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Monthly Snapshot: September 2019

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In our monthly analysis of this month’s news and developments in the fintech, cryptocurrency, blockchain, startup and sector, we look at , investments, trends, partnerships for the region’s leading movers and shakers.

September has been an eventful month highlighted by highs and lows including the continuing Grab-GOJEK rivalry as both unicorns trying to expand their operations on each other’s turf by diversifying their services in different market segments while considering a partnership to help the Indonesian government set up a smart city initiative as the transfer of the country’s capital to Kalimantan is in the pipeline.

The biggest story of the month, and perhaps this year, is the resignation of Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma from the company that he founded and brought to the top of the Mt. Olympus of global e-commerce. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s ambitious attempt to buy the London Stock Exchange for $39 billion was met by a rude rebuke by the latter.

President Narendra Modi’s government is considering a massive overhaul of the Indian banking sector as it attempts to force a series of mergers of its ten state-owned banks in order to strengthen it amidst growing debt back dropped by a five-year low economic growth.

The London-based insurer Prudential is currently embroiled in a massive lawsuit against its former Singaporean agent Peter Tan Shou Yi for instigating an en masse defection of over 200 agents into rival insurer Aviva. In Australia, the ANZ Group as well as the local Citigroup and Deutsche Bank units are facing a criminal cartel case in perhaps the biggest white collar crime prosecutions in the country. There is a crackdown of illegal cryptocurrency and bitcoin operators in the as the regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies have arrested hundreds of illegal Chinese workers working for firms with dubious permits and certifications.

There were big winners and losers this month as emerging startups grow, unicorns expand, and existing startup markets diversify. Even boxing champion and lawmaker Manny Pacquiao has thrown his gloves into the fintech ring by becoming one of the few celebrities to own their own cryptocurrency.

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IN SPOTLIGHT: PHILIPPINES There is a lot of wheeling and dealing in the fintech, startup and banking sector in the Philippines in this period as highlighted by new government regulations and policies, growth of digital banking and financial services, and various deals and partnerships in the startup scene.

New Legislations President has signed the Republic Act (RA) 11439 into law that provides the regulation and organization of Islamic banks in the country. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the law will unlock the full potential Islamic financing thereby fostering inclusive economic growth. Through Executive Order No. 89, the President has lowered the dividend rates of the state-run banks Land Bank and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to be remitted to the national government in order to ensure their financial viability. The President also signed the RA 11449, which amends RA 8484 or the Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998, into law. Under its provisions, the hacking of banking systems is a form of economic sabotage and stiffer penalties are imposed on those who hack bank accounts and conduct , automated teller machine card, and debit card fraud.

Acting Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado is supporting President Duterte’s call to adopt gross taxation system instead of the net tax collection in a bid to remove corruption in government revenue agencies.

In an attempt to boost economic growth, the government is slowly opening the entry of startups into the country with the enactment of RA 11337 or the Innovative Startup Act that gives subsidies in business registration and in the use of office space and equipment, provides research and development grants, and offers special visas to start-up owners, employees and investors. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives have deliberated on House Bill No. 300 by Rep. Weslie Gatchalian that would relax the ownership limitations and paid-up capital requirements for foreign investments. The House voted for the bill to amend Section 4 of the Foreign Investments Act to exclude the "practice of professions" from the coverage of the Foreign Investment Negative List thereby allowing foreign professionals to work in the country.

Furthermore, the House has reduced the final tax on interest income from 20% to 15% as part of the proposed Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Reform Act and also approved House Bill No. 4157, which amended the original Corporate Income Tax and Incentive Rationalization Act bill that aims to lower reduce the corporate income tax rate from 30% to 20% in 2029.

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Senator Miguel Zubiri, through his Senate Bill No. 110, has proposed an amendment to the Republic Act no. 6977 or the Magna Carta for Small Enterprises, which aims to expand the mandatory credit to micro, small, and medium enterprises.

Privacy Protection Both the governments of the Philippines and Singapore have reached into an agreement to share best practices in personal data protection and develop compatible mechanisms to facilitate trusted cross-border data flows through a memorandum of understanding between the National Privacy Commission (NPC) and Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission. It is expecting to come up with a privacy trust mark for companies who comply with data privacy standards.

Meanwhile, the NPC said that the country has formally joined the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) system, which will allow the country to expand trade opportunities through the removal of data flow barriers with other economies in the region.

Securities and Exchange Commission The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued cease-and-desist orders against 19 online lending apps after numerous complaints of invasion of privacy and harassment. It further extended its orders to 11 more lending apps for their questionable practices. As a result of the NPC investigation, operators of Fash Cash, Unipeso, and Fynamics may be liable for imprisonment of up to seven years and fines of not more than P5 million under the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

In response, FinTechAlliance.ph together with the NPC, the SEC, the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s Secretariat, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Commission (IC) has established the so-called TechnoEthics as “an industry standard on consumer protection, governance, compliance, data privacy, security, and digital literacy.” FinTechAlliance further called for an ASEAN- wide acceptance of standardized QR codes in order streamline digital financial transactions.

In addition, The Philippine Finance Association (PFA), an organization of lending and credit companies, is supporting the new SEC circular that tightens rules on credit collection.

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The SEC has also raised alarm over the supposed re-emergence of the KAPA Community Ministry, the pseudo investment company that has defrauded people of millions of pesos. On the other hand, the Bureau of Immigration has raided the offices of Grapefruit Services and Golden Quickpay in Manila for illegal cryptocurrency and investment operations after 277 Chinese nationals arrested in a raid a week prior. In response, the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority has ordered the suspension of operations of financial technology and offshore virtual currency exchange licensees.

Other Agencies and Bureaus Former Senator Gregorio Honasan II, who was confirmed as the new Secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, has unveiled an ambitious 18-month timeframe to set up the Digital Philippines initiative. According to Undersecretary for Operations Eliseo Rio, the country is expected to receive a huge amount of investments in the information and communication sector as efforts to improve the country’s telecommunication services and internet connectivity intensifies.

The BIR will save P230 million a year in transaction fees by using electronic facility PESONet for its online tax payment service. It has filed seven separate criminal complaints against six Manila-based businesses for various violations of the Tax Code.

The IC has allowed insurance and reinsurance firms to diversify their investment portfolio and participate in the securities borrowing and lending transactions. It has also set up a P50,000 minimum paid up capital requirement for pre-need firms who does not sell any type of plans.

The Department of Agriculture is funding an Israeli agritech firm Mima Tech to help boost rice production through state-of-the-art rice mills, soil rejuvenation technologies, irrigation systems, fertilization techniques, and seed cultivation.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has launched its top-up loan scheme, called the Financial Assistance Loan Program, to prevent its lenders to borrow funds from private lenders. GSIS has opened a P170 million loan facility for employees of four local government units in the province of Tarlac. It is looking at public-private partnerships to enhance revenue income from its investment properties.

The Social Security System (SSS) is targeting 32.3 million digital transactions by 2020 thereby tripling it from the current 10.54 million on six digital payment platforms. It has announced that nearly 500,000 employees of more than 55,000 employers who availed

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themselves of the recently concluded Contribution Penalty Condonation Program will soon enjoy their benefits and privileges as active members of the .

The state-owned Credit Information Corp. has issued a circular allowing borrowers to file disputes or corrections on any erroneous, incomplete, or outdated credit information.

The Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines has warned that the proposed rationalization of tax incentives under House Bill 4157 or the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act would result in the loss of 700,000 jobs in its first year of implementation.

The National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights has proposed a legislation where in mall owners and e-commerce sites would have third party liability for counterfeit items being sold in their stores.

Banking Sector Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country’s central bank, has been active this month with a lot of policies being implemented involving digital banking and national banking finance initiatives. It has recently approved enhanced guidelines on voluntary surrender of a banking license as well as the ’s (PNB) absorption of its thrift bank arm PNB Thrift Bank.

As the transfer of various national government offices into New Clark City in the pipeline, the BSP has considered renovating its Manila headquarters once the planned transfer of the Security Plant Complex is completed. It has planned to transfer its currency production facility to boost note productions in of its continuity plan to protect operations from natural disasters. In connection to its currency production, it will circulate new P20 coins to replace the existing paper money by December 2019 as part of its cost cutting plan. Despite some reservations, it has allowed some banks to raise fees on ATM services by P3 per transaction to allow them to recover their operating costs.

The central bank has considered issuing its own debt papers in the second quarter of 2020 in order to strengthen its money operations while setting the minimum capitalization of non-stock savings and loan associations at P1 million. In response to the attacks on the Saudi oil facilities, the BSP is lowering the reserve requirement ratio by another 100 basis points.

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The BSP further strengthened financial consumer protection by approving the revision of the BSP Regulations on Financial Consumer Protection Framework under Circular 857 issued in 2014, which prevents banks from discriminating clients that belong to “vulnerable groups.” It has released rules and regulations on the registration of payment systems operators to implement Republic Act No. 11127 or the National Payment Systems Act. BSP managing director Vicente de Villa III has said that they have rejected applications by several banks to hike charges for automated teller machine transactions by up to 100 percent.

The BSP has released a data that showed that OFW remittances to the Philippines has reached $2.9 billion or 7.2% higher than the previous year.

As part of its initiative to enhance service, the BSP is setting up an SMS and Facebook chatbot that would respond to public complaints and provide the regulator with automated analytics of complaints data. It will launch a national QR code to increase cashless .

State-owned DBP will help fund Liangan Power Corp.’s 11.9-megawatt hydroelectric power plant in Bacolod, Lanao del Norte through a P1.1-billion term loan. It also extended a P1.6 billion loan agreement with Terasu Energy to finance the construction of a renewable energy power plant in Concepcion, Tarlac. It plans to enter a partnership with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to finance the infrastructure projects under the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program.

UnionBank has become the country’s first financial institution to launch its own native cryptocurrency PHX. Its API portal has generated P3 billion worth of transaction to date from both corporate and individual customers thereby making the largest API developer portal among all banks. The bank has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Pag-Ibig (Home Development Mutual Fund) by bringing back the fund’s loyalty card.

In bank financing, the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has raised $300 million in fresh funds from its issuance of ASEAN green bonds while Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) has sold at least $500 million benchmark-size US dollar- denominated senior unsecured sustainability notes and $300 million five-year unsecured bonds amid strong overseas investor demands. China Banking Corp. (China Bank) is looking to raise up to P15 billion in fresh funds by selling tier 2 capital notes. Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) is looking to raise its authorized capital stock to P6 billion in a bid to strengthen its and provide the lender flexibility.

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Some banks have issued long-term negotiable certificates of deposit (LTNCD): (BDO) has issued P6.5 billion LTNCD (higher than its initial P5 billion program), is seeking to raise P5 billion peso-denominated bonds and P25 billion LTNCD, PNB is also planning to raise P20 billion through its second offer of LTNCD due in 2025 and another P2 billion LTNCD with a five-and-a-half-year term, and has raised P6.06 billion LTNCD as well to expand their funding sources.

RCBC, through its RCBC Bankard Services unit, has launched their consumer-centric credit card that would target affluent travellers called Bankard VisaPlatinum.

In Palawan, Land Bank held their fourth annual Financial Inclusion Forum called “Ipon at Kabuhayan Para sa ating Kababayan,” which promotes greater financial inclusion among the unbanked and unserved communities. They recently announced that their subsidiary Overseas Filipino Bank is expected to operate as a branchless, digital bank by June 2020.

Many rural banks in the country are not yet digitally compliant but Cantilao Bank, a least- known rural bank in Surigao del Sur, has embraced cloud technology in its core operations.

BDO Unibank has renamed the largest rural bank One Network Bank into BDO Network Bank. With its new name, the bank is expected to double its branches and offices to 480 in the next four years. Meanwhile, BDO has teamed up with navigation app Waze by adding brand ambassador Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray as the first celebrity voice on that app.

The Asian Development Bank is partnering with three winning startup teams, including Filipino team Eskwelabs, in a hackathon hosted together with the Asian Institute of Management in developing an education platform for 21st-century technology skills.

The Bank of China has designated their Manila branch as the clearing bank for the Renminbi that would serve businesses and investors looking to invest in the Chinese financial market.

Security Bank was awarded as the Best Bank and Best SME Bank in the Philippines at the 13th Annual Alpha Southeast Asia Awards in Singapore. was chosen as the Best Digital Bank in the Philippines in an award by the Asian publication of Euromoney .

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Maybank has launched its flagship economic empowerment program Reach Independence and Sustainable Entrepreneurship 2.0 (RISE 2.0). The bank is looking to train 1,760 Filipinos during the first two years of the program.

