FreeFlow Finance and IX Fintech Digital Form Strategic Partnership for Synergistic Cooperation | Taiwan News

FreeFlow Finance and IX Fintech Digital Form Strategic Partnership for Synergistic Cooperation | Taiwan News

FreeFlow payments infrastructure enabling universal obtain to controlled digital assets and IX Fintech’s portfolio of progressive digital asset items make for a get-gain end result

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 16 Could 2022 – FreeFlow Finance Restricted (FreeFlow) and IX Fintech Digital (Worldwide) Corporation Constrained (IX Fintech Digital) are pleased to announce they have entered into a strategic partnership, combining FreeFlow’s world’s initial interoperability infrastructure for cross-border payments, trade transactions and retail commerce, utilizing controlled electronic currencies with IX Fintech Digital’s primary digital asset merchandise and providers which includes digital asset index merchandise, electronic asset wallet, digital double-offline retail stage system community and connected electronic finance innovation.

The strategic partnership will open up the possible for IX Fintech Digital to add thoroughly regulated electronic asset payment/settlement performance and regtech/compliance remedies to their portfolio of providers for their shoppers and companions, and to permit institutional DeFi use situations to allow new company model chances for Forex, hard cash administration, and lending.

The strategic partnership will also open up the possibility for FreeFlow to examine certain use instances to join Hong Kong consumers to aid cross-border transactions into Greater China leveraging FreeFlow’s interoperability infrastructure and strategic partners, and IX Fintech Digital’s digital wallet and electronic asset goods.

The parties will start out their strategic partnership by partaking in a feasibility examine for technical integration of FreeFlow’s interoperability infrastructure to IX Fintech Electronic. This will be followed by further collaboration in observe-on phases to kind business enterprise partnerships to commercially scale the opportunities discovered.

“At FreeFlow, we are always hunting for new synergistic partners for our ecosystem to reshape world finance and fiscal inclusion by regulated electronic property,” stated Michael Sung, Founder and CEO of FreeFlow. “Our strategic partnerships are instrumental in facilitating liable monetary solutions for SMEs and customers, and we’re excited to be performing with IX Fintech Electronic.”

“At IX Fintech Digital, we strive to establish the very best exercise and goods for upcoming economic markets, to attain a much more seamless, clear, and productive method,” mentioned Irene Wong, Founder and CEO of IX Fintech Electronic. “With dwelling foundation in Hong Kong, we goal to bridge between China and the other international locations to realize environmentally friendly, blue, cultural trade and economic inclusion by way of the use of technological know-how and treasure the opportunity to perform with superior associates like FreeFlow.”

About FreeFlow Finance

FreeFlow Finance is the world’s 1st interoperability infrastructure business for the upcoming era of cross-border payments, trade transactions and retail commerce, working with regulated digital currencies. FreeFlow enables seamless integration with stable coins and central bank electronic currencies as a result of our cross-system electronic forex clearing and settlement and on-chain Fx liquidity provision capabilities, powered by our institutional quality, vertically integrated, and regulatory compliant, solitary-window API system.

About IX Fintech Electronic
IX Fintech Digital is an award-winning business, providing finest-in-course electronic asset expert services, ranging from digital asset indexing, digital double-offline retail position process network to decentralized electronic asset wallets, built on sturdy infrastructure. IX Fintech Electronic (Global) Corporation Limited gives products and products and services with substantial protection and KYC/AML abilities. Its electronic asset wallet is equipped with article-quantum protection and entire-stack KYC/AML solutions.

#FreeFlowFinance #IXFintechDigital

The issuer is entirely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Treasury: Russia war bolsters need to combat illicit finance | Taiwan News

Treasury: Russia war bolsters need to combat illicit finance | Taiwan News

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Division laid out recommendations Friday for tightening legal guidelines to guard against funds laundering and illicit threats to the U.S. fiscal procedure, citing the carry out of Russians backing the invasion of Ukraine as evidence of how loopholes are becoming exploited.

