Patrick Tibke

#analysis The government has said, "Personal and demographic data will be protected through enhanced security measures, including a PAN Data Vault." But are these measures enough to protect the system from Fraud? As per Wriju Ray the problem of fraud needs to be solved by going to the grassroot level i.e. original source. "Solving fraud requires that we cleanse the way we issue PAN and the way we link it to Aadhaar. So in that regard it’s a step in the right direction. But there are still fundamental problems that are beyond the purview of PAN. For instance a citizen may have actually provided fake documents to Aadhaar during registration or may have submitted false documents to get their telephone SIM card. Furthermore even if the PAN data is pure, the website / app / company may not be verifying it at all or may not be checking if the user is submitting someone else’s PAN."" There exists a system level problem in the way institutions conduct KYC. What if your Aadhaar is linked to someone else's PAN? This is because banks only check name and photo ID, they don't investigate whether the Aadhaar and PAN belongs to the same person. "It is a serious problem because by linking my Aadhaar to someone else’s PAN I can become that person. Things become really hard to differentiate because there are thousands of Ram Sharma’s or Vijay Kumar’s out there so we really can’t just use names to differentiate them. Enhancing this process of linkage is therefore about ensuring that the person is providing ‘live’ selfies and is able to substantiate his/her identity through other data points before the linkage. This is not a very easy task so I welcome any technical enhancements that are made in this regard." Rohinton Sidhwa, Partner, Deloitte India says: ​"The income tax act prohibits the possession of duplicate PANs whether acquired on purpose or by accident. Please immediately surrender the additional PAN as a penalty of upto Rs 10,000 can be imposed. ⁠The tax department has previously mandated the linking of Aadhar data to individual tax payer ids. Such features along with eKYC will perhaps help prevent duplicate and their detection." IDfy

7

Geopolitics: ‘SL has imprudent foreign policy, imbalanced support to China’ As a country, Sri Lanka has always had a non-aligned foreign policy. However, navigating the geo-political interests of key players such as China and India while maintaining a balanced approach is a concern for the country at present.  If elected, an imbalanced foreign policy with excessive support to one geopolitical player will be avoided, claimed National Democratic Front (NDF) Presidential candidate, President’s Counsel, former Justice and Constitutional Reforms Minister and incumbent Government Parliamentarian Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe. Speaking to The Daily Morning, he said that one of the crucial changes that Sri Lanka needs is avoiding what he calls an imbalanced pro-China policy, and maintaining relations between the other players. Following are excerpts of the interview: Read more: https://lnkd.in/gcdghrvQ

2

Less than a week from the US election, I had a look at what a Trump victory would mean for Asian trading partners. It isn't great. If Trump's idea for a universal 10-20% tariff actually happens, it would depress US-Asia trade, invite trade retaliation, and force American military partners (eg Japan and Australia) to choose between security and economics. Short of that, even new, harsher US trade restrictions on China would hurt the rest of Asia. China still exports ~$500bn/yr to America, and Southeast Asia is part of China's supply chain — meaning that US tariffs on China would hurt demand in SEA. They would also redirect cheap Chinese exports to the rest of Asia, worsening China-Asia trade conflicts. Already, Indonesia and Malaysia are cracking down on cheap Chinese goods sold on online outlets like Temu. Trump could also intensify Joe Biden's crackdown on third countries re-rerouting Chinese goods to the US. Biden's measures against Chinese firms selling solar panels through, eg, Cambodia and Vietnam were based on careful investigations. Trump would probably be more indiscriminate. More from this week's The Economist: https://lnkd.in/e4mBBkGq

52

Singapore is rolling out measures across industries to stem #moneylaundering activities, with new laws coming into place to tighten regulation. New rules for corporate service providers could raise the bar for the the industry as a whole, but may lead to smaller players - some as tiny as one-person firms - being priced out, says industry observers. #aml #csp As some firms move out of the corporate secretarial business, there will be more opportunities for providers intending to stay in the field. “With the implementation of the new rules, there is an opportunity for everyone in the industry to improve (their) standards,” noted Lancaster Lee 【李宣翰】, managing director of One Tax CM. Many thanks to Lancaster, Justin Lim (ACIS) (Forvis Mazars in Singapore), Jason Tan (KPMG Singapore), Chenthil Kumarasingam (Withersworldwide), Suressh S (Harry Elias Partnership LLP), Raymond Lam (Drew & Napier LLC), Josephine Chee (Rajah & Tann Asia), Lydia Low (Deloitte) and Ramesh Moosa (EY) for weighing in.

34

4 Comments

Simon Evenett is always a thoughtful interpreter of global #trade data and narratives. Monthly figures always need to be taken with a bit of caution, especially when you have the current #USA #China dynamic to consider. Even before Donald Trump won the election some companies would have thought it sensible to increase exports in anticipation of higher #tariffs. That can cause temporary increases in export volumes, and often happens when new tariffs are expected. Surely, whether China's exports are 'flooding' world markets depends on the starting point. It's long been considered to be the case by many when it comes to steel and aluminium for example, so even if they fell that could still be the case.