Insurance Sector Pru Life UK has partnered with St. Luke’s Medical Center to improve the processing of critical illness claims of its policy owners.

Insular Life has launched its women-specific product “SheCares,” which combines life insurance, investment and health insurance into one plan. Its HMO subsidiary Insular Health Care has also launched a similar product called “InLife EntrePinay,” specially targeting female entrepreneurs.

Manulife is rolling out its new product line that is aimed at improving efforts to assess their clients’ needs. It has moved to a new modern office in Makati City to support its transformation into a digital insurer.

Preneed firm Mercantile Careplans has been placed under conservatorship by the IC for its failure to comply with the minimum capital requirements for preneed companies.Under Republic Act 9829 or the Pre-Need Code of the Philippines, companies are required to have a minimum P75 million paid-up capital.

The state-owned Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) is set to sell 150 residential lots of the closed LBC Development Bank with a combined value of P57.4 million by October. Selling such assets is one of PDIC’s tasks as the statutory receiver and liquidator of closed banks.

Philippine AXA Life Insurance has entered into an agreement with the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) to jointly-hold their “Innovation Fellowship Program” course.

Hotel management and booking platform RedDoorz has formed a strategic partnership with Swedish microinsurance BIMA to provide life and accident insurance to hotel partner staff.

Eternal Plans has expanded its preneed services into Bacolod City with the inauguration of its new office.

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Singaporean insurtech firm Axinan has entered the market as it is set to launch a smartphone insurance product with The Mercantile Insurance Co., Inc.

Startup and Fintech Sector The DTI is planning to develop economic zones and create rules for incentives to startups as part of its efforts to encourage more startups to spur economic activity. It has signed three separate agreements with electronic-payment platforms PayMaya, GCash and Link.Biz on offering payment options for those wishing to apply for or renew their business names.

PLDT Global, through its app Free Bee, has partnered digital payment Coins.ph by preventing better digital communications access to OFWs and their families back home. PLDT’s digital unit Voyager Innovations and its fintech arm PayMaya have received three Excellence Awards and four Merit Awards in the 17th Philippine Quill Awards Night. PayMaya has upgraded its app by incorporating artificial intelligence to streamline customer verification processes for upgrading accounts. It has partnered with the Manila city government to facilitate the disbursement of monthly stipends for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and solo parents. It also collaborated with aid organization Oxfam through the Inclusive and Affordable Financial Facilities for Resilient and Developed Filipinos (iAFFORD) program, which provides beneficiaries with an iAFFORD card that would serve as an electronic cash and identification card in one that can be used to transfer financial assistance in times of disaster and conflict.

Fastfood giant McDonalds has incorporated PayMaya QR payment codes that will eventually be rolled out to more branches with self-ordering kiosks as part of its NXTGEN format stores.

PayMaya plans to boost its user base to 40 million users by 2023, the same year when it targets to hit the P1-trillion transaction volume mark for a single year.

Globe Fintech Innovations, also known as Mynt, is hoping to become a $1-billion company through its financial technology venture GCash, where it has expanded partnership with Puregold Price Club with the introduction of a barcode-based account top-up method that will facilitate better customer experience in the later’s 368 branches nationwide. As part of its commitment to consumer protection, GCash has launched their Customer Protect program by providing compensation to unauthorized financial transactions on users’ GCash account. Recently, Globe Telecom has invested $60 million to improve cybersecurity in compliance to the Data Privacy Act.

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The erstwhile high-flying tech firm Xurpas has entered into corporate restructuring by dissolving Xeleb and sold Yondu to back Globe Telecom its 51% stake at a discounted P501 million ($9.6 million) or 44% lower than the original.

Tech firm Apollo Global Capital has executed an equity conversion to its $50-million loan and issued P5.14 million additional shares. Singapore-based Filipino retail startup Asenso Tech has raised $1.2 million from enterprise venture accelerator Talino Venture Labs and microfinance institution CARD MRI.

First Metro Investment Corp., through its asset investment arm, has added ECPay and GCash digital payment platforms to provide a wide range of financial services in support of the efforts of the BSP.

Fintech firm Mobi724 Global Solutions has sold all of the shares it holds on its partially- held Philippine-operating subsidiary Mobi724 Asia, representing 70% of all of the issued and outstanding shares, to QualityPay Solutions.

Grab has asked the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to review the supply of transport network vehicle service in Metro Manila and increase it if deemed necessary. LFTRB has previously issued 5,000 slots to franchises.

OmniPay and Diners Club has launched a dollar-based prepaid card that also works as a loyalty and rewards card to serve the unbanked and underbanked in the Philippines.

C Estates has unveiled the first tokenized properties in the Philippines thereby adding Manila to cities like New York, Amsterdam and Seoul as pioneers in digital property investment using blockchain technology.

Startup accelerator Launchgarage Innovation Hub has teamed up with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation to launch EXPAND PH, a market access program that provides growing Malaysian startups with opportunities to form strategic partnerships, collaborations, and investments in the Philippines.

Lazada Philippines has partnered with Singapore fintech AsiaKredit by allowing Lazada customers to buy products on fixed monthly installments through the eShopaLoan payment option.

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The Hong Kong fintech platform Mocasa has expanded into the Philippines by providing lending and personalized financial services for the underserved thus enabling them to gain access to the digital economy. Salarium has launched their payroll processing software in the country as it targets construction, retail, multinationals, and business process outsourcing or BPO companies.

Up-and-coming tech startup Qarabao has launched their web application that provides assistance to MSMEs by performing most of their daily business operations through automation, multiple payment support, and fully-integrated shipping options in the future.

Payments processing startup PayMongo has raised $2.7 million in a seed round investment from Silicon Valley investors Founders Fund, , and Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel. Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital, Soma Capital, Tinder Co-Founder Justin Mateen and other angel investors locally and abroad also participated.

Investment app provider Abra is adding cash-to-cryptocurrency outlets in over 6,000 7- Eleven stores in the country.

The country’s largest 3D startup Kezar 3D Printing Services has opened the first 3D printing kiosk in Lipa City, Batangas.

Agritech firm SeedWorks Philippines is stepping up its efforts to increase production of high-quality rice, including the US-88 hybrid rice variety, in a move to boost productivity and income of farmers in Central Luzon.

Over 7,500 industry experts and fintech leaders have gathered at the Seamless Philippines 2019 event at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City where they discussed new ways to innovate, transform and disrupt the commerce & finance ecosystem.

Other Sectors In response to the call of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno to invest in the city, the country’s top business tycoons Ricky Razon, Tessie Sy, Lance Gokongwei, Doris Magsaysay-Ho, and Ramon Ang have responded to support his policy.

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JG Summit, the holding company of the Gokongwei Group, is expanding into digital enterprises as it hired Elmer Malolos as chief executive officer of two companies focusing on the data and digital spaces - Data Analytics Ventures and JG Digital Equity Ventures.

UK-based auditing firm EY has opened its frontline cybersecurity center in the Philippines that would provide incident response services, threat hunting and threat protection to companies thereby boosting their cybersecurity responsiveness. Cybersecurity startup Cyberinc is collaborating with cloud service provider InfiniVan to offer the first local web isolation cloud solution in the Philippines thereby delivering the most secure browsing experience available within the region.

Singapore's investment company Temasek and firm KKR have advanced to the second round of an auction to buy into the hospital unit of Metro Pacific Investments.

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture is advocating the use of digital technology to boost plant science to improve the lives and earnings of farmers.

STARTUP OF THE MONTH: GOJEK For the second straight month, GOJEK has emerged as the startup of the month with its series of new service launches and innovative programs that’s sending ripples to the regional startup community. It is way ahead from its competitors when it comes to developing new types of services to keep up with rivals like Grab while also helping small startups grow.

GOJEK is on track to raise $2 billion before the end of the year as part of its ongoing funding round and attempt to accelerate capital-raising to drive digital payment and food delivery expansion. It also secured an unspecified amount of investment from insurance firm AIA Indonesia as part of its ongoing Series F funding round.

GOJEK has teamed up with fitness app DOOgether to launch GoFitness by providing users access to reserve wellness and sports classes in hundreds of gyms and studios in Jakarta. It also launched GoGames, a gaming service that enables users to top up gaming credits, read up on trends and guides for games, and consume content from influencers and professionals in the space. Another service it launched is GoCar Instant, a car-based transportation facility from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. It has unveiled an accelerator program called Gojek Xcelerate in collaboration with startup hub Digitaraya, which manages and supports multiple accelerator programs and works closely with

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Google in Indonesia, among other ecosystem stakeholders. A new video streaming service GoPlay features original movies and TV shows was launched recently to take on streaming giants Netflix and Hulu.

DEAL OF THE MONTH: GRAB-MICROSOFT PARTNERSHIP Not to be outdone by GOJEK, Grab has signed the most important partnership that competitors never managed to get. It has embarked on a massive and ambitious initiative that will help usher in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, to a new growth path driven by digitally-enabled citizens, communities and businesses. In line with the initiative, it has formed a strategic partnership with Microsoft to provide critical technological access to people in the ASEAN through 2025.

BIGGEST FUNDING: AXIS BANK Indian startups and fintech companies have raised the most investment funding out there and it is not a surprise that an Indian bank would get the biggest funding of all. Private sector lender Axis Bank has raised $1.79 billion in India’s second-largest qualified institutional placement from large foreign and local investors including Singapore GIC and American investors T Rowe Price and BlackRock.

BIGGEST LAUNCHES: REMITTANCE SERVICES Remittance services, through digital payment and digital payment platforms, have fueled the growth of the startup fintech sector.

Malaysian fintech firm BigPay has launched its international remittance services to enable users to send money directly from Malaysia to bank accounts in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines without extra charges or hidden fees. While Grab Financial is expected to launch its first cross-border remittance corridor between Singapore and the Philippines in the fourth quarter of 2019.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS There hasn’t been a lot of significant mergers and acquisitions of companies in the ASEAN in this month.

Singapore The Princeton Digital Group has acquired assets and land for new data centre development in both China and Singapore, as part of its $500m investment plans to

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accelerate its presence across the region. It has acquired a 100% stake in a Singapore data center business that used to be part of IO Data Centers, before it was acquired by

Iron Mountain. While it has also started construction of a Shanghai data center campus and set up development of large-scale data centers in Nanjing, Nantong and Wuxi.

The Clermont Group has acquired Israeli-founded electric plane startup Eviation Aircraft, buying a 70% stake in the company. oCap Management has acquired a 25% stake in Chennai-based non-banking financial company GoCapital Finance Limited, marking its entry into the country’s financial services space.

Nova Satra DX has concluded a merger with INEX Innovations Exchange for $72 million. As part of the deal, INEX group will be restructured in which Nova Satra becomes a part of INEX Innovate, one of Southeast Asia’s largest medtech specialist companies in cancer research and development.

Bank-as-a-service platform MatchMove has closed an agreement with licensed P2P lender MoolahSense to acquire a strategic stake with immediate effect.

Indonesia PT Bank Danamon Indonesia (BDI) and PT Bank Nusantara Parahyangan (BNP), a member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, have officially merged after completing the legal process. Following the merger, all rights and obligations, as well as assets and liabilities of BNP will be transferred to BDI. With the completion, MUFG Bank Ltd., the core banking arm under MUFG, will become the controlling shareholder of the newly merged bank.

UOB Asset Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-based United Overseas Bank has acquired a 75% stake in Indonesia’s PG Asset Management worth S$2.25 million. As part of the deal, UOB will provide its expertise to Indonesian investors in areas such as Islamic investments and multi-asset strategies.

Media group EMTEK, the majority shareholder of the digital payment platform Dana, is discussing a merger with its Grab-backed competitor Ovo.

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Malaysia Automotive marketplace iCar Asia has inked an agreement to acquire Indonesian automotive classifieds portal Carmudi for $3 million.

AXA Liabilities Managers, the non-life reinsurance/insurance legacy firm, has acquired the non-life legacy portfolio of Munich Re Malaysia with the portfolio transfer effective on October 1, 2019.

Malaysian Industrial Development Finance has submitted its proposal to merge with Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp (M) Bhd to the central bank. As a result of the merger, which will be done via a share swap, Permodalan Nasional Bhd will end up with a majority stake of over 60% in the merged entity. The balance equity will be held by the Saudi Arabia-based parent company Al Rajhi Bank.

Vietnam FWD Group, the insurance arm of investment group Pacific Century, is about to close a $400-million acquisition of Vietcombank Cardif Life Insurance, a 45%-55% joint venture between Vietcombank and BNP Paribas Cardif.

