Disruption

Rmb internationalisation faces challenges from Trump’s determination to keep the US dollar as the leading global currency; FA understands that Hong Kong is taking a more "commercial" approach.

The global IT services firm, which uses AI, is still majority owned by Carlyle; the listing on the BSE and NSE is the largest technology services and sponsor-owned IPO in India; there were five banks involved.

A licensing scheme for stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong is expected to be introduced later this year.

The fund will also be the first retail tokenised fund across Asia Pacific.

SoftBank has said it will spend $3bn annually to deploy customised AI across its group of companies; the JV, known as SB OpenAI Japan, will sell to Japanese firms.

The release of a competitive low cost large language models not only shifts the AI narrative away from expensive hardware, but also prompts debate about a potential inflection point for fund managers, with some models potentially not surviving.

BoCom becomes the first Chinese financial institution to issue a digitally native bond in Hong Kong with a $300m floating rate offering.

Even as the market cap for digital currencies rises, experts say regulators in Asia will prioritise a prudent oversight path rather than follow Washington in lockstep; HK and Singapore's rivalry is set to continue.

DLT’s potential to drive transaction efficiency is more widely acknowledged, while some crypto native players are looking to tap into traditional financial products; however, Apac’s regulatory framework is fragmented.