1、The De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific FintechsA report from Kapronasia and Banking CircleHow banks across Asia are re-thinking their customer relationships,and the not so positive implications for fintechsMarch,2023ContentsIntroduction 3Origins of the Great De-risk 4The Risk of Financial Exclusion 5

2、Practical Mitigation Approaches 8De-risking Will Persist 9Conclusion 11MethodologyThe De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific Fintechs from Kapronasia in collaboration with Banking Circle,is based on a combination of secondary and primary research.Secondary research consisted of existing and new datasets

3、from Kapronasias databases as well as various reports,news articles,and commentaries in the media.Primary research included discussions with various market participants including banks and payment providers.The De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific Fintechs3Introduction1 Banking Circle,“Big Bank De-Risk

4、ing:The Invisible Threat to Financial Inclusion,”https:/ recent years,banks in the Asia-Pacific(APAC)region have faced rising regulatory scrutiny amid a global fight against money laundering and other financial crime.Banks have been rocked by the massive 1MDB scandal,implicated in the FinCEN papers

5、and are wary of being exposed to the cryptocurrency industry,which is in its nascent stages and lacks comprehensive regulation.As a result,financial institutions are pausing taking on any clients they perceive as overly risky.Such clients require additional due diligence work,and should something go

6、 awry,the costs of compliance failure can be considerable,from stiff fines to reputational damage.Consequently,traditional financial institutions are shedding customers or refusing to onboard firms who they deem too risky,putting significant strain on correspondent banking relationships.Known as“de-

7、risking,”this trend is occurring regionally and having an outsized impact on the ability of fintechs and non-financial banking institutions(NBFIs)to access financial services,and subsequently provide them to their clients.De-risking is problematic for many reasons.On the one hand,it often raises cos

8、ts and undermines customer satisfaction.A recent survey by Banking Circle found that 44%of those de-risked by their bank could subsequently no longer provide international payments;39%saw costs rise and 28%reduced the number of currencies they offered to their customers.1 Further,de-banked firms hav

9、e to spend time looking for a new bank;time that they could otherwise have used to scale their businesses.And in a worst-case scenario,a bank may completely withdraw from a relationship with a customer often at short notice.If the company cannot find a replacement banking partner,its business may fa

10、ce an existential threat.While there is no straightforward fix for the prevalence of de-risking,it is possible to manage risk prudently without excluding compliant businesses from core financial services.Technology that reduces costs and ameliorates processes can play a key role in making correspond

11、ent banking services more accessible to a wider range of financial services firms.The De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific Fintechs4Origins of the Great De-risk2 runa Viswanatha,Brett Wolf,“HSBC to pay$1.9 billion U.S.fine in money-laundering case,”Reuters,https:/ Reuters,“Explainer:How Malaysia is see

12、king to recover billions of dollars missing from 1MDB,”https:/ Yen Nen Lee,“Singapore slaps fines on Credit Suisse and UOB in money laundering probe of Malaysian development fund,”CNBC,https:/ Ovais Subhani,The Straits Times,“Goldman Sachs to pay$165 million to Singapore over 1MDB corruption scandal

13、,”https:/ AUSTRAC,“AUSTRAC and CBA agree$700m penalty,”https:/www.austrac.gov.au/austrac-and-cba-agree-700m-penalty7 AUSTRAC,“Westpac ordered to pay$1.3 billion penalty,”https:/www.austrac.gov.au/news-and-media/our-recent-work/westpac-penalty-ordered8 ASIC,“Westpac penalised$113 million after multip

14、le ASIC legal actions,”https:/asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2022-releases/22-097mr-westpac-penalised-113-million-after-multiple-asic-legal-actions/9 Sarah Danckert,“Macquarie,CBA face fresh money laundering scrutiny after data leak,”The Sydney Morning Herald,https:/.au/busi

15、ness/banking-and-finance/macquarie-cba-face-fresh-money-laundering-scrutiny-after-data-leak-20200921-p55xmg.html10 Kalyeena Makortoff,Franz Wild and Ben Stockton,“HSBC faces questions over disclosure of alleged money laundering to monitors,”The Guardian,https:/www.The de-risking trend among banks in

16、 the Asia-Pacific(APAC)region arose after a string of scandals and associated heavy fines that illustrated how costly certain compliance failures can be,both for banks bottom lines and their reputations.The first of these occurred outside the region,but involved a bank with a large footprint in APAC

