
                    
                                        
                    
                Asia's ultra wealthy stoke Hong Kong and Singapore's family office boom
                                                                                                 
                        
                          The number of newly built offices may have grown 15% in first three quarters of 2018.
                    
                                        
                    
                Blockchain-powered trade finance platform goes live
                                                                                                 
                        
                          eTradeConnect will digitise the paper-intensive process.
                    
                                        
                    
                Bank of East Asia debuts trade finance services on blockchain-powered platform
                                                                                                 
                        
                          It will be available on eTradeConnect.
                    
                                        
                    
                Singapore beats Hong Kong in Asia's open banking readiness rankings
                                                                                                 
                        
                          The SAR still needs to work on extending APIs for banking needs.
                    
                                        
                    
                Hong Kong beefs up e-wallet identity verification
                                                                                                 
                        
                          Enhanced security features include two-factor authentication process.
                    
                                        
                    
                Hong Kong suspends e-wallet top-ups amidst fraud reports in blow to Smart Banking push
                                                                                                 
                        
                          Customers were hit by a combined loss of $180,000.
                    
                                        
                    
                HSBC Hong Kong launches fund transfer service with Lu International partnership
                                                                                                 
                        
                          It cuts transfer time from 1-3 days to within the same day.
                    
                                        
                    
                Citi Hong Kong expands API tech in Octopus tie-up
                                                                                                 
                        
                          Users of the Octopus app can easily apply for Citi Octopus Platinum Card.
                    
                                        
                    
                TNG FinTech adds Indonesian firm WalletKu to e-wallet arsenal
                                                                                                 
                        
                          WalletKu will join around 12 other e-wallets in TNG’s digital payments initiative.
                    
                                        
                    
                Hong Kong makes huge headway in realising smart banking ambitions
                                                                                                 
                        
                          It launched a real-time fund transfer system, open API guidelines, virtual banks authorisation in 2018 alone.