Treasury’s 32-website page tactic document outlines suggestions to shut loopholes in anti-income laundering legal guidelines, beat the use of authentic estate for income laundering techniques and enrich facts-sharing among the govt and non-public sector economic companies.

“Illicit finance is a important countrywide security risk and nowhere is that far more evident than in Russia’s war from Ukraine, supported by a long time of corruption by Russian elites,” reported Elizabeth Rosenberg, Treasury’s assistant secretary for terrorist funding.

Sanctioned people today and entities can eliminate determining info from, or only conceal, their lender accounts, the department claimed. They can also use cryptocurrency to a constrained degree or disguise at the rear of shell providers to evade fiscal sanctions.

“We want to shut loopholes, function efficiently with international companions, and leverage new technologies to tackle the dangers posed by corruption, an maximize in domestic violent extremism and the abuse of digital property,” Rosenberg stated.

Each and every two decades, Treasury releases a report with tips on how to shut gaps that could aid terrorist and illicit finance. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “demonstrates that those in search of to undermine world stability and steadiness are exploiting these similar gaps,” the report mentioned.

The section pointed to the variety of sanctions imposed on people and entities owing to the war and the possible for sanctioned folks to evade sanctions. Earlier this thirty day period, Treasury barred men and women in the U.S. from offering accounting, legal and consulting companies to any individual located in Russia.

The U.S. has labored closely with allied governments in Europe, Asia and somewhere else to impose hundreds of sanctions on Russian elites, oligarchs and banks.

Earlier this yr, Treasury, the Justice Section and other agencies convened a job power acknowledged as REPO — shorter for Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs — to do the job with other international locations to investigate and prosecute oligarchs and individuals allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

HSBC Taiwan aiming to lead in wealth management

HSBC Taiwan aiming to lead in wealth management
  • By Kao Shih-ching / Employees reporter

HSBC Financial institution Taiwan Ltd (匯豐台灣商銀) is organizing to make investments US$146 million in Taiwan from last calendar year to 2025, as it aims to be the leading worldwide lender in the nation’s wealth management market, main executive officer Adam Chen (陳志堅) explained to a information conference in Taipei yesterday.&#13

That is in line with its mum or dad company’s objective of turning into the major wealth management financial institution in Asia by 2025, Chen reported.&#13

The bank will upgrade its platforms where consumers can purchase a range of economic merchandise, this sort of as bonds, US shares, structured notes and overseas currencies, and boost its digital support to improve customers’ working experience, he mentioned.&#13

Photo courtesy of HSBC Financial institution Taiwan Ltd

“Wealth management is not just about selling goods. We will also supply consulting products and services to address clients’ issues, these kinds of as all those about inheritance,” Chen reported.&#13

Some folks do not know that their children simply cannot declare their inheritance right until they pay the inheritance tax 1st, Chen mentioned, including that leaving a legacy involves good planning.&#13

The lender is to established up a few massive centers of prosperity management, some of which are to be converted from typical branches, he mentioned.&#13

“The challenge of no matter if to scrap classic bank branches has drawn a lot of focus these days… We think that as customers progressively depend on digital banking, our traditional branches need to undergo a transformation,” Chen stated.&#13

The bank is arranging to raise its personnel figures by a web 460, recruiting much more clients relations brokers and promoting team, he stated.&#13

The bank previous month relocated its head workplace to Taipei 101, the tallest making in Taiwan, from the Taipei Word Trade Middle.&#13

The relocation marks a brand name-new milestone in the bank’s organization advancement in Taiwan. It also highlights the job of Taiwan as a person of the priority marketplaces for HSBC Holdings PLC in Asia, the financial institution said.&#13

Even though HSBC has contributed to the development and prosperity of the Taiwanese financial system around the earlier 38 yrs, the lender will proceed to make contributions to Taiwan’s financial growth in the several years to occur, Chen mentioned.&#13

