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☆ Twilio lays off 5% of employees in unit activists want to divest
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Jeff Lawson, chief executive officer of Twilio Inc., during the Singapore FinTech Festival in Singapore, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. Software provider Twilio said Monday it would lay off roughly 5% of its workforce citing underachievement in the growth of a unit that activist investors have targeted. The cuts will strike deepest in Twilio's Data and Applications unit, the same unit activist investors at Legion Partners and Anson Funds are pushing Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson to divest. Lawson said in his letter that Twilio will also change how it sells its Flex digital engagement product. Anson and Legion have pushed Twilio to sell the Data & Applications unit, if not the whole company.

Persons: Jeff Lawson, Twilio, Anson, Legion, Lawson, hasn't Organizations: Twilio Inc, Singapore FinTech Festival, underachievement, Legion Partners, Anson Funds, CNBC, Securities, Exchange Commission, Communications, Legion Locations: Singapore

☆ IMF chief makes the case for carbon pricing as 'writing on the wall' for oil and gas
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, speaks during the Singapore FinTech Festival in Singapore, on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — The head of the International Monetary Fund on Sunday underlined the case for carbon pricing at the COP28 climate summit, saying that the oil and gas industry recognizes "the writing on the wall." A long-time proponent of carbon pricing, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said this approach creates an incentive for polluters to rapidly decarbonize. Carbon pricing ascertains the cost that a company needs to pay for its planet-warming emissions and is widely regarded as the most cost-effective and flexible way to cut such pollution. "For those that have adopted a carbon price, how do we get big emitters to accept that we need to accelerate decarbonization?"

Persons: Kristalina Georgieva, Georgieva, CNBC's Dan Murphy, Nature Organizations: International Monetary Fund, Singapore FinTech Festival, UNITED, EMIRATES, IMF Locations: Singapore, Dubai

☆ Singapore to pilot use of wholesale central bank digital currencies in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ravi Menon, managing director of Monetary Authority of Singapore, speaks during the Singapore FinTech Festival in Singapore, on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. SINGAPORE — Come 2024, Singapore will pilot the live issuance and use of wholesale central bank digital currencies, said Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. "I'm pleased to announce that MAS will pilot the live issuance of wholesale CBDCs to instantaneously support payments across commercial banks here," Menon said. MAS is the city-state's central bank and financial regulator. Wholesale CBDC is a digital currency issued by a central bank, that's used exclusively by central banks, commercial banks or other financial institutions to settle large-value interbank transactions.

Persons: Ravi Menon, Menon, I'm, that's Organizations: Monetary Authority of, Singapore FinTech Festival, Singapore FinTech, MAS Locations: Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore, SINGAPORE

☆ Mastercard says wide adoption of central bank digital currencies would be ‘difficult’ right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

BARCELONA, SPAIN - MARCH 01: A view of the MasterCard company logo on their stand during the Mobile World Congress on March 1, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Joan Cros Garcia/Corbis via Getty Images)SINGAPORE — There isn't enough justification for the widespread use of central bank digital currencies right now, which makes broad adoption of such assets "difficult," Ashok Venkateswaran, Mastercard 's blockchain and digital assets lead for Asia-Pacific, told CNBC. A retail CBDC, which is the digital form of fiat currency issued by a central bank, caters to individuals and businesses, facilitating everyday transactions. This is different from a wholesale CBDC which is used exclusively by central banks, commercial banks and other financial institutions to settle large-value interbank transactions. But a lot of the central banks nowadays have gotten very innovative because they are working very closely with private companies like ours, to create that ecosystem," said the Asia-Pacific lead.

Persons: Joan Cros Garcia, Corbis, Ashok Venkateswaran, Venkateswaran, Kong's Organizations: MasterCard, Mobile, Congress, Getty Images, Mastercard, CNBC, Singapore FinTech, Monetary Fund, Atlantic Council, Hong Locations: BARCELONA, SPAIN, Barcelona, Spain, SINGAPORE, Asia, Pacific, Singapore, U.S, Hong Kong

☆ IMF says central bank digital currencies can replace cash: 'This is not the time to turn back'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE — Central bank digital currencies have the potential to replace cash, but adoption could take time, said Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday. "CBDCs can replace cash which is costly to distribute in island economies," she said Wednesday at the Singapore FinTech Festival. CBDCs are the digital form of a country's fiat currency, which are regulated by the country's central bank. They are powered by blockchain technology, allowing central banks to channel government payments directly to households. Several central banks have already launched pilots or even issued a CBDC," the IMF said in a September report.

Persons: Kristalina Georgieva Organizations: International Monetary Fund, IMF, Singapore FinTech, Bank for International, Atlantic Council Locations: SINGAPORE — Central, Singapore

☆ Ant group quarterly profit rises 17.5% on year to 13.37 bln yuan - Alibaba filing
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A booth of Ant Group is pictured at the Singapore FinTech Festival, Singapore, November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Anshuman DagaSHANGHAI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - China's Ant Group made net profit of 13.37 billion yuan ($1.85 billion) in the three months to March 31, up 17.5% from a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations from Alibaba Group Holding's (9988.HK) earnings report released Thursday. The e-commerce giant reports profit from Ant one quarter in arrears. Chinese authorities in July announced a fine of 7.12 billion yuan ($984 million) for Ant Group for violating laws concerning consumer protection and corporate governance, ending a years-long regulatory overhaul of the fintech company. ($1 = 7.2097 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Casey Hall Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ant's, Casey Hall, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Ant, Singapore FinTech Festival, REUTERS, Alibaba, HK, Ant Group, Thomson Locations: Singapore, SHANGHAI

China's central bank said that financial regulators would fine Ant and its subsidiaries a total of 7.12 billion yuan, require it to stop operations of its crowdfunded medical aid service Xianghubao and compensate users. Reuters reported earlier, citing sources, that Chinese authorities intended to unveil its fine on Ant as early as Friday. The sources had earlier said that the fine on Ant had been revised to at least 8 billion yuan. Reuters reported in April that Chinese regulators were considering fining Ant about 5 billion yuan, a lower sum than what they initially had in mind. Alibaba was fined a record 18 billion yuan in 2021 for antitrust violations.