Rest of the Region Foreign insurers Allianz, Nippon Life, Sun Life Financial, Manulife Financial Corp, and MS&AD Insurance are vying with other rivals to buy the Singapore and Vietnam businesses of Britain's Aviva in a deal likely to be worth up to $2.5 billion.

POLICIES AND REGULATIONS Various governments in the Asia-Pacific region, including different governmental agencies, bureaus and institutions, have enacted policies and regulations aimed to manage their country's economic activities and specific industries (i.e. financial, banking, tech sectors). Also featured are joint government-business policy, public-private partnerships and state-owned corporations.

Singapore Singapore will unveil the Tech@SG scheme to compete with other countries to attract the best tech talents by helping companies facilitate the entry of “core team members” to the country. However, it will require qualifying firms to have secured more than$10 million in venture capital (VC) funding cumulatively from a recognised VC in the past 36 months.

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Experts believe that the Tech@SG scheme could help increase the demand for rental homes and boost the country’s home rental market.

As part of the initiative to overhaul the banking industry, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched the application process for digital bank licenses. It has teamed up with the Singapore Customs and other financial institutions by launching two

new services: the Trade Finance Compliance will help combat money laundering and terrorism financing while the Networked Trade Platform will help solve banks' inability to validate the underlying trade and the lack of reliable data to conduct price checks for non- commodity goods.

MAS has partnered with the Singapore Academy of Law by rolling out a payments regulatory evaluation program to help connect the payments industry with legal service providers that will provide regulatory and compliance assessment.

The ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN), an entity formed by MAS, the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation, and the ASEAN Bakers Association, has signed two memoranda of understanding with PwC and Bridge+ to grant better resources and support to fintech firms on the APIX platform, AFIN’s flagship initiative which facilitates financial institutions and fintech firms to connect one another.

The Singapore Police Force launched the Anti-Scam Centre in collaboration with major banks so that suspicious bank accounts linked to scams and other financial crimes can be frozen.

The Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing and Myanmar counterpart Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations U Thaung Tun have signed the Bilateral Investment Treaty on the Promotion and Protection of Investments on the sidelines of the 7th Singapore-Myanmar Joint Ministerial Working Committee Meeting. The treaty will allow Singaporean companies in Myanmar to turn to international arbitration for disputes over investment.

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Malaysia The Ministry of International Trade and Industry has offered investment opportunities for firms in the manufacturing sector.

In response to reports that the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) is pursuing its anti-monopoly investigation into Grab. The ride-hailing giant has issued a statement that it has "fully cooperated" with the MyCC in their request for information but insisted that they are not aware of any breach of competition laws since its acquisition of Uber in March 2019. The investigation follows multiple complaints starting from last year accusing Grab of monopolistic practices after it bought Uber Technologies Inc.’s Southeast Asian operations.

Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s central bank, has held its benchmark interest rate at 3% as the country posted steady economic growth despite the mounting global risks. In response to the UN “responsible banking” principles, it has required financial institutions to provide a report of their exposure to climate risks as the information it gathers could be used to set regulatory standards.

Bursa Malaysia has extended its agreement with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc (CME) to host Bursa Malaysia Derivatives’ products on CME Globex until September 2025 with the option of successive renewal terms of three years thereafter.

The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has invited nine new Digital Transformation Lab (DTL) partners to join its commitment to “empower more Malaysian businesses to go digital.” MDEC is a government agency under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia with a mission to lead the nation’s digital economy forward.

The Securities Commission has registered EdgeProp Sdn Bhd as the first recognised market operator to establish and operate a property platform in Malaysia.

Indonesia President Joko Widodo has ordered his ministers to increase efforts in cutting down regulations that hamper foreign direct investments in order to protect the economy from the global economic slowdown. The proposed corporate tax cut from 25% to 20% starting 2021 will cut government revenue by $6.14 billion. To complement it, the government is also considering to ease the strict labor laws as it scared away investors because of hefty severance pays and benefits.

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The government is seeking partnerships with financial technology (fintech) platforms to digitize its subsidy for jobseeker training, offered through the pre-employment card.

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) will collaborate with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Japan Financial Service Authority, and Security Exchange Commission Malaysia to maintain a safe and creative environment for the financial technology industry. OJK has launched the Electronic Gateway for Digital Finance Information Systems to monitor fintech development. It has recently granted the first equity crowdfunding license to Yogyakarta-based fintech firm Santara.

The Finance Ministry is looking into the possibility of taxing the big foreign tech companies doing businesses in the domestic market in a proposed taxation bill that will allow the government to collect corporate income tax.

Bank Indonesia has cut its key interest rate for a third straight month and took a series of other steps to bolster growth amid a deepening global economic slowdown. It also cut its seven-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%. It also plans to reshape its regulatory sandbox scheme into a development sandbox for fintech payments in the near future.

State-owned pawnshop Pegadaian plans to set aside a sum of $35.3 million to invest in three to five fintech companies in the fourth quarter of 2019.

As part of its efforts to generate more payment from tax arrears and unpaid vehicle-related taxes, the Jakarta Tax and Levy Board is planning to implement stronger measures to block the bank accounts of tax evaders. Meanwhile, the West Java government has partnered with ride-hailing app Grab that will allow the public to rent electric scooters and order electric car rides. Other cities like Bandung, Bogot, Cirebon and Pangandaran are currently in consideration for such trials.

Independent studies have shown that the country’s digital economy is prone to cyberattacks, Internet fraud and system failures. A Grant Thornton study have found that two-thirds of middle-sized and large businesses have experienced at least one cyberattack in the last 12 months while 73% of 500 companies reported a loss of 25% as a result of cyberattacks. The National Cyber and Encryption Agency also did a study which showed the country getting hit by a record of 12.9 million cyberattacks in 2018 with an average of 15% growth per year.

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The United Nations Development Program in Indonesia has teamed up with Silicon Valley global investor 500 Startups to launch ImpactAim Indonesia, an accelerator targeting social enterprises in the country.

Vietnam Experts and business leaders have gathered at the 15th International Travel Expo in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss about tourism initiatives and develop a national master plan for smart tourism startups.

Vingroup has obtained an e-wallet license from the State Bank of Vietnam for its payment unit VinID. The license, effective until 2027, is a renewed certification after VinID acquired People Care JSC, the operator of digital wallet MonPay.

Cambodia Through the Travel and Learn program organized by Ngee Ann Polytechnic, a Singaporean business delegation has visited the country looking for investment opportunities in the retail, technology, fintech and education sectors.

Cambodia and Thailand's Securities Exchange and Commission have signed a memorandum of understanding on mutual cooperation for capital market development through cross-listing, dual listing and depositary receipt offerings.

Thailand The World Business Angels Investment Forum is working with the National Science and Technology Development Agency to establish a Thai office as part of the angel investors goal to build a community that will support local and regional startups and innovators.

The government, through the Bureau of Investment and the Industry Ministry, is planning to provide “relocation package” and other incentives, including a 50% tax cut, to attract foreign companies who are looking to move their production away from China.

Despite efforts to bring in foreign investments, the foreign business community are concerned about the imposition of the onerous TM30 immigration law by the Immigration Bureau. Some long-term foreign residents are crying foul at the strict implementation of the TM30 reporting rules as it will only penalize law-abiding foreigners and have little effect on criminals and other wrongdoers who evade the requirements.

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The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society has assured local and multinational corporations that the Personal Data Protection Act taking effect in May 2020 will not harm their businesses.

The Transport Ministry has drafted guidelines to regulate ride-hailing companies and aims to legalise the services by March 2020.

The Office of the Insurance Commission plans to enforce the risk-based capital 2 (RBC 2) regulations by year-end after a public hearing suggested that some insurance firms are prepared to adopt the new rules.

The Customs Department will adopt TradeLens, the logistics platform jointly supported by IBM and Maersk that will streamline its shipment tracking procedures as part of the country’s Thailand 4.0 policy.

The National Electronics and Computer Technology Center has launched a website that allows program developers, startups and businesses to access an artificial intelligence research database and services to develop products linked with the technology.

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) will disable all magnetic-stripe ATM and debit cards by January 16, 2020. It is currently urging 20 million users to change to chip-based cards. The BOT’s monetary policy committee has voted unanimously to keep the one-day repurchase rate at 1.50%. The state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives has appointed top-up machine operators Forth Smart Service and Sabuy Technology as banking agents to receive deposits and distribute Kaset Yung Yeen savings certificates.

Six Taiwanese tech startups in smart healthcare and medical health innovation businesses have entered the Thai market to capitalise on rising demand as the country ages rapidly, in line with the government's 10-year policy to make the country Asia's medical hub. The Federation of Thai Industries is supporting these startups' investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor project with the cooperation of the Bureau of Foreign Trade in Taiwan and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council.

Japan The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has invited Asian startups to get listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as part of the government’s Asia Digital Transformation Partnership Initiative.

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The Financial Services Agency has approved the cryptocurrency banking license of LVC Corp., the entity that oversees digital asset and blockchain business units of the popular messaging app Line.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is considering interest rate cuts further into negative territory as one of the bank’s policy options in response to the economic

downturn brought about by the ongoing US-China trade war. Mr. Kuroda has also called for international cooperation in regulating stablecoins like the Facebook-led Libra.

South Korea The Financial Services Commission is easing the investment rules on financial firms investing in the fintech sector. It has strengthened cooperation with Indonesia to support South Korean startups entering into their country.

The Industry Ministry is set to exclude Japan from its export control whitelist in response to their Japanese counterparts’ decision to remove South Korea as a preferred trading partner and impose tighter export controls.

The Software Policy & Research Institute reported that just one in four blockchain businesses generate sales according to their 2018 Software Industry Survey.

North Korea The North Korean regime has denied a recent United Nations report suggesting that the state was behind major hacks of banks and cryptocurrency exchanges that reaped around $2 billion for the nation’s weapons programs. The US Department of the Treasury has sanctioned three North Korean entities Lazarus, Bluenoroff, and Andariel for cyber crimes, specifically cryptocurrency theft. In response to these developments, it has considered developing its own cryptocurrency to get around tough international sanctions.

China The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is working overtime to beat Facebook’s Libra to the market. Its Digital Currency Research Lab is now developing their digital currency system in a closed-door environment away from the central bank’s downtown Beijing headquarters but denies claim that it will launch it by November. PBoC has slashed bank reserve ratios for the third time this year by releasing a total of $126.35 billion in liquidity to shore up the slowing economy. It has extended 200 billion yuan of one-year medium-

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term lending facility loans and kept the one-year rate unchanged at 3.3%. It also cut its Loan Prime Rate (LPR) by 5 basis points at its monthly fixing to 4.2%.

The PBoC has given regulatory approval to PayPal Holdings to buy a controlling 70% stake in a domestic payments firm Gopay Information Technology. The acquisition would make PayPal the first foreign firm to enter China’s payment services market.

The Insurance Regulatory Commission issued "type A" licenses to Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas that allows them to act as a lead underwriter for corporate debt issued by non-financial institutions.

The State Council has called for the timely use of broad and targeted reserve-ratio cuts to support the economy and faster implementation of measures to reduce borrowing costs.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange will scrap the quota restrictions on two major inbound investment schemes as the weakening yuan and rising outflows prompt the government to attract more foreign capital.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have accused 32 apps and websites (including the largest food delivery service Meituan) for collecting and using user information without approval for unknown purposes.

The government of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region is carrying out an inspection to eliminate “illegal” bitcoin mining operations in the area.

As part of the effort to gain greater control on private enterprises, the Hangzhou government will assign government officials to work with 100 private companies including e-commerce giant Alibaba.

The 20th Singapore-Sichuan Trade & Investment Committee saw the signing of 17 agreements between Singapore and Chinese companies that strengthens cooperation in areas such as medical technology, transport, logistics and lifestyle.

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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has lowered its base rate charged through the overnight discount window by 25 basis points to 2.25% after the US Federal Reserve delivered a rate cut of the same margin.

Hong Kong-based community platform and accelerator WHub has secured the country’s first regulatory approval for an equity crowdfunding platform for startup entrepreneurs.

Taiwan The National Development Council has said that the Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency (ASVDA), which it founded, has laid the groundwork to transforming the country into a research and development hub for the IoT sector. ASVDA aims to fuel the country's tech startup scene and build a competitive ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship.