17、.In 2012,U.S.authorities fined HSBC US$1.92 billion for failing to prevent money laundering by Mexican drug cartels.Under a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S.Justice Department,HSBC acknowledged it failed to maintain an effective program against money laundering and did not conduct basic d

18、ue diligence on certain account holders.The London-based institution agreed to be monitored by US regulators for five years.2Several years later,banks in APAC began grappling with the fallout from a scandal that originated in the region:1MDB.In 2015,documents leaked to journalists revealed widesprea

19、d corruption and unprecedented embezzlement of Malaysian state funds via the state investment vehicle 1MDB.U.S.and Malaysian authorities estimate that the total embezzled from 1MDB is roughly US$4.5 billion.3 Singapore launched investigations into 1MDB-related breaches from March 2015.Subsequently,t

20、he Monetary Authority of Singapore(MAS)shut down two Swiss-based private banks,BSI and Falcon,and imposed financial penalties of S$29.1 million on eight banks including UBS and Standard Chartered.4 In October 2020,Goldman Sachs agreed to pay Singapore S$165 million for its role in the 1MDB scandal.T

21、he sum is believed to be the largest imposed on a financial institution in the city-state.5While high by Singapores standards,the fines issued to banks there are modest compared to what several Australian lenders have paid in recent years for compliance failures.In June 2018,Australias financial cri

22、me regulator AUSTRAC fined Commonwealth Bank of Australia(CBA)a then record AU$700 million for multiple violations of anti-money laundering/counterterrorism financing(AML/CFT)laws.6 The record was broken a few years later when AUSTRAC ordered Westpac to pay AU$1.3 billion for multiple money-launderi

23、ng and counter-terrorism financing violations.7 To date,it is the largest civil penalty in the countrys history.In April 2022,the Federal Court of Australia ordered Westpac to pay a new AU$113 million fine for widespread compliance failures across its banking,superannuation,wealth management and ins

24、urance brands.8Australian banks were also named in the FinCEN documents that leaked in September 2020.According to the documents,up to US$174 million of dirty money flowed through Australian banks.Macquarie Group accounted for about 72%of the suspicious transactions by value and Commonwealth Bank of

25、 Australia 44%.Commonwealth Bank was flagged for millions of dollars of transactions in Central Asia.9Meanwhile,an investigation by The Guardian and Bureau of Investigative Journalism published in 2021 found that a large suspected money-laundering ring moved US$4.2 billion through a network of 92 HS

26、BC accounts in Hong Kong starting in 2014 just two years after the bank vowed to U.S.authorities it would improve its AML and CFT controls.HSBC discovered the Hong Kong ring in 2016 as it sought to assess its exposure to the wealthy Gupta family,who have been ensnared in corruption scandal allegatio

27、ns in South Africa but denied wrongdoing.10 The De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific Fintechs5The Risk of Financial E Bank of International Settlements,“Correspondent banking trends persisted in 2020,even as payment landscape changed,new data show,”https:/www.bis.org/press/p211213.htm12 Hong Kong Monet

28、ary Authority,“De-risking and Financial Inclusion,”https:/www.hkma.gov.hk/media/eng/doc/key-information/guidelines-and-circular/2016/20160908e1.pdf13 Hubbis,“How bank de-risking is hampering Hong Kongs ambition,”https:/ DigFin,“How bad are bank-account closures for H.K.fintechs?,”https:/Though large

29、 banks have borne the brunt of penalties for AML and CFT violations,there is a worrisome knock-on effect as the banks scramble to insulate themselves from future regulatory travails.To reduce risk,many banks find it more convenient to exit entire sectors and regions than to commit the resources to a

30、ssessing the risk of thousands of individuals or smaller business customers.To protect themselves,smaller banks and NBFIs,are de-risking their own underlying customers to align themselves with their correspondent banks risk appetite.The dramatic de-risking action by largebanks has left many smaller

31、banks and NBFIs without correspondent banking partners.Thus,while the value and volume of cross-border payments are rising by 2%and 7%respectively in 2020 correspondent banking relationships are concurrently falling;in 2020 by 4%,according to the Bank of International Settlements.Overall,corresponde

32、nt banking relationships declined by 25%from 2011 to 2020.and“a critical loss of relationships could hurt financial inclusion,raise the cost of payments and push payments activity into less regulated areas.”11 De-risking in Hong Kong Fintechs and NBFIs have faced challenges accessing correspondent b

