Banks & Service Providers

The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to the highest level since 1995 and and said it will stop paring back its bond purchases from April 2027, amid rising energy costs and firming inflation expectations. The US Fed has held rates steady at the new chair’s first meeting.

The framework will support IDR-CNH settlement between Indonesia and Hong Kong, alongside moves to enhance Indonesia-China QR payment connectivity and CIPS access.

HKMC’s inaugural public digital bond is the largest digital bond issuance globally to date and the first from a public-sector entity in Hong Kong. The proceeds will be used to help support liquidity in Hong Kong's housing sector.

The cooperation includes USD and CNY settlement and transfer services in Hong Kong and mainland China.

The 21-member group will advise on expanding bond tokenisation beyond a series of government pilots, as Hong Kong accelerates its digital financial development.

Yang Wen, Swift's head of North Asia, shared his views with CT on how ISO 20222, fraud detection, AI-driven analytics and digital payments, including on wallets, are evolving in Asia Pacific.

The Singapore telecoms firm is set to spend S$1.2bn on data centres, equipment and fit-outs for GPU-as-a-service facilities and AI; in February it invested in a data centre firm with KKR.

Hung has taken up a new position as head of global corporates, Hong Kong, Corporate and Institutional Banking (CIB), at the global bank.

Philip Kam, APLMA's CEO, believes that SLLs shouldn't "drown businesses in paperwork".

The former HSBC banker has most recently led Citi Thailand’s commercial subsidiaries group.

From the use of antibiotics, to biodiversity, to battery makers, to data centres, to shipping, the region's firms are teaming up with banks to help support a wide range of sustainability efforts with clearer targets.

The drawdown loans for Central Yards on Hong Kong Island are for HK$50m from Hang Seng Bank and HSBC, respectively; the focus will be on urban biodiversity restoration and conservation.