India India is merging its state-run banks to form fewer and stronger lenders as part of the government’s efforts to boost credit and revive economic growth from a five-year low. Forming to form the country’s second largest lender, Punjab National Bank, Oriental and United Bank of India will merge. The other banks that are expected to merge are: Canara Bank will join Syndicate Bank, Union Bank of India will merge with Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank, and Indian Bank will combine with Allahabad Bank. Together, they will hold business worth US$781 billion.

The Finance Ministry has said that the tax on domestic companies will be lowered to 22% from the current base rate of 30%. The effective new rate will be 25.2% including all additional levies and is applicable only for companies. It is providing over $20 billion boost to revive economic growth from a six-year low.

The State Bank of India will raise up to Rs 3,465 crore ($667 million) by offloading up to 4.5% of its stake in SBI Life Insurance.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has eased the limits on bank lending to the troubled non-bank sector in an effort to increase liquidity and fuel consumer demand for economic growth. RBI has approved the license for the app-based credit line startup MoneyTap to operate as a non-banking finance company. RBI has placed lending restrictions on Lakshmi Vilas Bank, adding to the company’s troubles after its chief executive officer abruptly quit last month and police registered a case of alleged fraud.

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A fintech inter-ministerial panel has submitted its report to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman suggesting a comprehensive legal framework to protect consumers of digital services. It has also recommended the adoption of regulation technology by all financial sector regulators to develop standards and facilitate adoption by financial services providers.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Chief Fintech Officer Sopnendu Mohanty was appointed as the digital and financial technology adviser by the Odisha state government.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has announced a startup challenge with a ₹2.1 million cash prize for the best innovative ideas for sustainable energy.

Outside the Region Major banks with over $47 trillion in assets, about a third of the global banking sector, have adopted the new United Nations-backed “responsible banking” principles with the object to fight climate change that would shift their loan books away from fossil fuels.

In the United States, a new law was passed in California where it required companies like ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft to treat drivers as employees, eligible for benefits and wage protections. Its wide-ranging effects may hit Asian players like Grab and GOJEK.

Attorneys general from 50 US states and territories have signed an antitrust investigation into Google.

Twitter has expanded its policies to prohibit financial scams on its platform, which was never directly addressed through its policy documentation.

The Marshall Islands has passed the Sovereign Currency Act and declared its intention to issue a new currency, the Marshallese sovereign (SOV), which will be used alongside the dollar.

The Iranian government has proposed new cryptocurrency mining regulations to license and register miners and obtain information such as their list of business activities, the predicted value of their investments, current employment status, rental agreements for the space itself, the value of their mining equipment and the duration of the mining project. The license will need to be renewed every year.

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The UAE government has launched the Youth Station initiative to support the startup ecosystem in the country. In line with other initiatives of the Federal Youth Foundation, it will be the largest open commercial incubator distributed among the commercial centers, markets, airports and cultural and tourism facilities in the UAE. The country is also competing against Bahrain to become the region’s fintech hub and one-stop shop for cryptocurrencies.

The Australian Senate has created a select committee that will examine fintech and regtech issues including the implementation of “open banking.” Liberal Senator Andrew

Bragg is expected to chair it. In related developments, the finance intelligence agency AUSTRAC has ordered the appointment of an external auditor to examine PayPal’s compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission plans to strengthen banking code amendment proposals given by a banking sector body, as it sought to adopt suggestions from an inquiry into misconduct in the country's financial sector.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has granted a new banking license to online-only banking firm Xinja Bank thereby allowing the startup to compete against the country's big four lenders that dominate the sector.

DEALS AND PARTNERSHIPS The month of September has seen a lot of big deals and partnerships that enabled startups and other firms to expand their market reach and forge new business relationships.

Singapore Singapore Polytechnic has partnered with the Token Economy Association to develop and launch the FinTech Deep Dive Series, which aims to help Singapore develop local talent for blockchain and for companies to leverage on this technology.

Silicon Valley-based venture firm and seed accelerator 500 Startups and Enterprise Singapore have entered a two-way partnership to nurture the growth of start-ups in Singapore and San Francisco.

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Reefknot Investments, a joint venture between Temasek Holdings and Kuehne + Nagel, has launched its inaugural $50 million global fund to invest in startups "at the forefront" of the logistics and supply chain industry.

AI solutions provider TAIGER has established an official global technology and commercial partnership with Microsoft as its award winning suite of workplace AI solutions will be available on Azure specifically, Microsoft Marketplace and AppSource, to help clients better streamline end to end business workflows.

Traydstream and Standard Chartered Bank have formed a strategic agreement to introduce Traydstream’s digital trade document matching services to the Bank’s clients,

delivering increased efficiency and transparency to document trade processing and improving the trade finance experience for buyers and suppliers globally.

Pan-Asian insurer FWD Group has partnered with Shift Technology to deploy their FORCE fraud detection solution that uses artificial intelligence to analyze multiple data sources and thereby improve insurers' claims assessment capabilities by eliminating possible waste and fraudulent claims. FWD Singapore became the first in the region to implement it.

The Singapore Polytechnic and the Token Economy Association have partnered to offer a series of courses aimed at developing programmers to better satisfy Singapore’s demand for blockchain and fintech savvy professionals.

Dutch brewer Heineken has teamed up with Grab to broaden beverage distribution. The service will start in Singapore and Vietnam by the end of the month and will be later launched in the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Tribe Accelerator, a homegrown blockchain accelerator backed by Enterprise Singapore, has added IBM, Citibank and Ubisoft as corporate partners for the second edition of its four-month program.

Digital payments company Liquid Group has expanded its cross-border QR payment acceptance partnerships to include acquirers across 10 Asian markets including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and

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South Korea. Ride-hailing startup Ryde will be adding over 3,000 cabs to its platform as part of its collaboration with local taxi company Trans-Cab.

Malaysia Petronas has formed a partnership with global investor 500 Startups to launch a technology accelerator program called Petronas FutureTech, which aims to discover and nurture home-grown technology entrepreneurs, scale them up to global standards, as well as build and influence the tech-driven startup ecosystem in the country.

Alliance Bank Malaysia and Credit Guarantee Corp Malaysia have teamed up to provide fast and simple financing to help Malaysian small and medium enterprises accelerate growth.

Infinity Blockchain Ventures Malaysia has signed an agreement with Masryef, a Shariah advisory firm, to create solutions for Islamic banks based on distributed ledger technology.

French insurer AXA SA and Affin Bank Bhd are exploring options including a potential sale of their life and general insurance business in Malaysia that could fetch about $650 million.

Allianz General Insurance Company (Malaysia) Bhd and its agency partner Anora Agency Sdn Bhd (Anora), has inked a memorandum of understanding with Solarvest Holdings Bhd on supporting local players in the solar photovoltaic industry.

Venture capital firm Vynn Capital has teamed up with Japanese advisory and consulting firm OPTI to bring investments from Japan into Southeast Asia. The two companies will collaborate to bolster the ecosystem for early-stage companies in Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

Indonesia The Indonesia Fintech Association (AFTECH) along with Financial Services Authority (OJK), Bank Indonesia, and supported by Indonesia Joint Funding Fintech Association (AFPI) and Indonesia Sharia Fintech Association (AFSI) has successfully organized the biggest fintech event in the country - the Indonesia Fintech Summit & Expo (IFSE) 2019 that was held at the Jakarta Convention Center.

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Bank Mandiri has signed an agreement with state-owned developer Perum Perumnas to provide mortgage loans for 45 new housing projects throughout 40 regencies and cities in the country.

E-commerce unicorn Tokopedia, along with super-apps Gojek, Grab, and other five startups, have signed a partnership with the Jakarta government to accelerate the development of the capital’s smart city project.

Peer-to-peer digital lending platform Modalku is expanding its partnership with Singaporean fashion e-commerce platform Zilingo to provide lending facility to the latter’s 40,000 merchants and manufacturers.

Vietnam Grab has reached a strategic partnership with Vietnam’s Sovico Group to collaborate on first and last mile mobility and logistics solutions.

Vietjet Aviation will team up with Swift 247, a technology start-up providing super express air delivery service and Singapore-based ride-hailing company Grab to develop solutions for connecting road and air travel to customers across Southeast Asia.

South Korean fintech startups are seeking to expand into Indonesia by forging partnerships with local startups through an acceleration program carried out by Shinhan Financial Group in cooperation with a coworking space company CoHive. The acceleration program, called the Shinhan Future’s Lab Indonesia, was officially launched in Jakarta.

The joint-stock commercial Bank of Investment and Development of Vietnam has entered into an agreement with global trade finance fintech leader Surecomp to implement their proprietary DOKA-NG® and allNETT® solutions.

Singapore telehealth startup Doctor Anywhere is expanding its operations in the region by signing a strategic cooperation agreement with Bao Minh Insurance.

Thailand Siam Commercial Bank has formed a partnership with e-commerce and game developer Sea Ltd’s Thai operations to provide payments and lending services as it seeks to increase revenues from digital banking. E-commerce giant Alibaba is organizing an

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intensive training program aimed at enhancing Thai businesses competitiveness in the digital era through its Alibaba Netpreneur Training Thailand Program that is jointly organized with the Digital Economy Promotion Agency; the National Innovation Agency of Thailand; and multinational venture capital firm Gobi Partners.

Krungsri (also known as Bank of Ayudhya) has appointed the state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) as its banking agent for cash deposit and withdrawal services at BAAC branches nationwide.

Thanachart Bank Plc (TBank) and Government Savings Bank (GSB) have sold their stakes in Thanachart Fund Management Company (TFUND) to Prudential Corporation Holdings, with the share purchase expected to be not less than THB 8.4 billion.

Kasikornbank has teamed up with messaging app Line as it plans to roll out money transfer, payment and deposit services on the Line platform in the first quarter of 2020 with digital lending scheduled for the second half of that year.

DBS Private Bank and brokerage DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand) are partnering to double wealth assets managed in Thailand to S$8 billion from S$4 billion by 2023.

Real estate investor and developer K.E. Group has formed a strategic partnership with global innovation platform Plug and Play to join as a Founding Anchor Partner for its new smart cities program in Thailand.

Japan Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group are among 15 names proposed as lead underwriters for the planned of Saudi Aramco.

Money Tap, operated by the Japanese SBI Holding and powered by Ripple blockchain, has managed to get four new banks on board as shareholders taking the total to 29 banks.

System integrator NTT Data has linked up with a Chinese startup CloudPick to provide cashier-free operations for convenience stores and other retailers in an attempt to address labor shortage in the country.

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Daiwa Securities Group and credit card company Credit Saison will enter a capital and business partnership particularly services as they work to solidify their customer bases.

South Korea Popular hotel app Yanolja has acquired Indian lodgings management platform eZee Technosys to further its expansion beyond the country.

KB Kookmin Bank is in partnership talks with Indonesian venture capital firm MDI Ventures.

Smart scanner producing startup Toy’s Myth has signed a memorandum of understanding with Computer Union, an IT affiliate of Thai’s public company Saha Union, at the Start-up Seoul: Tech-Rise 2019.

The Korea International Trade Association will offer selected local startups their COEX Startup Testbed to showcase their innovative technologies and services in hopes of vitalizing the ecosystem.

China Alibaba has reached an agreement to acquire NetEase’s cross-border e-commerce unit Kaola worth $2 billion in cash and shares.

China International Capital Corporation (CICC) has inked an agreement with Tencent Holdings subsidiary Tencent Digital (Shenzhen) Limited to launch a joint venture that will deliver technology solutions and digitalized operational support services for wealth management. THe joint venture is worth $70.24 million with CICC holding a 51% stake.

OneConnect Financial Technology (OneConnect), an associate company of insurance giant Ping An Group, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesian insurer Asuransi Sinarmas, a unit of Sinarmas. The MoU will enable Asuransi Sinarmas to launch Smart Auto Claims solution to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.

Agritech and rural e-commerce company Origin Agritech has entered into a collaboration agreement with Inova Genética, a member of the Wehrmann Group.

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India IT giant Tech Mahindra has united with U.S. distributed ledger technology firm Adjoint to launch a blockchain insurance and finance management solution.

IDBI Bank is now looking to sell its stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company and has mandated JP Morgan India to manage the process. Yes Bank is close to securing a deal to sell a minority stake to a global technology company to help boost the Indian private lender’s capital. Canara Bank has received 12 expressions of interest from “serious investors” for its stake in Can Fin Homes.

Bajaj Finance Ltd. has picked banks including Nomura Holdings and Kotak Mahindra Bank to arrange a share sale of about $1 billion.

Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal has entered into the financial services business by acquiring Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services Private Limited (CRIDS), a non-bank finance company.

