3 d. ago China’s Ant International to seek stablecoin licence in Hong Kong

Fintech firm Ant International, the global affiliate of Chinese tech giant Ant Group, said it would apply for a stablecoin issuer licence in Hong Kong once the new ordinance governing fiat-backed cryptocurrencies comes into effect in August. “We welcome the passage of the Stablecoins Bill and hope to contribute more to the city’s vision as a global hub for next-gen finance,” Ant International said in a statement on Thursday. “We plan to apply for the fiat-referenced stablecoins issuer’s...

Politics

3 d. ago Ant International and Ant Digital to seek stablecoin licences in Hong Kong

Singapore-based Ant International and the Hangzhou-based Ant Digital, two affiliates of Chinese tech giant Ant Group, have announced plans to apply for stablecoin issuer licences in Hong Kong once the new ordinance governing fiat-backed cryptocurrencies takes effect in August. “We welcome the passage of the Stablecoins Bill and hope to contribute more to the city’s vision as a global hub for next-gen finance,” Ant International, a spin-off of Ant’s global operations, said in a statement on...

Politics

5 d. ago Malaysia’s new luxury tax a hard sell for Anwar as popularity wanes

Many Malaysians may find life’s little indulgences suddenly beyond their reach from next month, when fresh taxes bite on premium goods and services like salmon and silk – and even haircuts – after the cash-strapped government said it would raise revenue from so-called luxury spending. Taxes of between 5 and 10 per cent will be imposed on “discretionary and non-essential goods” as well as financial and beauty services and private education from July 1, the Finance Ministry said in a statement...

Events

8 d. ago Hong Kong’s easier redomiciling policy ‘attracts 150 inquiries from companies’

Authorities have received about 150 inquiries from companies about transferring their legal domicile status to Hong Kong after the recent passage of a law making it easier for businesses to establish themselves in the city, the treasury minister has said. Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu also said on Saturday that about 180 family offices had been set up or expanded their operations in Hong Kong this year, putting the city on track to surpass its...

Events

1 week ago Ant International pursues ‘holy grail’ for fintech with agentic AI platform

Ant International, a spin-off from Ant Group, has launched an agentic artificial intelligence (AI) tool called the Alipay+ GenAI Cockpit, to deliver more efficient payments and compliance capabilities in the financial services industry. The Singapore-based company said the tool, described as an AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS) platform, enables fintech companies to build agentic AI systems as well as “AI-native financial services” for facilitating payments and compliance checks. Ant Group is the fintech...

Politics

2 w. ago Ant International: numerical AI is the GPT of financial services

Ant International predicts that its artificial intelligence (AI) model for foreign exchange (FX) could have as large an impact on financial services as OpenAI’s large language model (LLM) GPT has had in the broader business world. The Time-Series Transformer (TST) AI FX Model developed by the Singapore-based fintech company focuses on numerical data prediction rather than content generation. Kelvin Li, general manager of the company’s platform tech business unit, called it “another track to AI”,...

Politics

3 w. ago Chinese drone maker EHang sees regular flying taxi services by 2030

Flying taxis could be used for public transport within the next five years on the mainland, according to a senior executive of Chinese passenger drone maker EHang Holdings. “I believe that by 2030, China will likely have fixed-route air shuttle services,” chief financial officer Conor Yang said in an interview on Tuesday. “It’s also possible that in some cities, with sufficient infrastructure such as take-off and landing points, air taxi services could emerge.” The Nasdaq-listed developer of...

Events

3 w. ago Ant Group’s global unit pulls in US$3 billion in revenue ahead of spin

Ant International could fetch an IPO valuation of between US$8 billion to US$24 billion if it lists in Hong Kong, analysts say.

Economics