Steven Hu

Shared Responsibility Framework – A unique initiative by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and IMDA in Singapore aimed at curbing #phishing #scams and clarifying the burden of responsibility (whether on Financial Institutions, Telcos, or Consumers) in cases of scam-related losses. With the growing number of #authorizedScams where consumers and small businesses willingly transfer funds to scammers under the influence of attractive deals, bulk orders, or urgent situations, is it time to consider an industry-wide or national database? Such a database could include suspicious account names, account numbers, web URLs, phone numbers, emails, IP addresses, and proxy IDs, equipped with real-time APIs to help detect and prevent potential fraudulent transactions. This could be similar to Hong Kong’s #Scameter initiative. More on Shared Responsiblity Framework here: https://lnkd.in/g6nfwUsg More on Hong Kong Scameter here: https://lnkd.in/g_RJHDSS #phishing #cybersecurity #cybercrime #malware #digitalbanking #FinancialSafety #FraudPrevention #DigitalSecurity #ScamAwareness #AuthorizedScams #UnauthorizedScams Jeffery Lee Aaron Chiew Raju Nair Jasmeet Wadhwa Joby Lim, BCCP Prateek Jobalia Nicholas N. Ricky Woo

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Major banks in Singapore, including #DBS, will phase out the use of one-time passwords (OTPs) for bank account logins by customers who are digital token users. This will be implemented progressively over the next three months and is aimed at better protecting customers against phishing scams, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS). This latest measure will strengthen the authentication process, making it harder for scammers to fraudulently access a customer's account and funds without the customer’s explicit authorisation using his mobile device. According to the Singapore Police Force's annual report on scams and cybercrime, at least S$14.2 million (US$10.5 million) was lost to phishing scams last year. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gwFfTu_w

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💡The Singapore FinTech Festival 2024 is baaaaack! 🔦 Spotlight will be on Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Technology. Sopnendu Mohanty / 漠汉帝 / 模範帝 / सोपनेंदु / ସୋପ୍ନେନ୍ଦୁ , Chief FinTech Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Chairman of Elevandi Board said, “The financial services sector is at a critical inflection point, with AI and Quantum Computing poised to revolutionise the global financial ecosystem. SFF 2024 will seek to align technology, innovation, and regulation so that these transformative technologies are deployed with strategic foresight, collaboration, and adaptability to unlock new opportunities for economic and industry growth and resilience. Harmonising global FinTech regulations that support innovation, fostering cross-border collaboration on payments and credit, and ensuring a secure, inclusive, and sustainable financial ecosystem powered by responsible adoption of AI and Quantum Technologies will be the primary focus of SFF 2024.” “SFF will also feature the following highlights: ➡️ Invitation-only Dialogues and Signature Side Events such as the Insights Forum™ will convene 1,500 senior policymakers, top industry executives, and investors for leadership dialogues and collaboration discussions. ➡️ This year, the Global FinTech Hackcelerator, organised by MAS and in partnership with Elevandi is looking for innovative solutions to address problem statements centred on Improving Financial Health. ➡️ Blockchain Guardians Programme : a new skills-based learning initiative will commence on 2 September 2024. ➡️ Five Thematic Zones – Technology Zone, 🍀 ESG Zone, Regulation Zone, Founders & Investors Zone, and Talent Zone – where attendees can participate in dialogues, workshops, and explore an international showcase of the latest FinTech solutions. ❤️ MAS will also be introducing founder- and investor-focused mentorship sessions, masterclasses such as The Art of Storytelling, a spotlight on 🙋‍♀️women entrepreneurs, mental health and wellness workshops, and an alumni meet-up for past participants. ➡️SFF MeetUp , a new networking initiative, is expected to facilitate 20,000 meetings at the Festival.” 📒Registrations are open at https://lnkd.in/gtKbFp3E Read the full release on https://lnkd.in/gAk8GrsR #Fintech #AI #quantum #Talent #ESG

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The open banking portal was launched at Money2020 Asia. This was a great step forward in simplifying onboarding and implementation of API An open banking portal can offer significant advantages to banks, including faster onboarding, fewer errors, and the use of a sandbox for development and testing. Here's how these benefits contribute to the overall advantages of an open banking portal: 1. **Faster Onboarding**: Open banking portals can streamline the onboarding process for customers by providing easy access to account information and services from multiple banks in one place. This can reduce the time it takes for customers to sign up for new services or accounts, leading to a more efficient and convenient experience. 2. **Fewer Errors**: The standardization of data and processes within an open banking portal can help reduce errors in transactions and data exchange. By using standardized APIs and protocols, the risk of data discrepancies and processing mistakes is minimized, leading to improved accuracy and reliability. 3. **Sandbox for Development and Testing**: An open banking portal often includes a sandbox environment where developers and banks can test new applications and services safely. This environment allows for innovation and experimentation without affecting live customer data. It helps ensure that new solutions are thoroughly tested and secure before they are rolled out to customers. So what are you waiting for - Get registered and start exploring our API portfolio #digitalchannels #openbanking #api