E-commerce payment and digital wallet provider PhonePe is in the process of forging a partnership with private sector lender ICICI Bank to offer Unified Payments Interface- based digital transactions to its customers.

IIT-Madras and Confederation of Indian Industry are collaborating to nurture and promote innovative green startups across the country.

Outside the Region Binance has acquired the Seychelles-based exchange JEX. As part of the deal, JEX will be rebranded as Binance JEX and will offer derivatives products, including futures, options, and perpetual contracts, according to a press release.

Kuwait Finance House’s Board of Directors have offered to acquire Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank in an all-share deal valued at about $8.8 billion.

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FINANCINGS AND FUNDRAISERS September has been particularly busy as several startups have raised funding and received financing from venture capitalists, private equity firms, and independent investors for their future expansion and ventures:

Singapore Vickers Venture Partners is set to hit the first close of its $500 million sixth fund in the first week of October. Vertex Venture Holdings, the first main backer of ride-hailing giant Grab, has added a new $290 million venture capital fund targeting investments in high-growth

technology firms. US-based artificial intelligence firm DataRobot has raised $206 million in a Series E funding round led by Sapphire Ventures and new investors that include Singapore's Economic Development Board investment arm, EDBI; Tiger Global Management; World Innovation Lab and Alliance Bernstein. Grab is planning to invest $150 million in artificial intelligence research over the next year as part of its efforts to accelerate its expanding business that now includes food delivery, digital payments and digital content.

Financial marketplace GoBear has announced $80 million in funding to date, which it will use to improve the platform’s search and match functionality. Big data technology company Advance.AI has closed $80 million in Series C funding led by Gaorong Capital and Pavilion Capital with participation from Unicorn Venture, eGarden Ventures, GSR Ventures and Vision Plus Capital. Health startup CXA Group intends to start a new round of funding to try and raise at least $50 million at a $250 million valuation. Digital Reasoning has received a strategic investment from SC Ventures in a Series D-1 funding round of up to $40 million.

Oneberry Technologies, an end-to-end security and surveillance solution provider, has received funding of $22 million from private equity firm CMIA Capital Partners and Bintang Capital Partners Bhd. Docquity, a Southeast Asian social network for doctors, aims to raise $20 million to $35 million to expand into Japan and South Korea. Alternative asset management firm Elite Partners Capital has launched a new equity fund Elite Trafford Global Equity Fund, which aims to provide investors with the opportunity to invest in undervalued equities with strong long-term fundamentals. It has already raised more than $20 million, with a target of $200 million.

Open banking and regtech platform Railsbank has raised $10 million through a Series A funding round led by Moneta Capital and joined by CreditEase, Clocktower Technology

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Ventures, Singapore Life and existing investors including Firestartr. It also planned to expand and open a Singapore office. Venture capital firm Mooncake Capital has closed $10 million on investments in Asian cryptocurrency projects through its new fund called Connect Fund. so Cash has raised $6 million that would help them finance their operations to transform shops, cafes and grocery stores into digital ATMs. HR and benefits management platform HReasily has received a $5-million investment from venture capital firm Envy Capital. Chemical separation technology startup SEPPURE has raised $2.55 million in its seed funding round backed by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm and accelerator 500 Startups. Arival Bank has raised $2.3 million in a pre- Series A equity crowdfunding campaign. Food technology startup Hoow Foods, which specialises in reformulation

technology, has closed a $1.2 million seed round led by local food and beverage heritage brand Killiney Group. HR startup StaffAny has raised S$1 million in startup funding as they plan to change the Singapore workforce landscape.

Online business-to-business marketplace for industrial hardware and supplies Eezee has secured an undisclosed sum in seed funding from Insignia Ventures Partners.

The Agricultural Bank of China’s Singapore branch has secured a $200 million green loan, the first tranche of a $465 million club loan facility. The green club loan facility is the first established under its sustainable financing framework, jointly developed by United Overseas Bank and BNP Paribas for the Chinese lender.

National fund transfer service PayNow has reached over $720 million in monthly transactions.

Maybank Singapore aims to double its non-lending income contribution from its retail small and medium-sized enterprise (RSME) segment in the next three years, in an effort to diversify its income streams.

Malaysia CIMB Bank Bhd is issuing $680 million Formosa & Reg S Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) bonds.

Singaporean startup Carro has invested $30 million in Malaysia-based car bidding platform myTukar to digitize the local used car dealer industry.

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Digital health startup Naluri Hidup is targeting to raise between $4 million to $5 million for its Series A round funding.

NowPay, a fintech start-up established earlier this year on a Shariah compliant proposition, has raised $600,000 in seed funding from 500 Startups and Endure Capital.

Snackable cricket producer Ento has managed to secure a seed round funding from Singaporean venture capital RAPZO Capital.

Healthtech startup BookDoc is looking to raise a Series A investment from strategic partners.

Indonesia State lender Bank Mandiri has injected $129 million into state-owned diversified mining company Aneka Tambang (Antam) to refinance the latter’s business loans.

Telkom Indonesia’s corporate venture capital arm MDI Ventures is in talks to raise $100 million in its third fundraising. Singapore-based, Indonesia-focused Indies Capital has closed over $70 million for its tech fund.

Business-to-business marketplace and e-procurement platform Bizzy is planning to raise $50 million to expand into new business areas. Social Bella, the owner of online beauty marketplace Sociolla, has bagged $40 million in a series D round led by East Ventures’ EV Growth and Singapore government-owned Temasek. Fintech startup SuperAtom has closed $24 million on its latest funding round led by Gobi Partners through the Meranti ASEAN Growth Fund with NYSE-listed Cheetah Mobile as a co-investor. Digital credit platform Kredivo has secured a debt financing of up to $20 million from firm Partners for Growth to fund loans for the startup’s borrowers in the country.

Peer-to-peer lending platform Julo has extended its $5 million Series A raise to $15 million as it looks to scale its business in the key Southeast Asian market. The $10 million Series A2 round was led by Quona Capita together with Skystar, East Ventures, Provident, Gobi Partners and Convergence. Bank MNC International is planning to conduct a $14.6 million rights issue and issue around 4.13 billion new shares at a nominal price of 50 rupiah by December 2019. App-based logistics startup Paxel have raised as much as $10 million led by its co-founder Johari Zein.

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Peer-to-peer lending startup Akseleran has raised around $8.5 million in a Series A funding round from venture capitalists including Access Ventures. E-commerce logistics

platform Shipper has raised $5 million in seed funding from Lightspeed Ventures, Floodgate Ventures, Insignia Ventures Partners and Y Combinator, which will be used for

hiring and customer acquisition. Fintech firm Pluang has received over $3 million in Series A funding from led by Go Ventures. Agriculture supply chain startup Eden Farm has closed $1.7 million seed funding from Y Combinator. Mandiri Capital Indonesia (MCI), the corporate venture capital of Bank Mandiri, has led the $1 million Pre-Series A funding for agriculture-focused P2P lending startup Crowde.

Fintech startup Flip has secured an undisclosed amount from Insignia Ventures Partners. Personalized direct-to-consumer beauty and wellness company Base has secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding led by East Ventures and Skystar Capital. Aquaculture startup Jala Tech has secured seed funding in 500 Startups-led round. Peer- to-peer lending fintech PinjamWinWin has raised funding from US venture capital fund SOSV. Fintech peer-to-peer lending startup PT Investree Radhika Jaya is in talks with several investors to raise a Series C funding as the firm looks to boost its expansion in Southeast Asia. Rental marketplace platform CUMI has raised seed funding from East Ventures to accelerate user growth, hire talent and expand coverage in the country.

P2P lender KoinWorks has reached near-profitability and has disbursed $140 million in loans to millions of Indonesians. Digital payment startup Ovo is expected to break even and reach profitability in two to three years.

Vietnam According to the Vietnam Tech Investment Report released by Singapore-based venture capital firm Cento Ventures and Vietnam’s early stage venture fund ESP Capital, the amount of invested capital and the number of technology deals done in the country have grown six-fold in the period. It also showed local start-ups raised a total of nearly $250 million during the first half of this year while key sectors of the digital economy such as retail and payment have accounted for almost 60% of investment.

Vietnam is expecting $800 million in startup investments by the end of the year, which is 80% more than last year’s $444 million. Investment in local startups in the first half of the year rose 48% year-on-year to reach $246 million with South Korea as the top investor.

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Private equity firm Mekong Capital plans a hard cap of $250 million for its fifth fund and expects to reach target by early 2020.

VinaCapital Ventures is leading a funding round, reportedly worth $4-5 million, in social platform Ecomobi to facilitate the latter’s expansion plans.

Venture capital firm GEC-KIP Technology and Innovation Fund, co-managed by Singapore-based Golden Equator Capital and Korea Investment Partners, has invested $2.3 million in proptech startup Rever.

BuyMed, the startup behind pharma distribution marketplace Thuocsi.vn, has raised $500,000 in a seed financing round led by Singapore-based Cocoon Capital and VietCapital Ventures.

Six startups incubated by Topica Founder Institute have received $50,000 each in seed funding from Insignia Ventures Partners, with three companies being in advanced talks for further financing.

Thailand Online fashion retailer startup Pomelo has raised $52 million in its latest funding round as it prepares to expand operations in Asia.

Beacon Venture Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of Kasikornbank, has participated in Singapore-based neo-banking startup Aspire Financial Technologies‘s $32.5 million Series A funding round. Both parties have agreed to work together to digitize banking to SMEs and online merchants in Thailand.

The International Finance Corporation is considering an equity investment of up to $15 million to payments firm 2C2P.

Crypto exchange operator Bitkub Capital has raised $1.67 million in its pre-Series A funding round from an undisclosed investor.

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State-owned GH Bank plans to raise new deposits worth THB 30 billion by offering savings certificates with a price of THB 10 million per ticket to a private list by October 2019.

Investment bank Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group, through its Phatra Capital arm, has led an undisclosed amount of Series A funding round for Singapore-based digital securities trading platform iSTOX.

Myanmar Education sector-focused private equity firm Kaizen Capital Management is nearing the final close of its private equity fund at about $80 million to $90 million.

Japan Japanese regional banks are increasingly lending to foreign companies and other borrowers via samurai and ninja loans as they struggle with interest rates stuck at zero and seek to diversify their customer base.

Monex Group's online brokerage sold out 500 million yen (S$6.46 million) of SoftBank Group Corp bonds to Japanese individuals in less than three minutes.

Square Yards Consulting, a tech-enabled real estate brokerage platform, has raised $20 million from a clutch of investors including media house Bennett Coleman & Co Limited.

Bizit, a global marketplace for middle-market companies, financial advisors, investment bankers, and private equity funds, has acquired about $1.4 million in an investment round led by SBI AI & Blockchain Fund, operated by SBI Holdings subsidiary SBI Investment.

South Korea Hotel booking platform Yanolja has secured $200 million from Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd and Booking Holdings Inc, a US firm that operates in the same space.

Online marketplace for second-hand items Danggeun Market has raised $33.49 million in its latest funding round, which was co-anchored by Altos Ventures and Goodwater Capital.

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Peer-to-peer lending platform Terafunding has completed raising $18 million in its Series B round.

China Prague-based consumer lender Home Credit is poised to offer the biggest test of Hong Kong’s capital markets as plans to launch its initial public offering and seek to raise more than $1 billion from the offering in the first of a series of significant IPOs planned in the city.

Social commerce company Pinduoduo has proposed to issue convertible bonds with a principal of $875 million. The bonds will also have a 13-day option for initial buyers to acquire an additional $125 million of the instrument.

Early-stage venture capital firm Sky9 Capital has closed two new venture capital funds with a combined $440 million in capital commitments. China Renaissance K2VC, a venture capital firm focused on early stage investments in China’s technology startups, has made another close of its two VC funds at a combined $283 million. Autonomous trucking unicorn TuSimple has secured $215 million in a Series D2 funding rounds. High- profile electric car startup Nio has issued $200 million worth of bonds while accelerating cost-cutting programs to slow cash burn as the company seeks to attract more investors in a slumping market.

JP Gan (also known as Gan Jianping), a former managing partner of Qiming Venture Partners, has raised $163.3 million to start his new tech fund. Huize Holding, the operator of an online insurance intermediation platform, has filed to raise about $150 million in an initial public offering in the US. Local service provider and group-buying platform Tongcheng Shenghuo closed its Series B round collecting $100 million. Internet-enabled solutions startup Smart Fabric has raised $100 million Series C funding round led by Tencent Holdings and Sequoia Capital China.