33、anking services in Hong Kong for years.The problem was so severe that in 2016 the Hong Kong Monetary Authority(HKMA)issued a circular urging banks to take a balanced approach to risk management.“While it is important to ensure that AML/CFT controls are sufficiently robust and comply with all the rel

34、evant regulatory requirements,the HKMA expects AIs authorized institutions to adopt a risk-based approach(RBA)and refrain from adopting practices that would result in financial exclusion,particularly in respect of the need for bona fide businesses to have access to basic banking services,”HKMA chief

35、 executive Norman Chan said in the circular.12 A survey by an Asian wealth management publication noted that de-risking and de-banking policies of Hong Kong banks were preventing financial and advisory firms from getting set up and running.Excluding newcomers or smaller companies from the banking sy

36、stem harms Hong Kongs competitiveness as an international financial center,the survey noted.13 Among the most affected firms have been those in the cryptocurrency sector.As China launched its crackdown in late 2017,banks in Hong Kong sought to put daylight between themselves and the sector in Beijin

37、gs crosshairs.Crypto exchanges such as ANX,Gatecoin and OKEx,lost access to bank accounts and in some cases the banks also reportedly froze the accounts of the companies principals.Aurelien Menant,founder and CEO of Gatecoin,told DigFin in 2018 that HSBC banked his company for four years and then ab

38、ruptly pulled the plug,forcing the company to freeze its customers funds for three months.14 The De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific Fintechs6Gatecoin eventually shut down in March 2019 after failing to recover funds lost in a dispute with a former payment services provider.“Even after we managed to m

39、itigate our loss by replacing that PSP with more reliable alternatives to process our clients transfers in September 2018,the situation did not improve because that PSP retained a large part of our funds,”Gatecoin said in a statement.15 Although recent regulation in Hong Kong shows the city is takin

40、g a more open approach to crypto-currency businesses,it remains to see whether or not Hong Kongs banks will re-engage with the sector.De-risking in Australia Australian banks have arguably been the most ardent when it comes to de-risking in APAC.Compared to elsewhere in the region,there is clear evi

41、dence with some major fintechs giving media interviews about the situation of firms in Australia being de-banked.In contrast to Hong Kong and Singapore,these firms in Australia that have lost out on banking services are not necessarily focused on the high-risk cryptocurrency business.“The anti-compe

42、titive behavior regarding this trend stems beyond cryptocurrency,”then FinTech Australia chief executive Rebecca Schot-Guppy said at Intersekt 2021.“Its also affecting wealth tech and payment tech companies.”Schot-Guppy told the Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Cent

43、re that she knew of about 100 Australian fintechs whose bank accounts had been closed.Most hesitate to speak out,fearing Diana Aguilar,“Gatecoin Crypto Exchange to Shut Down on Courts Orders,”CoinDesk,https:/ James Eyers,“De-banking of fintechs is rife,Senate committee told,”Australian Financial Rev

44、iew,https:/ Eyers,Australian Financial Review,https:/ Eyers,Australian Financial Review,https:/ alienation,”she said.The de-banking of fintechs in Australia is not an anomaly but a pattern that“occurs with opaque and dismissive reasoning from the bank,”she added.16 For instance,Singapore-based payme

45、nts unicorn Nium says Australia is the only country out of 40 in which it has banking relationships where its bank accounts were closed without adequate explanation.Though Nium did,in 2021,roll out a crypto-as-a-service solution(CaaS),it is best known for being a modular platform for global business

46、 payments.Moreover,Nium was first de-banked in Australia in 2015,long before it launched the CaaS solution.The abrupt de-banking experience nearly nixed Niums local launch.In the next six years,the payments firm was de-banked from seven Australian lenders,including two of the big four between Octobe

47、r 2020 and October 2021.Niums solution to the problem has been to use a multinational bank for its Australian business.Though global banks take money-laundering risks seriously,they are more willing to work with Nium than their Australian counterparts,which Nium describes as showing a“lack of willin

48、gness to engage.”17“There is no opportunity to remedy practices if an entity is deemed non-compliant prior to de-banking,”Niums Asia Pacific consumer head Michael Minassian told the Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre.“There is no real opportunity to appeal the

49、decision,or gain further clarity as to why you are being de-banked,and the reasons given by the banks are opaque and very vague.”18 The De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific Fintechs7An Australian payments fintech has had similar difficulties with incumbent banks in Australia,including multinational len