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🇰🇷 The Korea Blockchain Business Cooperative has called for effective measures against illegal operations by some overseas virtual asset exchanges in Korea. As the Virtual Asset User Protection Act takes effect on the 19th, the cooperative noted that measures against unregistered overseas exchanges lacking ISMS and VASP reporting are ineffective, leading to increasingly bold and sophisticated illegal activities. #BitcoinWorld 🌐💼

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Digital Assets Update 2Q24: Base broadening DBS Bank Wei Liang Chang Tieying Ma Radhika R. #cryptos #digitalassets Broad participation is marking crypto position taking, with retail investors, high frequency traders, and hedge funds crowding into the trade. Authorities appear more amenable toward cryptos/CBDCs. Bitcoin prices have eased post-halving but remain well above end 2023 levels. Recent research on Bitcoin flows found that they respond differently to macro drivers, compared to equity and bond flows. Ether underperforms Bitcoin, attributed to waning optimism regarding ETH spot ETF approval by SEC. CBDCs are gaining traction amongst global central banks and multilateral organisations. Full report: https://lnkd.in/dsn5MFJ5

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The Global Layer One (GL1) as proposed by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) initiative aims to develop a versatile, shared ledger infrastructure utilizing DLT, envisioned to be developed by regulated financial institutions for the financial industry. I appreciate the phrase "developed by regulated financial institutions for the financial industry," as it precisely captures the essence of our mission at SWIAT. In the following a short description of GL1's design principles and high-level architecture overview. GL1's design principles: ➡️ Open and Standards-Based: Technology specifications will be public and open, using industry standards and open-source protocols for ease of application development. ➡️ Compliant with applicable regulations and accessible to regulators: The platform will comply with legal and regulatory requirements, with jurisdiction-specific controls at the application layer. ➡️ Well Governed: Clear and transparent governance and rules will ensure responsibility and accountability. ➡️ Neutral: Designed to prevent control concentration within any single entity or region, with decisions based on technical merits. ➡️ Fair: Ensures fair competition among financial institutions, avoiding biased decisions. ➡️ Accessibility: Financial institutions meeting criteria can participate, with membership costs promoting network integrity and stability. ➡️ Financially Self-Sustainable: Operates as an industry utility, using revenues from fees for operational costs and reinvestment to ensure sustainability. Architecture overview: ➡️ Access Layer, facilitates user access to digital services on the GL1 platform, with service providers responsible for offering wallet capabilities, performing KYC checks, onboarding clients, and providing direct services. Non-designated financial institutions must be onboarded through designated ones. ➡️ Service Layer, involves regulated financial institutions and trusted third parties creating and deploying applications such as interbank transfers and collateral management, adhering to GL1’s settlement functionality standards and allowing for the development of custom smart contract logic. ➡️ Asset Layer supports the issuance and tokenization of various assets, including cash, securities, commodities, and more, ensuring technological compatibility across GL1 applications and service providers. ➡️ Platform Layer comprises the blockchain infrastructure, including the ledger and consensus mechanism, ensuring asset transfer and cross-app communication, and adhering to financial sector technology risk management controls, with validators ensuring transaction integrity and potentially being remunerated through fees.

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Driven by the growth potential of Asean economies, large local banks are likely to see significant opportunities to expand their regional business and enhance their revenue prospects. Many have large footprints already, but still have many legacy issues that will hinder their growth. Blockchain and crypto are already a staple of the younger generation but yet banking products are still far from embracing such tech in their main stream operations. Who will win the race for regional banking dominance and not at the branch level. The future is here! Talk to Roberto Kauffmann-Dev about what's happening across SEA. #futureofbanking #fsi #data #tech #blockchain #crypto

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Thrilled to announce the successful launch of a new Proof of Concept (“PoC”) project after months of dedicated effort from the Hang Seng team and Zcloak Network, with support from the Cyberport Web3 PoC Subsidy Scheme. This initiative highlights the adoption of Web3 technology in identity verification, aiming to enhance SME awareness about prevention against online fraud. Visit our kiosk at the Hang Seng Tsim Sha Tsui Business Banking Centre to experience the showcase of this PoC project! #HangSengBank #Cyberport #Innovation #Web3 #ProofofConcept #SMEs #Networking #CyberSecurity