Intelligent companion robot developer Evolver Robotics has secured $70.50 million in a strategic investment from the local government of Qingdao. Risk management platform IceKredit has raised $47 million in pre-Series C funding round backed by China Creation Ventures, Youzu Interactive, Yunqi Partners, and Frees Fund. Qiming Venture Partners has led the $37-million Series B funding in Insilico Medicine, a Hong Kong-based artificial intelligence company that develops high-performance AI platform for drug development. Big data AI startup Deepexi has secured $35 million in a Series A round of financing led by Morningside Venture Capital, Hillhouse Capital Group, and DG Capital. Startup Duobaoyu Insurance has closed its Series B round by bagging $28.2 million. Gene-editing

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biotech Qihan Biotech has secured $25.5 million in a Series A+ funding round as it plans to finance life-saving organ transplantation solutions to serve the largely untapped market in China.

AI-enabled intelligent driving vision system developer Calmcar has raised $14.10 million in a Series A2 round from investors including automotive firm SAIC Motor. Weiyun Zhineng, an industrial internet startup that develops dental products, has secured over $14.10 million in a Series A round from tech-focused venture capital firm AlphaX Partners. E-commerce startup Chujia Xinxuan has secured $14.04 million in a Series A round of financing from GF Xinde Investment.

Online insurance platform Mintbao has bagged $10 million in its Series A round led by Sequoia China Capital with participation from Bertelsmann Asia Investments. Computer vision startup SimShine has raised $8 million in pre-Series A funding for SimCam led by

Cheetah Mobile, with participation from Skychee, Skyview Fund and Oak Pacific Investment. Data analytics for decentralized app platform dapp.com has closed a $1 million Pre-A Investment Round led by Hashed, a South Korean blockchain venture capital, and Du Capital.

Crypto-exchange behemoth Binance Holdings has made its first strategic Chinese investment by joining a funding round that valued crypto-data website Mars Finance at about $200 million.

Baidu Ventures-backed AI startup SandStar has raised an undisclosed investment in Series B funding round led by Guopeng Capital and Mobai Capital. Cosmetics startup Yatsen has reached unicorn status after closing a new round of financing led by Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital China. Segway-Ninebot is getting ready for IPO after a successful roll-out of autonomous vehicles. The Uber-for-trucks startup Full Truck Alliance is considering an initial public offering after breaking even in May 2019 defying a sector-wide downturn.

Taiwan Taiwan Life has approved a $50-million commitment to Bessemer Venture Partners’ latest fund.

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Alibaba has agreed to invest in augmented-reality startup Perfect Corp in its biggest bet so far in Taiwan. It also joins HTC by investing $3 million in blockchain digital property rights startup Bitmark in a Series A funding round.

India Businessman B.K. Modi has launched an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Investment Forum with a proposed fund size of $100 billion. As chairman of the OCI Investor Forum, Mr. Modi hopes that the proposed fund size would reached $100 billion over five years with a focus on promoting global economic investment by OCIs into various business sectors in the country.

Five small finance banks, which includes Fincare Small Finance Bank, ESAF Small Finance Bank, and Utkarsh Small Finance Bank, are preparing for initial public offerings totalling more than $571.4 million as a Reserve Bank of India deadline for public listing draws closer.

Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal is planning to launch a venture capital fund with a target size of $300 million to $400 million to focus on startups needing . Mr. Bansal has already decided to liquidate a part of his share worth $14 million to New York-based hedge fund Tiger Global as he transitions himself to become an . Udaan, the fastest Indian startup to achieve the coveted unicorn status, has raised $373.5 million from Altimeter Capital, GGV Capital and Hillhouse Capital. Venture firm Avataar Ventures, established by former Norwest Venture Partners executive Mohan Kumar and ex-Freshworks chief operating officer Nishant Rao, has launched a $300 million venture fund for business-to-business and software-as-a-service companies in India and Southeast Asia. Microfinance firm Arohan Financial Services is in talks to raise $200 million from existing and new investors.

Flipkart India, the wholesale arm of Walmart-owned Flipkart has received fresh capital to the tune of $225 million from its Singapore-based parent company Flipkart Private Ltd. Venture capital fund Chiratae Ventures is set to hit the first close of its fourth India-focused fund at $150 million. Uber Technologies co-founder Travis Kalanick, through its real estate company City Storage Systems, has invested in India’s largest shared-kitchen company Rebel Foods as part of a previously disclosed $125 million round of funding. Aptus Value Housing Finance India has raised about $122 million in an equity round of financing led by existing investor WestBridge Capital. JM Financial Private Equity has closed its second India-focused fund with commitments of more than ₹600 crore ($115 million) from Quilvest Group and Small Industries Development Bank of India. Private equity firm General Atlantic has pledged to invest at least $100 million to fund growth and expansion plans of its portfolio firm Karvy Fintech, the financial services firm that offers end-to-end services to investors and distributors of mutual funds.

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Financial services firm Vivriti Capital, which runs an online marketplace for mid-market corporates to raise debt, plans to raise $70 million for a debt fund that will invest in companies in its marketplace. South African investor Naspers is reportedly in talks to invest $50-55 million in logistics startup ElasticRun with an intention to “double down on the investment in the next eight to twelve months.” Hedge fund Steadview Capital is in talks to lead a $50 million funding round in two-wheeler rental startup Vogo. Private school debt financier Varthana is planning to raise $50 million in a Series D funding round. Mithril Capital is investing $45 million into Glance, a technology startup that uses artificial intelligence to personalize content for smartphones. Flipkart is in the process of investing about $40 million in logistics startup Shadowfax to further boost its delivery service. SME lending platform Clix Capita has closed as much as $40 million from AION Capital.

Stock market and investment advisory startup Advisorymandi.com has raised $36 million from financial conglomerate EST Group.

Online investment startup Groww has raised $21.5 million in a Series B round led by Ribbit Capital including existing investors Sequoia Capital India and marquee startup accelerator Y-Combinator. The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, is proposing a $20-million equity investment in the fourth fund of Chiratae Ventures, an early-stage venture firm focusing on Indian startups.

Cleantech startup 75F Inc. has raised $18 million in Series A round of financing co-led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a $1-billion fund led by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Michael Bloomberg, and Oil & Gas Climate Initiative. Cloud-based HR solutions firm Darwinbox has raised as much as $15 million in a Series B round led by venture capitalist Sequoia India. Small business lender Aye Finance has raised about $11 million in debt funding from an undisclosed investor. Tech startup Atomberg Technologies has announced a Series A fund raise of $10 million led by A91 Partners. Social commerce startup WMall is in discussions to raise $10 million in a funding round led by Chiratae Venture Partners and existing investor SAIF Partners

Smart wearable brand GOQii has raised over Rs 45 crore ($8.67 million) in funding from media group Bennett Coleman and Company. Digital lending platform LoanTap has raised about $5.57 million in a funding round led by US-based debt fund Avana Capital with participation from existing investors Shunwei Capital and India Quotient. Vyapar, a mobile-based business accounting software for small businesses, has raised about $5 million in funding led by B2B e-commerce firm IndiaMART. Education technology startup 3rdFlix Visual Effects has raised $5 million in a pre-series A investment round led by Exfinity Venture Partners. Payments platform DotPe is in talks to raise $5 million from Naspers Fintech. FPL Technologies has raised $4.5 million from Matrix Partners India,

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Sequoia Capital India and other investors in its maiden financing round. Home rental startup NestAway Technologies has raised about $5 million as a part of its ongoing Series D round from existing investor Goldman Sachs. First Principles Labs Technologies has raised $4.5 million in funding from Matrix Partners India, Sequoia India, and a couple of angel investors. Integrated, multi-funder marketplace CashFlo has raised $3.3 million in series A funding from SAIF Partners and select angel investors Ashish Iyer and Arpan Sheth. Healthcare startup Meddo has raised $3 million in its pre-Series A funding led by SRI Capital with participation from growX Ventures, LetsVenture, Citrus Pay co-founder Jitendra Gupta and Venture Gurukool. Actress Deepika Padukone’s has invested in electric taxi startup Blu Smart, as part of an angel round of $3 million. Healthcare tech platform Pharmarack has raised $3 million in a Series A funding round from IvyCap Ventures.

Early-stage fund IAN Fund has led an investment worth Rs 12.4 crore ($2.39 million) in Nocca Robotics. Agritech startup TechnifyBiz is planning to raise $2 million in its pre- series A round of funding. Bengaluru-based deep technology startup Myelin Foundry is

in the process of raising a seed round of about $1 million led by Endiya Partners. Peer- to-peer lending platform LenDenClub has raised $1 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Artha Venture Fund. Pet care startup CoZo is reportedly in talks with Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners for funding. Retail-focused automotive leasing startup OTO Capital has raised about $1.4 million in its first round of institutional funding from Prime Venture Partners. Healthtech startupPlusPin has raised Rs 5.25 crore ($1.01 million) in a fresh financing round led by Indian Angel Network. Home décor startup Spacejoy Design Solutions has raised $1 million in a seed funding round from venture capital firm Accel.

Global image processing startup Terraview has secured $815,000 in a Series A funding round, led by Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar, Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, and Tanglin Venture Partners.

More Indian startups are looking to pension and sovereign wealth funds like Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Qatar Investment Authority for late-stage funding. Personalized neobanking service Yelo has raised seed round funding from Matrix Partners India, Omidyar Network India, Flourish and current investor Better Capital. Micro-delivery startup Milkbasket is in talks to close a new financing round as it looks to expand its footprint in the milk, grocery, fruit and vegetable delivery market. Healthcare

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startup ProPhysio, which provides physiotherapy and rehabilitation services, has raised an undisclosed amount in its Series A funding round from the NestaVera Group.

Several startups have raised an undisclosed amount of funding from venture capital firms. E-sports gaming startup SoStronk got funding from IP Ventures. Community-led commerce platform Marsplay had a pre-Series A funding led by Venture Highway.Digital identity solutions provider Syntizen Technologies had a pre-Series A funding round from Mastercard and biometric solutions provider ACPL. Edtech startup AttainU has raised angel funding from investors including former Google India head Shailesh Rao and former Intuit India head Nikhil Rungta. Catbus Infolabs, the intra-city tech-logistics company that operates the Blowhorn platform, has raised funding from a “prominent” undisclosed investor. Angel network SucSEED Venture Partners has invested in Eunimart Crossborder, a Singapore-listed omnichannel trade, and commerce management platform. Digital payment solution startup Digital India Payment received funding from US-based investment company IC1101.

Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said that the company will start preparations for an initial public offering in the next 22-24 months. It has reported a net loss of $549 million for the financial year that ended in March 2019, up 165% over $206 million in the same period last year.

Mobile payments provider MobiKwik has achieved profitability, excluding interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, for the first time in its ten-year existence.

Outside the Region KKR & Co is preparing to list a A$500 million credit fund in Australia, marking the firm's first investment vehicle in the country. It is also considering a move into early-stage investing, with plans to raise as much as $300 million for an Asia-focused technology, media, and telecommunications fund, according to several industry sources aware of the matter.

The National Bank of Oman has secured a $300 million syndicated loan facility with Bank ABC and Emirates NBD acting as the joint coordinators.

Cyber protection startup Acronis has received a $147 million investment led by Goldman Sachs as it plans to expand its engineering team in Singapore, Bulgaria and the United States.

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Cryptocurrency wallet and data provider Blockchain is raising a $50 million venture capital fund to invest in industry startups and cryptocurrencies.

London-based crypto-asset risk management provider Elliptic has raised $23 million in a Series B funding round led by Tokyo-based financial institution SBI Holdings. The funds will be used for its expansion into Asia with office to be opened in Japan and Singapore.

Australia-based parking app Parkable has raised about $2.9 million in a series A funding round led by New Zealand telecommunications company Spark.

Dubai’s largest developer Emaar Properties has hired banks to arrange the potential issuance of 10-year sukuk or Islamic bonds. Standard Chartered was hired as sole global coordinator for the new sukuk deal. Other banks leading the transaction are Dubai Islamic Bank, Deutsche Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mashreqbank and Sharjah Islamic Bank.

NEW LAUNCHINGS The month has seen a lot of launchings of new products, services and even systems that is expected to change the landscape of the finance, banking, technology and startup scene.

Singapore DBS will be extending its robo-investment platform digiPortfolio to retail investors with the launch of two portfolios exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the end of the third quarter. It also launched its first multi-tier financing facility on a logistics blockchain platform named Rong-E Lian to help small and medium-sized enterprises in China get faster access to trade financing.