50、ders.According to investigations by Australian media,this fintech was denied services by a prominent multinational bank in Australia,while one of the countrys big four lenders cancelled transactional banking services for its customers.The Australian bank told the payments fintech the decision was pa

51、rt of a post-royal commission policy to limit exposure to low-revenue money services businesses.However,the media reports say that the services were withdrawn due to red flags around the fintechs customers,suspicious transaction patterns and the sudden departure of its head of compliance.The media r

52、eports do not suggest that the payments fintech facilitated money laundering,only that there were concerns among other banks about its ability to comply with anti-money laundering laws.Meanwhile,Michaela Juric of the peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading platform Bitcoin Babe has been debanked from 91

53、 financial institutions and put on a terrorism watchlist.In addition to debanking her business,banks also closed her personal accounts and those of certain relatives or people she has lived with.19 91 lifetime bans,no reasons given,she told ZD Net.Its just,sorry,we can no longer offer our services.”

54、20 In the 12 months to May 31,2021,Westpac said it had either declined or stopped offering banking services to eight fintechs due to the companies being deemed too risky The Australian lender 19 Sarah Danckert,“Bitcoin Babe refused by 91 banks,put on terrorism watchlist,bullied by Austrac,”The Sydne

55、y Morning Herald,https:/.au/business/banking-and-finance/bitcoin-babe-refused-by-91-banks-put-on-terrorism-watchlist-bullied-by-austrac-20210908-p58pt4.html20 Asha Barbaschow,“Fintech Australia calls for debanking fix and self-regulation for crypto industry,”ZD Net,https:/ Kate Weber,“Westpac debank

56、s eight fintechs in a year,”https:/.au/news/westpac-debanks-eight-fintechs-in-a-year-56727922 Philip Lowe,“Payments:The Future?,”Bank of International Settlements,https:/www.bis.org/review/r211213a.pdfdisclosed the number to an ongoing senate inquiry into Australias role as a technology and financia

57、l center.Westpac said it did not consider fintech overall to be higher risk than other financial services business categories,but noted“there could be segments of the fintech sector that operate in higher risk areas or have higher risk aspects and these may result in a decision to decline or cease t

58、o offer banking services.”21 While no evidence exists that can prove Australian banks are engaging in anti-competitive behavior under the guise of de-risking,it is clear that incumbent lenders directly compete with some fintechs in the cross-border payments segment.This market is ripe for disruption

59、 given the high costs associated with sending money internationally from an Australian bank.At the Australian Payments Network Summit in December 2021,Australian Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe noted that doing so often costs about 5%of the payment while it takes more than a day for the money to a

60、rrive.22 The World Bank estimates that sending money overseas from Australia is about 11%costlier than the G20 average,13%more than the UK and roughly 40%higher than the US.Australian Senator Andrew Bragg did not mince his words when he spoke to Australian Financial Review about the issue,“In relati

61、on to remittance,I suspect there are anti-competitive drivers behind that,as banks have had a monopoly on ripping people off for remittances forever.”The De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific Fintechs8Practical Mitigation Approaches 23 Brian Newar,“ANZ bank settles debanking case with Aussie Bitcoin tra

62、der,”CoinTelegraph,https:/ Lachlan Keller,“Australias ANZ settles in crypto debanking case,”Forkast,https:/forkast.news/headlines/australia-anz-settles-crypto-debanking-case/25 Sarah Danckert,“ANZ settles debanking case brought by bitcoin trader,”The Sydney Morning Herald,https:/.au/business/banking

63、-and-finance/anz-settles-debanking-case-brought-by-bitcoin-trader-20211014-p59009.html26 ACT Civil&Administrative Tribunal,FLYNN v WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION ACN 007 457 141(Discrimination)2022 ACAT 21,https:/www.acat.act.gov.au/_data/assets/pdf_file/0006/1967604/FLYNN-v-WESTPAC-BANKING-CORPORATION

64、-ACN-007-457-141-Discrimination-2022-ACAT-21.pdfIt is sometimes possible for fintechs which feel they have been unreasonably de-banked to pursue legal action and achieve a favorable outcome.For instance,Australian bitcoin trader Allan Flynn launched action in the ACT Civil&Administrative Tribunal ag