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Recently, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) shared its "Guidelines on Consumer Protection Measures by Digital Payment Token Service Providers" [PS-G03]. While the guidelines are comprehensive in safeguarding consumer assets and ensuring transparency, one critical aspect seems to be missing: business continuity. Key aspects covered include: Segregation of customers' assets and the maintenance of trust accounts with a safeguarding person to ensure customers' assets are protected and can be returned in the event of the service provider's insolvency. Implementation of risk management systems and controls to safeguard customers' assets, including storing a significant portion of these assets in cold wallets (systems not connected to the internet) to mitigate the risk of cyber attacks and unauthorized access. Disclosure of policies on storing customers' assets, handling losses from fraud or negligence, and managing conflicts of interest to ensure transparency and protect customer interests. Provisions for issuing statements of account to customers, detailing transactions, balances, and movements of assets, to maintain transparency and accountability. While these guidelines are focused on protecting consumer assets and ensuring transparency and accountability in the operations of digital payment token service providers, they do not directly mention "business continuity" plans or strategies.   Business continuity would involve plans to ensure the continued operation of services in the face of disruptions, which, while related to some of the risk management and safeguarding practices mentioned, is not explicitly covered in the document excerpts provided. Chris Ekai Rohan Ehsan Jaidev Iyer Andrea Perlak Mark Armour, cABCF Mark Bittinger Lori Souza MBA, BSIT Oonagh van den Berg (Lady) James Burnie FRSA #MAS #ConsumerProtection #DigitalPayments #Fintech #RiskManagement #BusinessContinuity #SingaporeFinance #FinancialRegulation #Cybersecurity #Transparency #Accountability

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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) launched Phase 2 of the e-HKD Pilot Programme in March 2024, inviting industry participants to submit innovative use cases of digital money for the use of individuals and corporates. Phase 2 will explore the commercial feasibility of e-HKD and compare different forms of digital money to evaluate whether there is incremental value in e-HKD as compared with privately issued digital money such as tokenised deposits. Phase 2 commenced in September 2024. A total of 11 groups of firms from various sectors have been selected to conduct pilots to explore innovative use cases across three main themes: Settlement of tokenized assets 🔹 Hang Seng Bank, Aptos Labs and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) will test the commercial value of settling a tokenised fund using digital money on a public blockchain. 🔹 HSBC will test how digital money can operate securely on permissioned protocols on public DLT environments for storing and transferring value, potentially serve as a settlement utility for tokenised assets, and address privacy concerns. 🔹 Standard Chartered, BlackRock, Mastercard and Liberea will adopt an end-to-end approach in their test to enable bank customers to conduct tokenised fund transactions using digital money and to allow asset managers to perform efficient and secure tokenised money settlement. 🔹 Visa, ANZ, Fidelity International and ChinaAMC (HK) will explore near-real time settlement for interbank transfers and cross-border payments, as well as DvP, through e-HKD and tokenised deposits, facilitating Australia-based corporate investors’ purchases of tokenised fund units offered by asset management companies in Hong Kong. Programmability 🔹 Bank of China (Hong Kong) is establishing the e-HKD infrastructure based on a consortium blockchain network, and joining hands with Sanfield (Management) Limited and other collaborative partners to create on-chain smart contracts for the effective applications of dedicated fund mechanism and prepayment scenario. 🔹 China Construction Bank (Asia) will test the implementation of programmable prepayment to merchants at scale, assessing different blockchain infrastructure designs for the potential implementation of e-HKD. 🔹 DBS Bank will explore the use of digital money to enable a scalable ESG reward platform through driving adoption of purpose bound money. 🔹 Hang Seng Bank will test how a digital money can enable the development of a next-generation digital reward platform that is open, efficient and scalable. 🔹 Mastercard, KASIKORNBANK and Airstar Bank will explore the use of digital money to facilitate both domestic and international trade finance. Offline payments 🔹 Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited and China Mobile Hong Kong will test the use of e-HKD stored in a mobile SIM card to enable e-HKD offline payments and transfers. 🔹 ICBC (Asia)) will explore an anonymous e-HKD wallet and test the use of e-HKD to enable dual offline payments.

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🙅‍♂️ OKX, Gate.HK, Huobi and 3 other virtual asset trading platforms have withdrawn their SFC license application to date in May 2024. 📝 Some of the withdrawal reasons include (i) additional regulatory pressure on the group to prevent access by mainland Chinese residents (ii) not meeting audit requirements (iii) strategy overhaul. ⚖️ In addition, SFC came up with a statement this week that the "Deemed-to-be-licensed VATP applicants", the ones still being assessed for application, cannot actively market their services or onboard new retail clients. https://lnkd.in/gdfAm4Ub #VATP #SFC #license # application #withdrawal #reasons

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Case study of the rise of the digital bank Nubank. interesting lessons here especially the idea of helping the under bank build their creditworthiness over time through small loans that gradual rise over time with repayment behavior. #banks #cx #customerexperience #digitalbanks