He stressed that as Taiwan has plentiful property and abilities throughout industries, the region is properly positioned to turn out to be the chief in creating a sustainable economic system in Asia. &#13

A single of the key factors the lender moved to Taipei 101 is mainly because the developing has been awarded the Management in Electrical power and Environmental Style (LEED) Platinum certification for electrical power efficiency and environmental layout, Chen explained, introducing that performing in the developing really should aid the financial institution attain its aim of slicing carbon emissions.&#13

HSBC is dedicated to starting to be a net zero bank by 2050 and will get to internet zero in its operations by 2030. In Taiwan, the bank saved 135 megawatt-hrs in operations and obtained extra than NT$20 million of “green” solutions very last yr, it stated.&#13

HSBC Taiwan recently also gained the ESG-Welcoming Gold Award from the Taiwan Architecture & Developing Middle for its eco-friendly setting up mortgage scheme. &#13

In addition, HSBC Taiwan supplied US$2.1 billion in ESG-connected funding in Taiwan from 2020 to final quarter, the financial institution stated.&#13

The lender had concluded much more than 40 transactions associated to sustainable financing in excess of the very same period, it mentioned. &#13

The bank has been supporting clientele and the society to seize the chance to transition to a very low-carbon financial state and be certain sustainable development, it reported.&#13

The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined the way corporations function all over the globe, and the place of work of the long run will no longer be confined to the common office, but will rather be a area of teaching, social interaction and collaboration, Chen mentioned.

Responses will be moderated. Retain remarks relevant to the report. Remarks that contains abusive and obscene language, particular attacks of any form or promotion will be taken out and the person banned. Last selection will be at the discretion of the Taipei Moments.

Taiwan wafer company takeover collapses after Germany withholds approval

The prepared acquisition of German chip provider Siltronic by its larger Taiwan rival GlobalWafers has collapsed soon after Berlin did not approve the deal, highlighting how countrywide safety problems about source chains are shaping bargains in the marketplace.

“The takeover offer by GlobalWafers and the agreements which arrived into existence as a result of the offer will not be completed and will lapse,” the Taiwanese business said on Tuesday following Germany did not make a choice on the offer by the January 31 deadline.

Berlin’s failure to crystal clear the proposed €4.35bn transaction prevented consolidation in a significant section of the extended and intricate source chain for semiconductors. The chips are essential elements to a vary of solutions which includes cars and trucks and smartphones and have been in extreme lack for extra than a year.

With each other GlobalWafers, the world’s 3rd-biggest manufacturer of silicon wafers, and Siltronic, which ranks fourth, would have grow to be the sector’s next-major participant and a significant rival for Japan’s Shin-Etsu, the major manufacturer. In individual, GlobalWafers had aimed at strengthening its presence in Europe, where by Siltronic is the top supplier.

Germany’s economics ministry mentioned it could not entire all necessary actions in its review by January 31. German media quoted a ministry spokesperson declaring that the conditional approval from Chinese antitrust regulators, granted on January 21, experienced occur way too late for Berlin to assessment.

Chinese regulators experienced offered a environmentally friendly light for the acquisition on the situation that GlobalWafers spun off Topsil, a Denmark-based mostly unit, and ongoing to market wafers to Chinese clientele without discrimination. The calls for could have intricate functions for the mixed enterprise if a 3rd country, these as the US, imposed sanctions necessitating providers to lower provides to China in the future.

But government officials and industry observers also observed broader factors behind Berlin’s failure to crystal clear the offer. In new yrs, the German authorities has toughened guidelines for overseas takeovers of domestic providers, introducing protection evaluations for offers in a selection of industries including semiconductors, and letting the condition to get a stake in companies if required to defend them.

“The most probable genuine purpose this fell by means of is that Germany is concerned about their technological innovation sovereignty,” mentioned a senior Taiwanese govt official. “We comprehend these factors, they are not the only kinds who are progressively searching at this sort of variables now. But it can make the world ecosystem for our providers more complicated, just as they look to diversify their footprint.”

