Biz Builder Mike

You can't sail Today's boat on Yesterdays wind - Michael Noel

Asia

Uppsala Security Conducts First Virtual Assets AML Training Program for South Korean Government Agency Compliance Officers

Uppsala Security has reportedly conducted the very first “Virtual Assets AML Training Program” for partners and government agency compliance officers.

Uppsala Security, the provider of tools for Crypto Risk Management and Cybersecurity, revealed on May 4, 2021, that it has begun its Virtual Assets AML Training Program via the Crypto Incident Response Center (CIRC).

As mentioned in the announcement:

“The Training Program was initiated as a consequence of the implementation of more exigent special law revisions in South Korea beginning with March 2021. Government agencies and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) attended the training program and already obtained certified licenses.”

Uppsala Security also noted that at the end of last month, Park Jung-sup, Senior Researcher at the Center for Virtual Asset Damage Response (CIRC), had carried out a 3-day training program for Compliance Monitoring Officers of government agencies in its Korean branch office.

The training covered the following key areas:

  • Basic understanding of blockchain-based virtual assets suspicious transactions
  • Analysis of the flow of stolen funds and the suspected wallet
  • Improvement of tracking capability and real case practice

As noted in the announcement, the courses are divided into UCCA (Associate), UCCP (Professional) and UCCE (Expert), “depending on the training’s level of depth, and upon the training’s completion, trainees can also obtain an Uppsala Certified Cryptocurrency Incident Analysis certificate and license.”

A representative of the Coin&Coin Exchange, which has signed an AML contract with Uppsala Security and also took part within the CIRC training, stated that this was a good opportunity for them to gain an understanding of why AML solutions “specializing in virtual assets are important in order to comply with the special law revision.”

The representative added:

“We are looking forward to learning how to use Uppsala Security’s complex product suite for the swift tracking of alleged cases and to write STR’s evidence for suspicious transactions in next quarter’s training.”

Patrick Kim, CEO of Uppsala Security, remarked:

“I understand that the Korea Federation of Banks recently distributed a draft of ‘Guidelines for Issuing Real-Name Accounts’ to each bank in South Korea, including information on identifying and evaluating Money Laundering risks. Considering that this is a draft related to the Risk-Based Approach (RBA) recommended by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), exchanges should eventually conduct continuous monitoring (RBA) on virtual assets separately during the VASPs’ business registration period. This means that Crypto-AML and its monitoring training for law-abiding virtual assets exchanges is also essential. We will continue to provide the best service to customers in order for them to fulfill their obligations and comply with current regulations by preventing Money Laundering through continuous operation of education programs.”

Uppsala Security provides virtual asset AML solutions to Samsung Blockchain Wallet users in 19 different countries. It also offers these solutions to Bithumb, Coin&Coin Exchange, Danal Fintech and Hexlant

Uppsala has also helped with “the identification and arrest of a virtual assets fraud suspect through a swift cooperation with the Bithumb Exchange.” Uppsala Security is based in Singapore and maintains business offices in Seoul, South Korea and Tokyo, Japan.

Source

Fintech Ant Group Affiliate MYbank Is Planning to Expand Operations in China to Serve More Rural SMEs

China-based MYbank, an online private commercial bank and an affiliate of the Ant Group with a special focus on working with rural areas and SMEs, has revealed that it will be doubling the number of rural counties it serves in the coming years.

MYbank and its business partners plan to provide financial services in 2,000 rural counties in China within the next four years (by 2025). This should coincide with the bank’s 10th year since its launch. The initiative will ensure that rural clients are able to access the same modern financial services that are offered in some of China’s largest cities. The initiative should also help with addressing the last-mile problem in the rural finance sector.

This latest announcement from MYbank has come along with the release of the firm’s 2020 annual report, which reveals that MYbank had been serving 70% more (year-on-year) SMEs in 2020 when compared to 2019. This rise in activity has mainly been driven by MYbank’s expansion into rural areas.

Since launching operations 6 years back, MYbank has managed to serve clients in over 750 different counties across China.