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Today we announced the renaming of Project e-HKD to Project e-HKD+, as the project expands its coverage from e-HKD only to a more comprehensive exploration of the digital money ecosystem. We will more holistically study new forms of digital money that may be accessible to individuals and corporates, including e-HKD and tokenised deposits. We look forward to delving deeper into innovative use cases with the 11 groups of firms selected to participate in Phase 2 of the e-HKD Pilot Programme. We will also establish the e-HKD Industry Forum to provide a collaborative platform for participating institutions to discuss common issues and further explore the possible implementation and adoption of new forms of digital money in a scalable manner. Learn more about Project e-HKD+: https://lnkd.in/gdKKqTgf The 11 groups of innovative use cases can be found here: https://lnkd.in/gg878uid Read the keynote speech by Mr Eddie Yue, the HKMA's Chief Executive, in April 2024 on our thinking on digital money in the tokenisation era: https://lnkd.in/g4cZNW7G. #HKMA #eHKDplus #DigitalMoney #FinancialInnovation

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Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in collaboration with Cyberport announced the first cohort Generative Artificial Intelligence Sandbox (GenA.I.) with 15 use cases from 10 banks & 4 technology partners.  The 10 banks are Bank of China, China CITIC Bank International, China Construction Bank, Citibank, Dah Sing Bank, Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, Livi Bank, Societe Generale & Standard Chartered Bank.  The 4 technology partners are Aereve, Alibaba Cloud, Baidu & FORMS HK. Read - https://lnkd.in/gpBME_r9 follow Caproasia | Driving $28 trillion assets in Asia The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in collaboration with Cyberport has announced the first cohort Generative Artificial Intelligence Sandbox (GenA.I.) with 15 use cases from 10 banks & 4 technology partners.  The 10 banks are Bank of China, China CITIC Bank International, China Construction Bank, Citibank, Dah Sing Bank, Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, Livi Bank, Societe Generale & Standard Chartered Bank.  The 4 technology partners are Aereve, Alibaba Cloud, Baidu & FORMS HK.  Arthur Yuen, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA: “We are pleased to see a keen interest from the banking industry in the exploration of GenA.I., reflecting the eagerness and openness of banks of all sizes to utilise novel technologies in their operations and services. As the market continues to develop more innovative ideas, the GenA.I. Sandbox remains ready to provide a risk-controlled testing ground for the industry. We look forward to seeing the results from our participants and sharing these experiences with the industry. I would also like to express my gratitude to Professor Chan, Professor Tam and Professor Yiu for offering their valuable expert advice as part of the selection committee.” HKMA (19/12/24): “The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), in collaboration with the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited (Cyberport), announced today (19 December) the first cohort of the Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenA.I.) Sandbox.  A total of 15 use cases, from 10 banks and four technology partners (see Annex), have been selected as the inaugural participants in the GenA.I. Sandbox from over 40 proposals received. Each use case underwent a rigorous priorisation process conducted by a selection committee comprising subject matter experts from the academia as well as from the HKMA and Cyberport. The priorisation focused on the level of innovation, technical sophistication of the proposed solutions, expected contributions to the industry and adherence to fair-use principles. The proposed use cases mainly revolve around enhancing risk management, anti-fraud measures and customer experience ... ...

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DBS Bank have launched Treasury Tokens in a pilot with Ant International 👏 🌍 ⏱ This enables Ant International to be able to use the digital form factor to achieve INSTANT, multi-currency treasury and liquidity management on DBS’ permissioned blockchain for their entities across MULTIPLE markets as well as enabling to reduce the settlement of intra-group transactions from potentially days to SECONDS! 💰 🏦 This optimises intra-group liquidity and working capital, providing corporate treasurers with GREATER visibility, predictability and control over the entire group’s cash position. DBS’ permissioned ALSO blockchain is EVM-compatible and is integrated with its core payments engine which GREATLY enhances extensibility and interoperability with multiple industry payment infrastructures. 🚀 🇸🇬 This launch by DBS demonstrates how established commercial banks AND FIs can harness blockchain technology and smart contracts to deliver the NEXT GENERATION of banking services on a 24/7 and programmable basis. 👨‍💻 Soon Chong Lim, Group Head of Global Transaction Services, DBS Bank, said: “This new capability comes at a time when the treasury needs of businesses are evolving to meet the rise of e-commerce and on-demand services on a 24/7 basis. DBS Treasury Tokens and our partnership with Ant International demonstrates how corporates can seize such opportunities with full confidence that their liquidity management capabilities can scale in tandem. DBS’ permissioned blockchain also forms the building block for new efficiencies and capabilities in traditional banking services, such as programmable, fractionalised and atomic value transfer.” Read more on the link below! 👇 Sam Ho yuan yee wong Derrick Loi Geoff Jiang Piyush Gupta Rishikesh Nagwekar Nimish Panchmatia Sharon Tan Kelvin Li Tania Tan #dbs #antinternational #blockchain #treasury #liquidity #tokenisation #fintech #fintechnews #ecommerce #payments

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