Coinciding with the closing of COP26, green financing, ESG and impact investing were key themes that ran through many of the sessions on Day 3 of the Singapore FinTech Festival. It is clear that as demand for green finance, ESG and impact investing continues to grow, it will be necessary for financial services in the
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) launched a project in February 2021 which studies and mitigates the unintended consequences resulting from the incorrect implementation of the FATF Standards. There are four areas of focus for this project which are: de-risking; financial exclusion; undue targeting of NPOs; and curtailment of human rights (with a
The widely anticipated Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect Pilot Scheme (Wealth Management Connect), expected to create a combined funds flow of RMB 300 billion (US$46.5 billion) in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), has formally launched on 10 September 2021.
Wealth Management Connect, which will come into operation in October 2021,
On 29 July 2021, the ARRC has formally recommended the CME Group’s forward-looking Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) term rates (Term SOFR). It follows the completion of interdealer trading conventions to SOFR earlier this week. This means that parties which have contracts which include the ARRC hardwired fallbacks will fallback to Term SOFR given that
The SC-STS published its Recommendations for Transition of Legacy SOR Contracts on 29 July 2021, with updated timelines and key recommendations for the industry-wide transition from SOR to SORA.
Market participants are urged to take active steps to substantially transition out of legacy SOR exposures by 31 December 2021, using the SOR-SORA basis swap
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a consultation paper on 2 July 2021 seeking views on various proposals, including to introduce powers to enable the MAS to impose requirements on certain financial institutions conducting unregulated business.
The MAS recognises that some of its regulated entities may be carrying on unregulated activities (e.g.
Uncertificated securities market regime
On 11 June 2021, the Hong Kong Government gazetted the Securities and Futures and Companies Legislation (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 (SFCA Ordinance), marking a significant milestone in moving Hong Kong towards an uncertificated securities market (USM) where investors will have the option of holding securities in their own
The Insurance Authority (IA) has taken its first disciplinary actions against two licensed insurance broker companies for failure to submit their audited financial statements and auditor’s reports within required timeframes. One of the broker companies has had its licence suspended, and both companies have been fined. The enforcement actions are the first of
On 13 May 2021, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released its implementation plan for Phases III and IV of the Open API Framework (click here to read our previous blog on the launch of the Open API Framework in July 2018). The initial batch of API functions for Phases III and IV,
Following a 3-month consultation on the proposal to introduce a licensing regime for virtual assets services providers (VASPs) in Hong Kong under the amended Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (the AMLO) (see our previous blog here), the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) has now issued its