Digitalisation

Jennifer Barker, global head of treasury services and depositary receipts at BNY, recently discussed cross-border and instant payments, collaboration, Swift, AI, trade finance, and more, with CT.

Retail sales and industrial output have beaten expectations for January and February, as China's leadership eyes 5% GDP growth again; meanwhile global suppliers are showing optimism for the year ahead, according to a survey.

The ChatGPT-like chat tool helps address treasury related enquiries based on existing databases; it is understood to be one of the first entries into this market.

The global payment firm believes that Apac will "drive the global acceleration in money movement in 2025".

HK's financial secretary is injecting HK$1.5bn into a scheme that helps Hong Kong businesses expand into mainland China, as Paul Chan predicts 2% to 3% GDP growth this year.

Chen will focus on growing Mastercard’s market presence and exploring new opportunities in the digital economy.

The global fintech firm, which is bringing payments on-chain, has recently closed a $10m funding round as it looks to reduce remittance costs in Asia.

The 2025 Budget is bringing tax cuts, support for households, tax incentives for equities, more climate measures and support for AI; Singapore saw 4.4% GDP growth in 2024.

A virtual account provided by DB will help Hashkey better reconcile incoming fiat currency funds on the virtual asset trading platform.

A licensing scheme for stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong is expected to be introduced later this year. Bill Winters, group CEO of Standard Chartered, says "digital assets are here to stay."

The increased digital capabilities of regional banks has increased competition for treasury centre investment across Asia as less established locations look to take business from Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

US president Donald Trump has also u-turned on the removal of the "de minimis" clause for tariff free goods worth below $800; the Hongkong Post is now restarting deliveries after suspending them seeking clarifications; meanwhile China is keeping the yuan at a stable rate against the US dollar.