Xiaolong Jin, President of MYbank, stated:

“We have continued to record remarkable growth in customer base for five consecutive years. We expect rural finance to play a significant role in advancing financial inclusion, and will further our efforts to make rural finance more accessible with our financial institution partners.”

MYbank has reportedly kept its non-performing loan ratio at around 1.52%, which is a lot lower than the 2.99% average for Chinese SME loans (as of June of last year).

MYbank had teamed up with the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and the China Banking Association (in March 2020) in order to introduce a “Contactless Loans” initiative, in which 118 Chinese banking institutions had come together to provide supportive loans for small and medium-sized businesses as they tried to maintain operations.

The initiatve reportedly offered more than RMB 870 billion worth of loans to many different SMEs in sectors that were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak (including local dining and retail outlets).

During the 6 months since the campaign began, MYbank and its partner banks have waived RMB 665 million in interest payments for Chinese SMEs.

Source

Philippines based Digital Bank Tonik Reports $20M+ in Deposits in Less than A Month After Launch, Announces Partnership with PESONet

Earlier this week, Philippines based digital bank Tonik partnered with PESONet in order to support safe and secure digital fund transfers to its account from other banking service providers.

Tonik clients now have the option to send money from a PESONet participating bank directly to their bank accounts.

This new service is currently available through CIMB, PSBank, Landbank, and RCBC. Other PESONet member banks are expected to add the service in the foreseeable future.

As mentioned in the announcement, interbank transfer services through PESONet will be available with more banks within the next few weeks.

The announcement has come shortly after Tonik’s official launch in March 2021. The digital bank revealed that it has managed to secure more than 1 billion pesos ($ 20 million) in retail deposits in less than a month.

Tonik’s management also mentioned that they intend to introduce their loan offers and further expand their payment options during this year.

Greg Krasnov, CEO and Founder at Tonik, remarked:

“The response we got when we introduced the app last month was overwhelmingly positive. It’s a testament to the fact that Filipinos are thirsty for a financial enabler that cuts the red tape, makes banking less complicated, and lets their hard-earned money work better for their future. Allowing easier and bigger interbank transfers to Tonik accounts through PESONet is just one of several features that we are introducing in our app that I’m sure will make our customers love us more.”

Long Pineda, President at Tonik Digital Bank, Inc, stated:

“This is another chapter in our journey of growth and driving financial inclusion in the local banking industry. By making in-demand banking transactions such as interbank transfers safer and more seamless with PESONet, we hope to encourage more Filipinos to manage and maximize their finances with Tonik in the #neonormal.”

As covered, Tonik had started working with several companies in 2020 so it would be ready for a successful launch. After acquiring $6 million in capital in early 2020, Tonik chose Singapore’s online security firm V-Key as its mobile security partner.

As reported in July 2020, Tonik had selected Mastercard as its payments partner.

Source

Monetary Authority of Singapore Dedicates S$42 Million for Regtech Initiatives

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced a new grant program targeting Regulatory Technology or Regtech that is said to be an enhancement of the Digital Acceleration Grant (DAG) scheme to accelerate technology adoption.  In a public statement, MAS said it will commit S$42 million for the Regtech grant scheme and enhanced DAG scheme.

Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer at MAS, stated:

“MAS remains committed to the digital transformation of the Singapore financial sector. We expect the RegTech ecosystem to flourish with widespread use of innovative solutions to aid risk management and compliance. The Digital Acceleration Grant has enabled the smaller FIs and FinTech firms to adapt to the challenges in the past year and we will continue to support these firms as they accelerate their digital transformation journey. We encourage FIs to tap on these grants to embed technology into the firms’ DNA.”

The grant is being made available to Singapore-based financial institutions (FIs) and seeks to promote the adoption and integration of technology solutions in the risk management and compliance functions of financial services firms.

There will be two tracks for the grants including:

  • The pilot track: FIs can seek funding to pilot potential RegTech solutions before embarking on full-scale integration of the product into its operating environment. Funding for this track will be capped at S$75,000.
  • The production level project track: FIs can seek funding to develop larger-scale customised projects that can be fully integrated into the FI’s systems. Funding for such projects will be capped at S$300,000.