Taiwan dominates semiconductor manufacturing, generally through TSMC, the world’s most significant deal chipmaker, which accounts for additional than 50 percent of the international market for manufactured-to-buy chips. But the region is keen to greatly enhance its position in other segments of the industry.

GlobalWafers mentioned it was “very unhappy about this outcome”. The corporation additional that it would analyse the German government’s determination and think about its effect on its future financial investment tactic.

Doris Hsu, main govt, has reported in the earlier that GlobalWafers would pursue investments outdoors Europe if the Siltronic offer could not be completed.

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Any war with China is ‘likely to be around Taiwan’

The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a $768 billion defense policy bill that directs the president to create a “grand strategy” to address global economic and military threats posed by China.

That vote came as news emerged that U.S. military commanders have created a software tool designed to predict how China will react to U.S. activities in the area, such as U.S. officials’ visits to Taiwan.

In a new interview taped Monday, billionaire hedge fund titan Ray Dalio said a military confrontation between the U.S. and China is unlikely for now. However, he added that if a U.S-China war does break out, it will likely be over Taiwan, a disputed entity roughly 100 miles off the coast of Southeastern China.

“Well, I think if there’s going to be a military war issue, it is likely to be around Taiwan,” Dalio told Yahoo Finance’s editor-in-chief, Andy Serwer. Later, Dalio added, “Watch what’s going on closely with Taiwan, and you’ll see the straws in the wind.”

While Taiwan has a democratically elected government and a “robust unofficial relationship with the U.S.,” the United Nations doesn’t recognize it as an independent country. As Serwer noted in a column for Yahoo Finance last month, Taiwan has been in political limbo since the Chinese Civil War nearly three-quarters of a century ago. But more recently, tensions between the U.S. and China over Taiwan have flared up.

People wear a face mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while passing a night market in Taipei, Taiwan, August 6, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang

People wear a face mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while passing a night market in Taipei, Taiwan, August 6, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Communist China, for its part, insists that Taiwan is a province of the mainland. The country has repeatedly entered Taiwan’s air defense zone in the past year, and in October, China condemned the U.S. and Canada for trying to “stir up trouble” by sending warships through the Taiwan Strait.

Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Dalio described the status of Taiwan and its potential to provoke military action between the U.S. and China this way: “It’s an important issue that might be, could be fought over. I think that you watch it.”

This was far from the first time Dalio has commented on China tensions. He’s faced backlash over the fact that his hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, has investments in China — particularly after an interview with CNBC last month where he seemingly likened the country’s autocratic government to a “stern parent.” In a Dec. 5 LinkedIn post clarifying the statement, he said that view was not his own, but rather, he was explaining what a Chinese leader told him about the country’s approach to governing. 

Dalio went on to note that Bridgewater invests in about 40 countries, including China, and that it relies on guidance from regulators in those countries and in the U.S. However, he added: “Having said all this, what I think and what Bridgewater does are of minuscule importance relative to the rapidly growing risk of U.S. war with China due to misunderstandings and inclinations to fight …”

War is far from Dalio’s only concern about China, however. In his new book, “Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order,” the hedge fund manager expresses certainty that China will become a greater world power than the U.S., as a Wall Street Journal review noted. He reiterated this prediction to Yahoo Finance.

“The population of China has four times that of the United States,” Dalio noted. “So if it has an average income of half the United States, it will be twice as large as the United States.”

While China may someday become a greater world power than the U.S., its economy has suffered amid the pandemic, the country’s regulatory crackdown on Chinese companies, and a prolonged property downturn sparked in part by the downfall of mega-developer Evergrande

For his part, Dalio stressed that the U.S. should turn its focus toward itself. “If we do the right things, to be strong, so that we are stronger than any opposition in the world,” he said, “we won’t have a problem.”

Erin Fuchs is deputy managing editor at Yahoo Finance.

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