65、ainst Australia and New Zealand Bank(ANZ)and Westpac,alleging both banks discriminated against him and breached his human rights by closing his bank account because he was operating as a digital currency exchange.Australian banks generally refuse to do business with cryptocurrency firms due to conce

66、rns about money laundering and terrorism financing risks,though Australian law does not forbid them from taking on such customers.In the case he settled with ANZ,Flynn pointed to Australian law that forbids discrimination due to ones“profession,trade,occupation or calling.”23 In the settlement,ANZ d

67、id not admit liability or pay Flynn any compensation,but acknowledged that the de-banking of Flynn“couldhave amounted to unlawful discrimination.”24 As part of the settlement,ANZ emphasized Flynn was not subject to a lifetime ban.“Any future application by Mr.Flynn to open an account with ANZ will b

68、e assessed on its merits as at the time the application is made,and in accordance with any applicable laws or policies,procedures and/or requirements of ANZ as may be applicable at that time,”the bank said.25 Meanwhile,the Westpac case is ongoing.The bank argues that it de-banked Flynn because his u

69、se of accounts to operate a digital currency exchange business“fell outside Westpacs risk appetite.”In a document published in March 2022,the ACT Civil&Administrative Tribunal noted that Westpac seeks to invoke protection from liability,and stated“it is a matter for Westpac to establish in a court o

70、f competent jurisdiction that the decision to de-bank Mr.Flynn was made in good faith,and in compliance,or in purported compliance,with a requirement of the AML/CTF Act or the AML/CTF Rules.It appears that this issue can be determined only by proceedings brought by Westpac in a court able to exercis

71、e the requisite federal jurisdiction.”26 The De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific Fintechs9De-risking Will Persist27 Reuters staff,“Timeline:The rise and fall of Wirecard,a German tech champion,”Reuters,https:/ Channel News Asia,“Four more people in Singapore charged over Wirecard case,taking total tal

72、ly to seven,”https:/ Reuters,“Wanted crypto developer Do Kwon is not in Singapore,police say,”https:/ Shalini Nagarajan,“3AC Liquidators Want to Subpoena Su Zhu,Kyle Davies via Twitter,”Blockworks,https:/blockworks.co/3ac-liquidators-want-to-subpoena-su-Unfortunately for fintechs and other NBFIs,the

73、 de-risking trend of recent years is likely to remain in the near future.If anything,the confluence of tumultuous factors in todays fintech industry,from high-profile collapses to the prolonged crypto bear market could prompt even greater wariness of taking on customers perceived as overly risky.The

74、 implosion of the German payments firm Wirecard in 2020 and the subsequent criminal charges brought against its executives highlighted industry concerns about malfeasance among high-flying fintechs.At its peak in 2018,Wirecard had a market capitalization of more than 24 billion euros(US$27 billion),

75、eclipsing that of top German lender Deutsche Bank.But several years later,the company collapsed in an accounting scandal after acknowledging that 1.9 billion euros it had listed as assets likely did not exist.The head of Germanys financial watchdog described the Wirecard scandal as“a massive crimina

76、l act.”27 Due to Wirecards global footprint,its implosion rippled across Asia Pacific.In September 2020,the Monetary Authority of Singapore(MAS)ordered the firm to cease its payment services in the city-state and return all customers funds.Singapore is prosecuting a total of seven people in connecti

77、on with the Wirecard scandal and investigations remain ongoing.The allegations against the four individuals who appeared in court in August 2022 include conspiring to dishonestly misappropriate funds,committing money laundering,falsifying invoices and falsification of accounts.They face double-digit

78、 prison sentences if convicted.28 Singapore is also grappling with the regulatory challenges that come with its bid to become a regional hub for the cryptocurrency sector.Do Kwon,founder of Terraform Labs and subject to an Interpol Red Notice,making him a wanted man in 195 countries registered his c

79、ompany in the city-state and moved there earlier this year.However,in mid-September 2022,Singapore police said he was no longer there.Globally,investors in Terraforms two coins Luna and TerraUSD lost an estimated US$42 billion.29TerraForm Labs is not the only disgraced crypto firm with ties to Singa

80、pore.Three Arrows Capital,a crypto hedge fund that folded in June,was also previously registered in the city-state.The MAS has admonished Three Arrows for providing false information and breaching asset management thresholds,though it is unclear if the regulator has attempted to impose penalties on

81、the perpetrators.Currently,the whereabouts of Three Arrows co-founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies are unknown.30The De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific Fintechs10In response to the problems in the crypto sector,the MAS plans to tighten related regulations.The revised rules may could include further restri