MAS states that both tracks can be used to support either in-house development or commercial partnerships with Regtech firms based in Singapore.

The DAG was launched in April 2020 to help smaller FIs and Fintech firms adopt digital solutions to better cope with the impact of COVID-19, and to position themselves for subsequent recovery and growth. As of 31 March 2021, MAS reports that it has received over 1,100 applications from both FIs and Fintech firms.

MAS said it will commit an additional S$30 million to the DAG until 31 December 2021 to encourage the industry to adopt digital solutions that enhance productivity, cybersecurity, and operational efficiency. This brings the total grants available under the DAG scheme to S$65 million.

Ian Lee, Vice President of Business Development at Merkle Science, a Singapore-based blockchain transaction risk monitoring and analytics platform, issued a comment on the new Regtech funding.

“Regtech solutions are having a difficult time gaining market share here in Singapore and abroad. Oftentimes, startups at their initial stages have to give away their solutions at a low cost — or sometimes even for free — in order to gain traction and receive feedback on their product. With startups’ limited resources, it is difficult for these innovative new startups to compete with larger legacy firms. With this new $42 million grant, the MAS is supporting the development of local Regtech startups and encouraging innovation in two ways. Firstly, the grant furthers the existing Digital Acceleration Grant (DAG) scheme, which is available to any startup that services financial institutions. Through the extension of the DAG, financial institutions can also use the grant to subsidize their cost of operation.”

Lee added that an interesting feature of the new Regtech grant is for providers to pilot their solutions and test for efficacy under a paid model.

“While the details on this feature have not been released yet, it sounds like there may be subsidies for established companies to use and test the solution before the startup moves the solution to full-scale production.”

Source

Malaysian Fintech MyMy Given Conditional Approval from Bank Negara as Company Prepares for Digital Wallet Launch

MyMy revealed on Monday (April 26, 2021) that it has obtained conditional approval for a large scheme E-money license from Bank Negara Malaysia, the nation’s central bank. The Fintech firm is now planning to launch its digital wallet services in the coming year.

Until all required conditions are met (as specified by Bank Negara), MyMy will remain reserved regarding its plans for its complete product offering, according to the company’s anouncement.

The MyMy team noted that there are many digital wallet providers currently in the market, which is why they intend to offer additional services.

MyMy has previously stated that it will offer Shariah-compliant products and services within its online wallet.

In September of last year, MyMy secured RM12 million (appr. $2.92 million) in capital from Koperasi Tentera in order to expand its operations. The Fintech firm has also teamed up with Sukaniaga to establish a Shariah-compliant digital banking consortium.

MyMy Chairman, Tunku Dato’ Ahmad Burhanuddin, who’s also an experienced banker and sits on the board of Bank Rakyat, stated:

“Our plans to become the world’s first Shariah-compliant digital bank is still within our sights and will take its form with the right conditions set by our committee and our consortium partners. Since receiving our investment from Koperasi Tentera, we have been working diligently on utilising digital financial services for the betterment of the co-operative community and the larger population covering the different segments of our multicultural Malaysians.”

MyMy’s co-founders Kishore Samuel and Joe McGuire noted that the company is pleased to get conditional approval from the central bank.

The company’s management believes this is a key step in MyMy’s goal of becoming the country’s first Unicorn. The management team also said they’re commited to keeping all high-skill jobs in Malaysia. They added that they want to “become the Revolut” of the ASEAN region. They pointed out that they began operations in Malaysia and are focused on building the local industry and remaining a key player in the region.

MyMy’s beta program is currently available for pre-registration. But access will only be provided after Bank Negara has determined that all conditional requirements have been met (after which it may give its final approval).

MyMy, which aims to become the world’s first Shariah-compliant digital bank, and digital loan platform Sukaniaga Sdn Bhd confirmed (in March 2021) their partnership which focuses on establishing a virtual banking consortium. They’re also planning to apply for one of the five digital banking licenses that will be provided in 2022 by Bank Negara Malaysia.

Source