OCBC has rolled out its app-based, AI-powered voice assistant service in smartphones and smart speakers that understands simple Singlish. US-based developer Clinc has launched the first AI banking assistant in Singapore specially for OCBC clients. AI startup Pand.ai has official launched its latest AI engine TE01 that will incorporated in the AI chatbot for Great Eastern Life.

Allianz Global Investors has launched the Allianz Thematic Fund in Singapore as it seeks to provide long-term capital growth by investing in global equity markets with a focus on theme and stock selection. It would be available to retail clients at Citibank.

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Tech startup Jumper.ai has created an AI platform that leads to commerce with a hybrid of Human and AI co-existing while guiding each other to make sales faster and more efficient. Singapore dollar is one of the currencies that will back Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency. Blockchain firm PundiX has unveiled the latest iteration of their blockchain phone on show at the IFA 2019 event in Berlin. The device is planned to go on pre-order in the fourth quarter of 2019 via Kickstarter and XWallet.

Tradeteq, the technology provider for the global trade finance market, has launched its machine-learning driven credit scoring system for institutions using Singapore’s National Trade Platform (NTP). Wowoo Exchange has officially launched its digital assets trading platform that allows users to deposit and withdraw in Singapore dollars to trade cryptocurrency.

Proptech startup PowerPusher has partnered with Google to launch PowerPusher, a product aimed at creating and launching ad campaigns online.

Singapore Life has rebranded and changed its name to Singlife. Alongside its new brand identity, it has also teamed up with VISA to become the first insurer to issue debit cards called SingLife that will be launched alongside its SingLife account.

Spanish on-demand laundry startup Mr Jeff plans to expand into Singapore and the Philippines targeting more than 75 franchises in the Philippines and 30 in Singapore by the end of the year.

The Singapore-based Foodpanda, a Delivery Hero unit, is planning to roll out its services across the Asia Pacific region by 2020 with specific target markets in Indonesia and Vietnam.

Spanish startup Foods For Tomorrow has launched its Heura plant-based chicken In Hong Kong and Singapore.

Malaysia HWGG Capital PLC has launched its HwgPay Blockchain Ecosystem, which allows consumers to make safe, secure, and reliable digital asset spending.

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Endeavor Malaysia, the Malaysian chapter of the global entrepreneur support organisation Endeavor, launched ScaleUp Endeavor, a new program aimed at helping Malaysia’s high potential companies at its startup-phase.

Car parking startup KiplePay is planning to launch its kiplePark licence plate recognition system in eight new sites by the fourth quarter of this year.

Technology startup Kambyan Network is aiming to empower the Malaysian agriculture sector with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/Systems or drones after successfully demonstrating its “AleX “ Airborne Laser Cutter (ALC) Mark 1 Laser Harvesting Drone at its “Just Drone It” event.

Indonesia Traveloka has introduced new travel insurance services through its Traveloka Protect that allows users to easily avail affordable travel insurance plan through its app. It also launched its PayLater Card, a credit card with Bank BRI aimed at bringing Indonesia’s underbanked online.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) is considering to expand its fintech offerings, particularly in the micro lending segment, following the appointment of its new managing director Sunarso.

State-owned digital payment platform LinkAja is looking to launch its first Sharia service after it obtained a Certificate of Sharia Suitability from the National Sharia Council at the Islamic Digital Day conference in Jakarta.

Indian startup Magicpin, a discovery platform for retail, has launched its operations in Jakarta, Indonesia. Singapore early-stage venture capital firm Antler will set up an office in Indonesia in the first half of 2020 and expects to nurture at least 20 local startups annually.

Grab has launched a new feature called Clean & Fix in collaboration with Sejasa.com, a Jakarta-based home service provider. GrabFood, Grab’s food delivery service, plans to

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create more than 50 cloud kitchens called “GrabKitchens” across Indonesia by the end of 2019.

E-commerce marketplace Bukalapak has launched a new feature for its users to buy gold as part of its plan to leverage on the increasing demand and price of gold in the country.

Health startup SehatQ has developed a service for consulting doctors via smartphone as driven by necessity due to the country's shortage of physicians and clinics. It connects users to over 500 hospitals throughout the country.

CI-Agriculture, a subsidiary of data science firm Dattabot, has established startup Hara as a blockchain-based data exchange that is focused on improving the food and agriculture sector.

Thailand Retailing giant Central Group and China’s JD.com have launched a financial services app to expand services with local banks in the latest move by the mall operator to increase its digital presence. The app called Dolfin will include an e-wallet function, digital lending platform, as well as insurance and wealth management.

Velo has launched Velo Protocol, a stable coin issuance protocol that enables real-world business use cases of stable coin through the world renowned Stellar network.

Leading online payment platform Omise has partnered with Citibank Thailand to launch "Pay with Points" as a new payment option to e-commerce businesses across Thailand.

Singapore-based private-sector-led organization Action Community for Entrepreneurship has opened an international center at Bangkok’s True Digital Park as a venue that will help drive entrepreneurship and innovation.

Digital pharmacy startup Arincare has rolled out an e-marketplace to facilitate business- to-business e-commerce for wholesale medicine in an attempt to reduce drug prices.

Vietnam Loyalty points provider SenPoint has started using TomoChian’s upcoming TomoZ blockchain consumer rewards program.

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Reputed cryptocurrency exchange Bvnex has added Dash crypto coin to its platform to foster a trading pair of Dash with Vietnamese Dong.

Transport startup HeyU has launched its operation in Ho Chi Minh City and plans to roll out its concierge services similar to what Gojek did in Indonesia.

Singapore-based budget hotel booking platform RedDoorz has launched a new regional technology hub in Ho Chi Minh City and drawn up significant expansion plans in the country.

Laos Cambodia-based Meal Temple Group has officially launched its ride-hailing service DriveUp.app in Vientiane.

Japan Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance is start providing hacking coverage and insurance to mobile payment operators to compensate victims. Operators could collect payouts in circumstances where they would likely need to pay damages, such as accounts being hacked and used for unauthorized purchases, or personal information being leaked.

Messaging app LINE has officially launched a cryptocurrency exchange service dubbed as Bitmax for its 80 million users based in Japan, days after the platform received final regulatory approval.

South Korea Samsung is planning to release a crypto-friendly edition of its flagship Galaxy Note 10 smartphone with a pre-installed cryptocurrency wallet as part of its effort to boost the adoption of blockchain technology. Its competitor LG is also launching its own blockchain phone.

Top pop talent agency SM Entertainment is planning to build its own blockchain network with a native cryptocurrency as it battles a shareholder revolt and a falling stock price.

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Klaytn, Kakao’s leading blockchain platform, announced that the official listing of its KLAY token will occur on Upbit Singapore and Upbit Indonesia by the end of the month.

China China’s leading tech companies Alibaba and JD are leveraging the use of artificial intelligence to streamline pig farming in the country.

Internet giant Tencent is developing a payment product called Fenfu that is expected to go live within WeChat Pay in the fourth quarter of this year. Ant Financial’s has launched a mini program platform that will completely integrate with Weibo.

Tech startup Trifo will market its advanced robot vacuum that features sensor and vision technologies that also allows it to perform home-security duties.

HSBC completed the first yuan-denominated blockchain-based letter of credit transaction. It has come in line with its effort to utilize blockchain and digital ledger technology to streamline the traditionally paper-based and bureaucratic business of financing trade.

OneConnect, a unit of the Ping An Group, has demonstrated their next-generation open and innovative AI platform at the 2019 World Artificial Intelligence Conference. They showed the capabilities of their AI system with advances in text reading comprehension and intelligent customer service, among other AI technologies.

The Houbi Global-backed Whole Network launched a low-cost blockchain phone “Acute Angle” that would be offered in the Southeast Asian market at a future date.

Online travel agency Ctrip has integrated its overseas ride-hailing services on the Baidu Map for further global expansion.

New high-end ride-hailing app Qimiao Chuxing, backed by Chinese limousine manufacturer Hongqi, is now operational in over 50 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

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Singapore-based UOB became the first foreign bank to open a branch in Guangdong's Zhongshan City as it continues its expansion plans in the Greater Bay Area with a total of seven branches to date.

Financial services provider TNG Fintech Group has opened an expansive fintech business hub in Hong Kong called the Wall Street Factory that offers one-stop solutions to fintech companies from business incorporation, office space, bank account opening, working visa application, operation support, business referral, fundraising to capital market advisory in addition to networking, innovation and resource sharing solutions.

Venture capital group CMCC Global has launched its Liberty Bitcoin Fund to provide crypto currency access to accredited investors in Asia who are very interested but have been slow to buy the coins directly.

Search engine giant Baidu has launched a pilot program of its medical data sharing and distribution solution powered by its blockchain platform XuperChain. Tether has launched its Chinese yuan-backed stablecoin, which it revealed will run on top of the ethereum blockchain as an ERC-20 token.

The launch of new online-only banks in Hong Kong is expected to be delayed in part due to anti-government protests in the city. Most of the eight newly-licensed digital banks, which include joint ventures involving Standard Chartered and Bank of China Hong Kong, had aimed to begin operating before the end of 2019.

India is spreading its arms to new verticals: Google Pay for Business, ‘Spot’ platform for job listings and card payments, and launch of an artificial intelligence (AI) lab in Bengaluru.

China’s Alibaba Group Holding has set its eyes on the Indian e-commerce market and plans to launch a fully-owned business in the country through its subsidiary UCWeb.

Uber is experimenting a new super-app interface in India with the aim to integrate its food delivery and ride-hailing platforms. Swiggy, one of India’s largest food delivery startups, has launched their Swiggy Go service to help consumers and businesses alike to instantly deliver laundry, forgotten keys, documents and just about anything else within a city.

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Agritech startup AgroStar has utilized the Google Cloud Platform to host their multi-lingual mobile app to help small-time farmers boost crop yields and encourage sustainable practices.

Socio-fintech startup FIA Technology is bringing financial institutions and their products to people’s homes through its extensive distribution channel and product portfolio.

Investopad founders Rohan & Arjun Malhotra have launched Good Capital, a new venture capital firm that targets pre-seed to Series A investments across a broad range of industries in India.

Ride-hailing giant Ola has begun piloting its service in Bengaluru, the capital of India’s southern state of Karnataka, with a few select users.

Outside the Region The Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank has digitized trade finance for its customers using the Singapore-based dltledgers Blockchain platform.

Arab Bank’s Swiss unit will offer clients a range of cryptocurrency services including custody and brokerage of bitcoin and ether.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has launched two test platforms, dubbed Futures A and Futures B, for its planned crypto futures products. Bitcoin.com seeks to launch derivative for cryptocurrency spinoff Bitcoin Cash. Payments giant Mastercard is developing a blockchain-powered cross-border payments platform in partnership with enterprise-focused blockchain firm R3. Cashwerkz has introduced its new fintech platform that is focused on online cash investing.

Trust and custody services provider Legacy Trust is spinning out a new business focused entirely on institutional-grade cryptocurrency custody solutions called First Digital Trust. The new company will serve to grow Legacy Trust’s existing digital asset custody arm as a separate entity with its own unique partnerships and shareholders.

Israeli startup GK8 unveiled a cold-storage crypto wallet with on-network transfer capabilities.

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Other Developments Apart from all the mergers and acquisitions, deals and partnerships, policies and regulations, financings and fundraisers, and new launchings, there are other developments affecting the finance, technology and startup scene throughout the region.

Singapore Insurance giant Prudential is suing its former insurance agent Peter Tan Shou Yi for masterminding the mass defection of 244 agents and agency leaders to rival Aviva plc. It also also demanded S$2.5 million for damages.

Court affidavits on troubled startup Honestbee have shown that a total of 217 former employees are owed about $1 million in unpaid salary.

DBS is trying to achieve a 7%-8% annual growth in (AUM) over the next couple of years and bring its current AUM base of about S$234 billion to S$300 billion by 2023. It is combining the elements of digital banking and bricks-and- mortar physical presence to compete with the emergence of new digital banks. As part of its growth plans, it is also plans to double its mobile wallet users to 3.5 million by 2023 up from its current user base of 1.6 million by leveraging key merchants' large customer base.

Southeast Asian ecommerce firm Shopee has opened its new regional headquarters in Singapore. UK regtech ComplyAdvantage has increased its presence in the Asia-Pacific market with the opening of a new office in Singapore as part of the firm’s global expansion plans. UK-based blockchain startup Adhara will open a Singapore office and grow its team following the appointment of Stanley Yong as their Singapore office head. Food incubator Innovate360 has opened a six-storey hub in Jurong that features R&D labs and coworking spaces.

