Asia Banking Research

Jan

Grab’s fintech business gets a US$300 million shot in the arm

Grab is going all in on digital banking. In the period of less than a month, Southeast Asia’s most valuable unicorn has won a Singapore digital bank license and raised US$300 million in a funding round led by South Korea’s Hanhwa Asset Management. That was the first external funding for…

Jan

Asia Banking Research

Philippines must enact tougher AML measures to stay off FATF grey list

The Philippines must act swiftly to implement tougher anti-money laundering (AML) legislation or it will likely be placed on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) gray list alongside failed states such as Syria, Yemen and Zimbabwe. Countries on the gray list, which is updated annually in February, are identified as…

Jan

Asia Banking Research

Malaysia moves ahead on digital banks

Malaysia’s digital banking race will be the one to watch now that Singapore’s has finally ended. On January 1, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) formally invited applications for digital banking licenses. The deadline for submission will be June 30 and BNM will announce up to five winners by the first quarter…

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Asia Banking Research