How should we regulate virtual assets? This is a question on the mind of almost every financial services regulator in the world. Many have adopted a very cautious and in some cases a prohibitory approach. However, the Abu Dhabi Global Market’s (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) has taken a more
Introduction
In May 2021, following a 3 month consultation, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) issued its consultation conclusions for a new licensing regime for virtual assets services providers (VASPs) in Hong Kong. Recently, further steps were taken to make the new licensing regime for VASPs a reality with
This post is updated as of 16 March 2022.
Introduction
On 5 March 2022, the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (“MFA”) unveiled specific measures to be imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.[1] This follows the earlier announcement on 28 February 2022 by Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan,
In a welcome development, on 20 December 2021 Federal Treasury released exposure draft legislation implementing exemptions from Australian financial services (AFS) licensing requirements for foreign financial service providers (FFSPs). This follows through on the Federal Government’s intention (announced in last year’s Budget) to restore previously well-established relief for FFSPs and create
Introduction
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued a discussion paper on 12 January 2022 in which it sets out its views on how to expand Hong Kong’s regulatory framework for crypto-assets. The discussion paper joins a number of papers that regulators across the world have issued on the subject of crypto-assets and
The SC-STS has updated the SORA Market Compendium. With the deadlines for the cessation of use of SOR for new loans, securities and derivatives having passed, this update provides market participants with a snapshot and market insights on the SOR to SORA Transition to date as well as current and expected volumes, liquidity and
Singapore FinTech Festival concludes today after a weeklong line-up of fruitful discussions. On Day 5 of the Singapore FinTech Festival, facilitating trust in data sharing, digital identity, financial and digital inclusion as well as payments interoperability were some of the common themes that ran through the sessions.
Some of our key takeaways from the experts:
Day 4 had a strong international focus at the start of the World Fintech Festival with speakers and specialist forums dealing with market and regulatory developments across the world, including sessions on developments in Australia, Japan, China, Cambodia, India, Nigeria and various Nordic countries.
The role of FinTech in facilitating green financing and sustainability remained
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
On Day 2 of the Singapore FinTech Festival, attendees were invited to an in-depth exploration of key technological pillars of the Web 3.0 ecosystem – distributed ledger technology (DLT), artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), 5G and quantum computing. Through a series of foundational discussions, deep dives