Hey fintech friends,

Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you are having a good time.

First of all, a quick PSA: We are changing our Fintech Formal to an invite-only black-tie event for 250 fintech friends on December 13th. Want to join? We'd love to have you. Let us know at formal@thisweekinfintech.com.

We'll also be presenting the winners of the 2024 TWIF Fintech Awards on-stage. We're giving out awards in 4 categories (Fintech of the Year, Best New Startup, Best Fintech Partnership, and Most Innovative Financial Institution). Winners will be announced in the newsletter. Send us your nominations!

Alrighty, moving on to this week's China fintech news. Enjoy your read and let me know if you have any comments: ning@thisweekinfintech.com.

Licensing & Regulations 

• China's central bank has urged the government and major banks to expedite loan approvals for technology firms.
• A Chinese court ruled that personal cryptocurrency ownership is legal in mainland China, despite ongoing restrictions on commercial crypto activities.

Financing, Investment & Acquisition 

• HongShan, the investment firm spun off from Sequoia Capital last year, is struggling to deploy its $9 billion capital and is expanding into Europe and North Asia due to limited options in China and pressure from frustrated limited partners.
• Speculation about a potential IPO revival for Ant Group is growing as the waiting period following its governance changes nears its end. Although the company has not yet commented, shares of firms linked to Ant Group have surged in recent days.
• SF-based tax automation platform Kintsugi has secured a $10 million Series A extension led by Airwallex.

Product & Partnership Launches

• Visa and LianLian Global launched Yueda Card to streamline cross-border business payments for corporations and SMEs. 
• Hong Kong's ZA Bank partnered with HashKey to offer crypto trading services for retail users, making them Asia’s first bank to offer such service. 
• E-commerce giant JD.com has launched its fintech platform, JD FinTech, which provides services including multi-currency payments, foreign exchange (FX), and tax reporting.
• Fusion Bank in Hong Kong has partnered with WeBank to develop its core banking system.

Other News

• ByteDance is pursuing legal action against a former intern, seeking $1.1 million in damages for allegedly sabotaging its AI large language model training infrastructure, highlighting the intense competition in China's AI sector.

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