Bank Accounts

Hong Kong Monetary Authority has introduced the Interbank Account Data Sharing Initiative to selected licensed banks through its internal circular on 15 August 2023, aiming to allow customers to securely and efficiently sharing their bank account data with other banks subject to their consent. The Initiative started off by the preliminary study among the HKMA’s Fintech Facilitation Office (FFO), the Hong Kong Association of Banks and the participating banks, which suggested that interbank customer-consented data sharing between banks can help digitalize banking operations, strengthen risk management of banks and enhance customer experience. Through the IADS pilot programme,...

UOB, Singapore is cutting off counterparts in Myanmar, ending correspondent bank relationships in a move that could have a significant impact on the military regime’s access to the global financial system. The bank sent a confidential notes to Myanmar banks in August 2023 stating it will : restrict all incoming and outgoing payments to and from Myanmar accounts, toughen curbs on card (Visa and Mastercard) transactions for Myanmar individuals and banks close Myanmar banks’ nostro accounts at its Hong Kong branch. Nostro accounts are foreign currency accounts banks hold at overseas counterparts to facilitate trade. The move is to curb offshore banking and financial...

In line with Singapore’s Smart Nation vision where “everyone has access to fast, simple, and secure payments”, MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) and ABS (The Association of Banks in Singapore) announced plan in July 2023 to eradicate corporate cheque usage in the city by end of 2025 while it continues to boost e-payment solution. MAS and the Payment Council proposed a roadmap to terminate the cheque truncation system (CTS) in their consultation paper in November 2022. Increasing Cheque Cost The cost of clearing each cheque has significantly increased from SGD0.1 per cheque in 2016 to SGD 0.4 2021 whilst the annual cheque transactions fall at 70% and become 19...

The HKMA (Hong Kong Monetary Authority) has issued a public consultation paper proposing to simplify the structure of the Hong Kong banking system. The current three-tier structure of the banking system – i.e. licensed banks (LBs), restricted licence banks (RLBs) and deposit-taking companies (DTCs) – has been in place since the 1980s, introduced to strike a balance between flexibility of market entry and protection of small depositors. The HKMA has recently conducted a review of the three-tier banking system in Hong Kong to ensure it remains fit for purpose. Based on the results of the review, the HKMA proposes to simplify the three-tier banking system into two tiers. ...

Hong Kong government-backed ECIC (Export Credit Insurance Corporation) has announced a partnership with five banks HSBC, DBS HK, Hang Seng Bank, BOCHK and Bank of East Asia to offer exporters better coverage for payment defaults by private mainland Chinese firms. The risk-sharing arrangement will make it easier for Hong Kong firms to obtain credit insurance and bank financing for trade with the mainland. ECIC already offers credit insurance to exporters trading with listed mainland firms, which have to disclose their financial information. The insurer has, however, been unable to provide cover for private enterprises because of a lack of disclosure of credit and financial...

Hong Kong’s SFC (Securities and Futures Commission) has granted Mox Bank a Type 1 (dealing in securities) licence, making it the first virtual bank in the city to receive such a licence. With the new licence, Mox Bank will start piloting Hong Kong and US equity trading services in the HKMA sandbox “soon” and will look to onboard customers in phases later this year. The bank said customers will be able to open an investment account in “minutes” which will enable them to trade across Hong Kong and US securities, including US fractional securities. Mox Bank launched in September 2020, after being granted one of eight virtual bank licences by the HKMA in...

Amid rising interest from ultra-high net worth (UHNW) families around the world to set up family offices in Singapore, DBS Private Bank has launched in end June 2023 the DBS Multi Family Office Foundry VCC (DBS MFO), the world’s first bank-backed multi family office that leverages Singapore's Variable Capital Company (VCC) structure. This new platform is established as an umbrella VCC, with multiple underlying sub-funds that clients can use to manage their assets. It offers an alternative option for affluent families to manage their wealth in Singapore, without having to establish their own Single Family Office (SFO). Through DBS MFO, clients will be able to access a full...

DBS announced in start July 2023 that it is the first foreign bank to have a successful pilot run an e-CNY merchant solution for a catering company in Shenzhen. Such banking solution empowers corporate client in China to collect payments from their customers in e-CNY China's Cross Border Digital Currencies and allows e-CNY direct into their customers’deposits account. This service is a new form of digital money without having to go through manual settlement processes. Businesses will also be able to receive payments digitally more easier in underserved regions with limited internet connectivity and can perform reconciliation using consolidated merchant reports with itemized e-CNY...

SMEs are an integral part of the economy of today and tomorrow. Banks support your business at all stages of your journey. Intershores's mission Is to provide you with a better and banking experience aiming to provide you with the information you need to ensure that the process of setting up your company bank account goes as soon as possible. This message divided into 3 parts: 1. the usual process of account opening in Hong Kong. 2. the information banks usually need 3. FQA for startups Usual Process of Account Opening in Hong Kong. The process usually contains with 5 steps: 1. Book Your Appointment. You need to provide some basic company information in...

MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) has fined Citibank N.A., Citibank (Singapore), DBS Bank, OCBC Singapore and Swiss Life (Singapore) a combined SGD 3.8 million (US$2.8 million) for breaching its AML/CFT (anti money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism) requirements end June 2023. The fines were imposed after MAS’s examinations of the financial institutions showing that they had “inadequate AML/CFT controls in place when they dealt with persons who were involved in transactions with, or had links to, Wirecard AG or its related parties. The transactions were part of an elaborately orchestrated scheme involving a complex corporate structures, nominee...

Using AI (artificial intelligence), data analytics, biometrics, blockchain and cloud technologies from OneConnect Financial Technology to digitalize the KYC process, OCBC Singapore becomes the first Singapore bank to launch a fully digital account-opening service for customers who are relocated to the city-state to work, study and live. Individuals from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Malaysia and Indonesia are able to open SGD and multi-currency accounts on OCBC’s digital app now. Typically, customers who visit a physical branch would take days or weeks to open a bank account, and require two other key administrative arrangement to be in place – salary crediting and the...

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the shut down of Signature Bank, UBS’s takeover of Credit Suisse, unstable international relation or any further crisis to come & more….have you been frustrated by the fragile banking landscape and ever thought about an alternative safe harbour location that is less vulnerable to economic, liquidity and information shocks ? INTERSHORES is able to arrange a basic Non-Resident Account solution in China (an account to be opened under your Company name) or an enhanced FDI solution with atractive annual return as safe harbour alternatives to protect you/your family's assets. Please do not hesitate to contact us for captioned structure...