Vehicle-leasing company Goldbell Group has launched the mobility accelerator program Move.SG, the only mobility accelerator among partners of Enterprise Singapore's Startup SG Accelerator initiative.

The GROW Agrifood Tech Accelerator has debuted its nine startups that included Back to the Yards Algae Sciences, Future Fields, Intello Labs, Nanolambda, SinGene, SinGrow, Tractor Junction, Viridis RS, and Wittaya Aqua.

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Chinese AI startup SenseTime plans to triple staff in Singapore to 300 within three years after securing investments from backers like SoftBank and Temasek. It is now considered as the world’s most valuable AI startup with a $7.5 billion valuation.

Standard Chartered Bank is considering the option of getting a digital banking license in Singapore. Hong Leong Finance is also joining the bandwagon to seek a digital banking license as it attempts to reinvent itself as a tech-savvy lender to the nation’s new businesses. Estonian fintech Funderbeam has obtained two financial services licenses from Singapore authorities, which will enable it to offer a global secondary market for trading in private companies.

PayPal's plans to invest in Grab Financial are off the table, according to industry sources.

UK-based fintech startup Revolut, which offers banking services including a prepaid debit card, currency exchange, cryptocurrency exchange and peer-to-peer payments through a mobile app, is expanding its service in Singapore.

Malaysia Kuala Lumpur has hosted the Islamic Digital Economy Experience and Global Islamic Fintech Summit to highlight the huge demand for digital halal industry services globally attracting delegates from the various sectors of fintech and halal sector.

Maybank is focused on growing its franchises in greater China, the Philippines and Cambodia due to the huge potential of investment and trade flows between China and ASEAN. Homegrown lifestyle e-wallet app “Boost” has met its national and Sabah region targets this year as more Malaysian consumers are starting to accept e-wallet as an alternative form of payment.

Used car marketplace Carsome plans to enter the Philippines in 2020 as it currently operates in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

Plant-based meat startup Phuture Foods is looking to recruit as many food technologists it can get as it gears towards launching their pork substitute products in Singapore and then China.

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Indonesia Scammers have used Grab-owned O2O commerce app Kudo to skim money from state- owned bank Bank BUMN for $1.1 million.

Taxi operator PT Blue Bird has unveiled plans focusing on electric vehicles made by Tesla and BYD to cut fleet ownership costs and improve efficiency using data as part of its efforts to compete with ride-hailing Grab and GOJEK.

The Industrial Bank of Korea has opened its Indonesia unit - Bank IBK Indonesia - in line with the Korean government efforts to bolster economic and diplomatic cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations economies.

GrabFood, the food delivery arm of Singapore-based Grab, is ramping up its recruitment drive as it expands its operations into the country and transform Jakarta into a hub of its food business.

Digital payments platform Duithape has won over other startups that competed in the Indonesian edition of Seedstars World, which is said to be the largest seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets

German startup Kontool has gained viral fame and probable market opportunity after its business name resonated among Indonesian netizens.

Aquaconnect, the only Indian startup in Indonesia that won the 2019 Innovator Award, is all set to grow globally after assisting more than 3,000 farmers in India and running pilots in Acehand Sulawesi between 2,000 farms by the end of 2020. It is promoting sustainable fish and shrimp farming and seeking to help farmers boost their productivity and rural jobs through artificial intelligence through the FarmMOJO app.

Singapore-based venture builder and early-stage venture capital firm Antler will set up an office in Indonesia in the first half of 2020 targeting to nurture at least 20 local startups annually.

E-commerce unicorn Bukalapak has laid off around 100 employees as part of its path towards achieving “sustainability” in the competitive e-commerce landscape.

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Citizen services startup Qlue is expanding its smart city solutions into other countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, UAE and Japan.

Thailand Bitcoin Co. Ltd., one of the most popular crypto exchanges in the country, has terminated its digital asset trading services as it going to focus on other business opportunities.

Siam Commercial Bank has waived the digital banking transaction fees for small and medium-sized enterprise customers to encourage them to migrate to the online platform. Finansia Syrus Securities plans to double the size of its assets under management in 2020 through wealth advisory services, even as it prepares to apply for a private fund licence. Krungthai Bank has expressed confidence in providing services for the government's 1,000-baht cash handout and 15% cash rebate for spending at destinations outside of home provinces as registration for potential travellers kicks off. Kasikornbank plans to put more focus on setting aside loan-loss provisions for corporate customers on a selective basis after the central bank enforces new requirements to comply with Thai Financial Reporting Standards version 9.

Equity crowdfunding platform Sinwattana Crowdfunding is eyeing opportunities for fundraising among Thai startups and small and medium-sized enterprises amid a new regulatory environment.

US-based payments services provider Allied Wallet has set up a new Bangkok office in response to the region’s increasing demand for online payment services.

Vietnam Gojek’s Vietnam affiliate GoViet has lost another key executive with CEO Christy Le leaving her post after five months after predecessor Duc Nguyen also left in March 2019 along with chief growth officer Linh Nguyen.

Digital payment platform SmartPay has acquired over 200,000 users and 3,000 merchants across the country.

Venture debt firm InnoVen Capital has invested an undisclosed amount of venture loan in e-commerce platform Tiki.vn and Hanoi-based UP Co-working Space as a stepping stone to enter Vietnam’s fast-growing tech ecosystem.

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VIISA, the acceleration program and seed-stage fund managed by FPT Ventures and Dragon Capital, has selected five startups into the sixth batch of its acceleration program that will kick-off for the next three months.

Japan General insurer Sompo Holdings has embarked on a major push into Southeast Asia's retail market as western rivals such as the US's AIG and Insurance Australia Group retreat.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is preparing to cut half its Asian workforce outside its home country as it struggles with dwindling profits and a falling share price.

Didi Mobility Japan, a joint venture between China’s largest ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing and SoftBank, is planning to expand their taxi-hailing services to 20 major cities as it currently operating 12 cities that include Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.

South Korea Joe Cho (also known as Cho Seunghyun), the founder of Singapore-based fintech firm Marvelstone Group, is under investigation by police in his home country over allegations of financial crimes. He is also being sued by Hong Leong Holdings for breaching a license agreement for the now-defunct Singapore fintech hub Lattice80. The Singapore property group charged that Mr. Cho and the fintech group failed to deposit revenue receipts that should have gone into designated bank accounts.

Kakao is planning to list its Klay cryptocurrency on a Chinese exchange since it may not be able to list the token domestically. The South Korean arm of the Malta-based OKEX exchange is delisting five cryptocurrencies (Monero, dash, zcash, horizen and super bitcoin) that provide extra privacy features for users. Furthermore, Upbit has also delisted privacy coins Monero, dash, zcash, haven, bittube, and PIVX following recent regulatory requirements from the international body the Financial Action Task Force.

CJ OliveNetworks is developing a blockchain-based music copyright management system using AWS’ Amazon Managed Blockchain Service.

Uber Technologies’ restaurant delivery business Uber Eats will terminate its service in South Korea as it faces intense competition in the online food delivery market.

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China The Shenzhen branch of the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, has warned and fined Tenpay, a subsidiary of Tencent, $210,770 for violating the regulations on payment and consumer rights protection.

Sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. aims to have as much of 50% of its portfolio in alternative assets by the end of 2022, which means the $941 billion fund is diving deeper into illiquid investments including real estate, infrastructure, hedge funds and private equity just as such trades are becoming increasingly crowded.

Chinese banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China, Bank of Communications, and Postal Savings Bank of China, have made a huge cut on the number of employees while increasing development in the fintech sector.

The world's largest startup competition for women and technology She Loves Tech has successfully concluded its global startup competition for the fifth consecutive year after holding rounds in over 20 international locations in 2019. It has helped startups raise more than $100 Million.

Ping An Insurance is looking to invest in smart city projects to bolster its transformation into a technology-driven financial conglomerate. It’s OneConnect unit is looking to secure a digital banking license which would allow it to provide banking services to small and medium-sized businesses in Singapore.

Agritech giant XAG has successfully deployed its Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) crop protection services and covered an accumulated farmland of 20 million hectares, amid a large-scale cotton defoliation operation in Xinjiang, China.

UBS Group AG, which runs the biggest foreign-controlled investment bank in China, is counting on the country’s new Nasdaq-style exchange to mitigate the impact of an underwriting ban in Hong Kong.

The ongoing Hong Kong protests have prompted some of department stores and retailers to begin accepting cryptocurrencies for payment as a way to undercut uncertainty. Pricerite have started accepting Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum at its Megabox branch.

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At the Macau International Startup Week 2019, representatives of 17 Portuguese and Brazilian startups have taken part in the event to capture investors and partners in the Chinese market.

HyperCapital is planning to build the world’s strongest blockchain community alliance and ecosystem.

India Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group chairman Anil Ambani said that Reliance Capital has decided to exit all lending businesses. Instead, it will be a financial shareholder in Reliance Home Finance and Reliance Commercial Finance. Reliance Capital has completed the sale of its 21.54% stake in Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management to Nippon Life Insurance of Japan for about $430 million

Food delivery company Zomato has over 6,000 delivery drivers going on strike in Mumbai and Bengaluru over a revised payment structure.

Over 600 fintech professionals and executives from Hyderabad have formed the Hyderabad Fintech Forum as a platform for exchange of ideas on technology in the banking, financial services and insurance sector to enable and strengthen the start-up ecosystem and make unicorns from the city.

The SoftBank–funded construction technology startup Katerra plans to ramp up its operations in India, eyeing opportunities in the commercial office, retail and hospitality sectors.

Equitas Holdings has proposed a new scheme of arrangement to list its small financing bank arm ESFB after being denied an extension to the listing deadline by the RBI as well as approval to reverse merger proposal by SEBI.

Property developer Magnolia Quality Development Corporation, through its Bangkok- based flagship Whizdom Club, has entered the Indian market with the vision of building sustainable inspirations hubs across the country.

Reliance Industries is scouting for international and local waste treatment start-ups who can help the company further its waste-to-energy and circular economy initiatives.

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Morgan Stanley has valued Flipkart-owned payments company PhonePe at a starkling $7 billion in its latest report.

Bike rental startup Vogo plans to more than double the number of employees by the end of next year.

Outside the Region The long-awaited criminal cartel case against Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group and the local units of Citigroup and Deutsche Bank went ahead in Sydney. Charges were filed against the financial giants and six bankers over the 2015 sale of A$3 billion of ANZ shares and subsequent trading by underwriters, saying they colluded to keep from ordinary shareholders the fact that they had not found buyers for all the stock. If convicted, the banks could face penalties of A$10 million or triple the benefit of the conduct while individuals charged could face 10 years in jail. Furthermore, two former executives of JPMorgan Chase & Co in Australia have agreed to cooperate with regulators on condition of immunity in the criminal cartel case.

Westpac Banking Corp is facing a class action lawsuit filed by against its life insurance and pension units BT Funds Management Ltd and Westpac Life Insurance Services Ltd. The lawsuit was filed by law firm Slater and Gordon on behalf of thousands of superannuation members whom it said "were shortchanged" by the bank's superannuation funds.

According to Bank of America Merril Lynch (BAML), Australian pension funds are sitting on a $167.38 billion ‘wall of money’ that will probably flow overseas because of a lack of domestic options.

Delegations from Singapore and ASEAN banks and the Association of Banks of Singapore have met their New Zealand counterparts as well as local fintech leaders at the “Enhanced Partnership for Exponential Impact Roadshow” to develop and drive collaboration and propel digital innovation in the fintech sector.

The Abu Dhabi Global Market is on a global tour to find exciting fintech startups across the world’s major cities, including Singapore, Shenzhen and Beijing as the UAE attempts to attract more fintech talent and startups into the country. Emirates NBD PJSC has raised the cap on foreign ownership from 5% to 20% as part of its efforts to attract more foreign

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investments. It is also close to appointing Citigroup and Morgan Stanley to manage a rights share offering of as much as $2 billion. Shuaa Capital has received shareholder approval to change its name to Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG) after one month since ADFG and Shuaa Capital completed a merger. The Dubai International Finance Centre has reached a milestone by registering their 100th fintech company.

The Bahrain Economic Development Board has launched a fast-track setup process for Singaporean businesses and startups that will help them access the broader Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region markets through Bahrain.

The French police have hijacked and neutralized a massive cryptocurrency mining botnet controlling close to a million infected computers. The notorious Retadup malware infects computers and starts mining cryptocurrency by sapping power from a computer’s processor.

Messaging app Telegram is ‘secretly’ working on their own accessible “Gram” cryptocurrency that is easier to use than various cryptocurrencies though still confined to a relatively small market.

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