Persons: China c.bank, Ant, Ping, Rukim Kuang, Jack Ma, Jeffrey Towson, Pan Gongsheng, Pan, Didi Global, Alibaba, Julie Zhu, Jane Xu, Jason Xue, Kevin Huang, Meg Shen, Twinnie Sui, Josh Ye, Ethan Wang, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Brenda Goh, David Holmes, Susan Fenton Organizations: Ant, Singapore FinTech Festival, REUTERS, Ant Group, People's Bank of China, Reuters, Ping An Bank, PICC, HK, Postal Savings Bank, Tencent Holdings, Alibaba, Hong Kong, Financial Regulatory Administration, State Council, Lens Consulting, Thomson Locations: Singapore, China, HONG KONG, Ant's, Hong, Beijing, CHINA

Reuters reported earlier, citing sources, that Chinese authorities intended to unveil its fine on Ant as early as Friday. The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), a new government body under the State Council, is now the primary regulator to grant Ant the license, they added. The sources had earlier said that the fine on Ant had been revised to at least 8 billion yuan. Reuters reported in April that Chinese regulators were considering fining Ant about 5 billion yuan, a lower sum than what they initially had in mind. Alibaba was fined a record 18 billion yuan in 2021 for antitrust violations.

Persons: China c.bank, Ant, Ping, Rukim Kuang, Jeffrey Towson, Jack Ma, China's, Pan Gongsheng, Pan, Didi Global, Alibaba, Julie Zhu, Jane Xu, Jason Xue, Kevin Huang, Meg Shen, Twinnie Sui, Josh Ye, Ethan Wang, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Brenda Goh, David Holmes, Susan Fenton Organizations: Ant, Singapore FinTech Festival, REUTERS, Ant Group, People's Bank of China, Reuters, Ping An Bank, PICC, HK, Postal Savings Bank, Tencent Holdings, Tenpay, Alibaba, Hong Kong, Lens Consulting, Communist Party, Financial Regulatory Administration, State Council, Thomson Locations: Singapore, China, HONG KONG, Ant's, Hong, Beijing, CHINA

☆ Coinbase shares fall as SEC takes crypto staking action against Kraken
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Coinbase shares closed down more than 14% Thursday, after CEO Brian Armstrong voiced concern on rumors that the Securities and Exchange Commission was mulling new enforcement action against crypto staking. Those rumors coalesced on Thursday afternoon, when the SEC announced a settlement with Coinbase's rival crypto exchange, Kraken. The SEC alleged that Kraken had engaged in the unregistered offering and sale of securities through its crypto staking platform. With crypto staking, investors typically vault their crypto assets with a blockchain validator, which verifies the accuracy of transactions on the blockchain. "We're hearing rumors that the SEC would like to get rid of crypto staking in the U.S. for retail customers.

☆ Coinbase criticizes Singapore's crypto regulations, urges city-state to embrace retail trading
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

It comes after Coinbase received in-principle approval from MAS to offer digital payment token services in the city-state. "Those two things are incompatible in my mind, and I would like to see Singapore embrace retail trading and self-hosted wallets," Armstrong added. The city-state has repeatedly warned that cryptocurrencies are highly speculative and volatile after many retail investors lost large chunks of their savings. SINGAPORE – Co-founder and CEO of U.S.-based crypto exchange platform Coinbase , Brian Armstrong, said that Singapore wants to be a forward-looking regulator, but is not welcoming toward crypto trading. "Crypto should not be treated at a disadvantage; they should be treated equally with other financial service regulations."

☆ JPMorgan's blockchain unit CEO says consumer protection needs to be a priority in digital asset projects
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE — Banks have to prioritize consumer protection as they embark on digital asset experiments, said Umar Farooq, chief executive officer of JPMorgan's blockchain unit Onyx. Many blockchain projects and other crypto protocols have the potential to make financial services more efficient, accessible and affordable. For example, crypto exchange Binance was hit by a $570 million hack in October and Deribit lost $28 million in a hot wallet hack this month. "What a bank needs to do from a regulatory point of view and customer's point of view is that we need to protect our customers. We cannot lose their money," Farooq said during a panel at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2022 on Wedneday.

☆ Singapore wants to be a hub for blockchain in finance, just not speculative crypto trading, MAS says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Edward Tian | Moment | Getty ImagesSingapore still wants to be a hub for digital assets, but not one for speculating on cryptocurrencies, said Ravi Menon, managing director of central bank the Monetary of Singapore. "If a crypto hub is about experimenting with programmable money, applying digital assets for use cases or tokenizing financial assets to increase efficiency and reduce risk in financial transactions, yes, we want to be a crypto hub," said Menon in his opening address at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2022 on Thursday. "But if it is about trading and speculating in cryptocurrencies, that is not the kind of crypto hub we want to be," said Menon. Singapore has ambitions to become a global crypto hub, but has been cracking down on the industry after many retail investors lost their life savings to crypto trading. We believe Project Guardian can help pave the way for the next evolution of financial markets in Singapore," said Menon.

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