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Ay. HONG KONG again. Thanks bot!
CRYPTOCURRENCIES Hong Kong virtual bank ZA bets on city's blockchain goals Company offers Web3 firms hard-to-get financial services  ZA Bank Alternate CEO Devon Sin, left, and CEO Ronald Iu are helping Hong Kong with its goal of becoming a cryptocurrency and blockchain hub. ECHO WONG and PAK YIU, Nikkei staff writersSeptember 21, 2023 10:29 JST HONG KONG -- Chinese insurer-backed ZA Bank is looking to ride Hong Kong's push to become a cryptocurrency and blockchain hub by focusing on clients that many traditional banks in the city have shied away from. ZA says 60 to 70 companies involved in Web3 -- a concept covering cryptocurrency, blockchain and other technologies related to the digital economy -- have accounts at the bank. Of those, 20 or 30 are looking to become licensed crypto trading platforms, ZA Alternate CEO Devon Sin told Nikkei Asia. "As a bank, we believe in the Web3 agenda, we believe this is a growth engine," Sin told Nikkei Asia. Blockchain technology could also help the bank to develop different projects on its own, he added. The company already counts the city's two locally licensed exchanges, HashKey Exchange and OSL, as customers. Venture capital and asset managers dedicated to investing in Web3 industries are also in "the pipeline" to open accounts with the bank, Sin added. The company employs 600 people and says it has 700,000 clients across Hong Kong and the adjacent mainland province of Guangdong. ZA's confidence in Hong Kong's Web3 push comes as many companies in the sector struggle to open a bank account -- a major hurdle for any business. Authorities have taken note of the issue. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has held three meetings this year between Web3 companies and traditional banks, brokerages and industry groups, according to several sources who attended those meetings. The HKMA also provided contacts at 15 major banks, such as HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of Communications, for Web3 companies to help them get banking services, according to a list seen by Nikkei Asia. At the same time, the city is balancing incentives for crypto companies with stricter enforcement of laws and regulations. Police this week arrested eight people, including two online influencers, as part of an investigation into suspected fraud at trading platform JPEX. The alleged fraud involves at least 1 billion Hong Kong dollars ($127.8 million), according to police. A spokesperson for ZA Bank said JPEX is not a client of the bank. Sin said the bank treats Web3 companies the same as companies in other industries when it comes to account openings and does not have dedicated insurance coverage or additional personnel for the sector. He said a Web3 company can open an account at ZA in a matter of weeks. ZA helps crypto exchanges open both operational and settlement accounts. Companies use operational accounts to pay rent and salaries, while settlement accounts include dealing with money from clients who trade via their exchanges. The bank is also hoping to directly provide their banking clients with cryptocurrency trading services in the future, but this will depend on regulations. "We are interested in providing the services for retail clients," said CEO Ronald Iu. Iu declined to give specific figures on ZA's goals for attracting Web3 clients and the revenue earned from them. "I don't think we have a very specific estimate," Iu said when asked for a breakdown of revenue contribution from traditional banking versus Web3 banking businesses. "How would Web3 develop, whether Hong Kong can become a Web3 hub, which is something everyone hopes for but doesn't know how long it would take. We don't know [that] yet." Iu, formerly chief risk officer of the bank, was also cautious about focusing too heavily on any one sector due to concentration risk, citing the collapse of crypto-friendly Silicon Valley Bank in the U.S. as an example. Iu took over as CEO in March this year after former chief Rockson Hsu left the bank. ZA Bank is one of Hong Kong's eight "virtual banks" backed by various Chinese conglomerates such as Ant Group, Tencent, Xiaomi, Ping An Insurance and Bank of China. Such virtual banks have struggled to turn a profit in a city dominated by traditional giants such as HSBC and Standard Chartered. ZA Bank is backed by Hong Kong-listed online insurer ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance.
“HONG KONG, Aug. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Carbonbase, a climate-tech and carbon reduction solutions provider, is excited to announce a groundbreaking partnership with the HBAR Foundation and ImpactX to launch Global Climate Registry (GCR), Asia's first digital native Carbon Registry.” Hbar is really making moves the last couple off months
The UK, DUBAI, HONG KONG, will take control