82、cting access of retail investors to decentralized virtual currencies.“Going forward,in line with international regulators,were also going to be broadening the scope of regulations to cover more activities,”MAS managing director Ravi Menon said in July.“So,players who are doing some of these activiti

83、es but are currently not caught may well be caught.”31 In Australia,which has been inching towards implementing more comprehensive cryptocurrency regulation,banks are putting daylight between themselves and mercurial digital assets to reduce risk.Following Terras collapse,Commonwealth Bank of Austra

84、lia(CBA)paused a cryptocurrency trading pilot it had rolled out the previous November.Users of the initial pilot were thus unable to continue trading crypto through CBAs app.“As events zhu-kyle-davies-via-twitter/31 Suvashree Ghosh and Faris Mokhtar,“Singapore Plans to Broaden Crypto Regulations Aft

85、er Shakeout,”https:/ Josh Taylor,“Commonwealth Bank pauses in-app cryptocurrency trading after market turmoil,”The Guardian,https:/ Jessie Coghlan,“Aussie banks ANZ and NAB wont endorse retail speculation on crypto,”CoinTelegraph,https:/ the last week Terras implosion have reinforced,it is clearly a

86、 very volatile sector that remains an enormous amount of interest,”CBA chief executive officer Matt Cobyn said at a tech conference in May.“But alongside that volatility and awareness and I guess the scale,certainly globally,you can see there is a lot of interest from regulators and people thinking

87、about the best way to regulate that.”32 Shortly after Cobyn made those comments,executives from ANZ and NAB said at the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit they would not permit their retail customers to trade crypto.Maile Carnegie,executive for retail banking at ANZ,said the bank had conside

88、red a cryptocurrency product from as early as 2017,but opted against it in the end.She said that she was“happy we didnt go head long”into cryptocurrency.33 The De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific Fintechs11Conclusion:Boosting accessibility to correspondent banking in the digital age Despite the clear

89、problems de-risking has and will continue to present to fintechs and NBFIs in APAC,the traditional correspondent banking network remains dominant.A bank at the top of the chain with direct access to clearing is essential to order to facilitate cross-border payments.To that end,correspondent banking

90、does not need to be upended,but rather made more accessible to a wider group of financial institutions.The good news is that next-generation correspondent banking has arrived.Call it“super-correspondent banking.”This technology-first model integrates a large network of local clearing and payments sc

91、hemes into a distinct super-correspondent banking network that is a viable alternative to the traditional models not suited for fintechs.This alternative correspondent banking network boasts a technological edge that ensures compliance and strong risk management while eschewing excessive de-risking

92、measures.For example,with IBAN account numbers provided for each of a payments providers underlying clients,artificial intelligence tools can perform risk analysis to isolate and target specific areas of concern if they arise rather than using the blunt instrument of de-banking the payments client.L

93、ooking ahead,a correspondent banking approach tailored for financial services in the digital age will serve fintechs and their customers optimally.It will allow them to better navigate a fast-changing regulatory environment in which regulators are especially wary of certain emerging technologies tha

94、t fairly or not are perceived as heightening financial crime risk,while minimizing threats to their business.Ultimately,this will result in cost savings,more efficient and reliable cross-border payments,greater customer satisfaction and a reduced incidence of financial exclusion.Kapronasia is a lead

95、ing strategic consultancy covering FinTech,banking,payments,and capital markets.From our offices and representation in Shanghai,Hong Kong,Taipei,Seoul,and Singapore,we provide clients across the region the insight they need to understand and take advantage of their highest-value opportunities in Asi

96、a and help them to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage in the market.Please visit https:/ 2023 Kapronasia Singapore Pte.Ltd.All rights Banking Circle is a fully licenced next generation Payments Bank that is designed to meet the global banking and payments needs of Payments businesses,Banks

97、and Marketplaces.Through our API,we deliver fast,low cost global payments and banking services by connecting to the worlds clearing systems enabling our clients to move liquidity in real-time for all major currencies securely and compliantly.Our solutions are powering the payments propositions of mo

98、re than 250 regulated businesses,Financial Institutions and Marketplaces,enabling them to gain the geographic reach and access to the markets in which their customers want to trade.We process over 10%of Europes B2C e-commerce flows and in 2021 alone,we processed over 250 billion Euros in payments volumes.Please visit https:/