Hello fintech friends,

Happy almost weekend and hope you have some fun plans. I will keep this one brief :) 

Hong Kong Fintech Week kicks off in 4 days! Anyone going? Here is a guide of top highlights to help plan your visit. 

Enjoy the read and as always, write to me with your feedback or comments: ning@thisweekinfintech.com. 

Ning

Licensing & Regulations 

• HSBC split operations into East and West divisions. As Bloomberg Columnist Paul J. Davies pointed out, this is more than just a cost-cutting restructuring; it is the bank’s “acknowledgment of geopolitical reality”.
• Airwallex secured a license from Hong Kong's securities regulator to offer asset management services.
• China approved licenses for BNP Paribas and Prudential Financial to set up insurance ventures in the country.
• Foreign companies are now permitted to set up data centers and offer telecommunications services in China under a new pilot program.
• Hong Kong announced new support measures for SME Financing to help SMEs better cope with the economic headwinds. China also has cut its benchmark lending rates in an effort to revitalize the economy.

Financing, Investment & Acquisition 

• Mitsubishi Corp plans to acquire half of Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corp.'s stake in Ant Group-backed Philippine fintech unicorn Mynt. 
• Klasha, a Nigerian fintech startup, has secured an additional $2 million to expand its cross-border payment services into China.

Product & Partnership Launches

• Checkout.com expands online payment options by integrating with Octopus, the dominant payment method in Hong Kong.
• South Korean Shinhan Financial Group partnered with China's Bank of Communications (BoCom) to enable its SOL Travel Card users to make payments using QR codes in China.
• UnionPay and the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) partnered to enable cross-border QR payments in Vietnam.
• AliPay+ launched in Cambodia.
• Thunes has launched a new QR code payment solution that allows users of foreign mobile wallets and financial apps to make payments in China using e-CNY, Alipay, and WeChat Pay.
• TerraPay is partnering  with Tenpay Global, Tencent’s cross-border payment platform to allow global users to send money directly to WeChat users in China.

Other Read 

• Self-powered suppliers and China’s start-up slowdown
• Chinese finance professionals switch careers as industry crackdown dims prospects
• FinTech Statistics By Usage, Top Companies and Market Size
• CBDC with Chinese Characteristics: Political Economy of the E-Yuan
• China’s Economic Stimulus Isn’t a Game Changer

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