3

📈 China’s Debt Debate: A New Chapter? 📈 This week, all eyes are on Beijing as China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee meets to review a proposal that could raise the local government debt limit. This potential shift, led by Committee Chair Zhao Leji, reflects China’s response to mounting financial strain on local authorities and slowing economic growth. Why now? China’s local governments, traditionally responsible for funding public services, have faced growing financial challenges as revenues from land sales—a key income stream—have plummeted. The country’s outstanding “hidden debt”—informal obligations outside official reporting—ranges from 50 to 60 trillion yuan ($7-8.5 trillion), according to Nomura's Chief China Economist, Ting Lu. This concealed debt poses significant risks to China’s broader fiscal health. What’s at stake? If approved, this move would allow local governments to replace some of this hidden debt with new, transparent debt allocations. Ting Lu estimates that over the next few years, China may approve up to 10 trillion yuan in new debt quotas. He notes, however, that this could increase to 15 trillion yuan if China’s economy faces greater challenges ahead. With Finance Minister Lan Fo’an advocating for the change and broader fiscal support likely to come, China seems prepared to tackle its “hidden debt” head-on. If successful, this approach could provide much-needed transparency and fiscal stability—but also comes with new financial risks for one of the world’s largest economies. #ChinaEconomy #DebtLimit #PublicFinance #EconomicPolicy #GlobalFinance #FiscalPolicy #ChinaParliament #HiddenDebt

3

Who will run Asia’s internet? In the middle of a massive digital infrastructure build-out, China and America are competing for profits and geopolitical influence. I travelled to Johor, Malaysia — the heart of Asia's data-center boom — to see this front in the US-China tech war. A few American allies, notably India and Australia, have cracked down on Chinese-built internet infrastructure. But in countries like Malaysia, picking sides seems unworkable. America brings cutting-edge tech; China brings money. US concerns about Chinese espionage through its infra also strike some Asian leaders as unconvincing, coming from the world's spying superpower. My latest in The Economist: https://lnkd.in/eK_rjkZz

50

The last day of the #HKFinTechWeek2024. As you may remember, 香港金融管理局 has been researching DeFi, STO & RWA during these few years, and even unveiled #ProjectEnsemble to support the development of the tokenisation market. #AntDigitalTechnologies from Ant Group is one of the most active player among the industries, make use of their #AntChain and the sandbox model, to develop their own #RealWorldAsset #RWA tokenisation, helping startups from mainland China for fund raising. BIZ勝派丨未來3年投入10億人民幣 推動大灣區金融科技發展 螞蟻數字科技：「兩鏈一橋」平台 助內地RWA融資 https://lnkd.in/g6xdW-kH

13

Another case of money laundering in Singapore, this time involving Russians buying gold. The US$65 million (S$88 million) worth of bullion was part of a conspiracy to fund the Russian military’s invasion of Ukraine. They bought gold through the dealer Singapore Precious Metals Exchange (SGPMX), which stores the bullion at Le Freeport in Changi and allows one to physically check on their gold there should they wish. A series of different money laundering cases in Singapore have been making headlines recently. Questions have been fairly posed about the state’s reputation as a financial hub and the measures taken to deal with bad actors. The government has responded saying the authorities have been actively clamping down, and that it is inevitable criminals are drawn to Singapore to wash illicit funds. I’m paraphrasing here, but the explanation is that unless you close up shop and stop doing business entirely, you must expect there will be bad people stopping by. Which makes sense. To remain competitive, Singapore as a financial hub offers growing spaces for novel financial services like SGPMX, crypto houses and the like. And with new opportunities, there will come new threats. So it’s not too surprising that with more services we are seeing more cases of financial crime. But on the law enforcement front, there are significant challenges. As a small country, we have only so many people on the police payroll investigating financial crime. It’s a task that requires specific skill sets that take time and training to develop. On top of that, they have to keep abreast of the latest fintech services, sometimes unlearning and relearning what they know to tackle crimes that take advantage of the novel services offered here. It is no secret that law enforcement has a manpower problem, and all the more so when it comes to skilled manpower. How will Singapore tackle this? We’ll have to see, especially with the upcoming annual workplan seminars by the different Home Team departments which are meant to showcase their latest innovations. It still remains to be seen if the authorities can keep up with criminals who are now empowered by AI, backed by entire nations and who are themselves extremely well informed on current affairs and the latest technologies. But I’m cautiously optimistic, because necessity is the mother of invention and it’s clearly necessary for Singapore to deal with this if it wants to retain its competitive edge. https://lnkd.in/g6dEUpw9

24

1 Comment

Supply ruptures from Southeast Asia to Africa. The rise of artificial intelligence. A “big bull” with a dominant position. This potent cocktail has put an often-overlooked metal, tin, at risk of a short squeeze after a price spike this month. Tin on the London Metal Exchange has surged in April, and its 25% advance in 2024 puts it well ahead of more closely-watched commodities like copper or crude oil. A swathe of different factors lies behind the metal’s rapid ascent. Disruptions have hit tin supply in major producers Indonesia, Mynamar and Democratic Republic of Congo, while analysts say demand from electronics will expand as the world’s AI boom demands more computing power. But market chatter in recent weeks has focused on the role of a single, bullish trader that’s tightening its grip on LME tin. That entity is holding at least 40% of long positions on tin for May delivery, according to regular exchange data that doesn’t identify holders. That level of concentration hasn’t been seen since 2017, and equates to at least 90% of the volume now held in LME warehouses. Holders of short positions could find themselves in a tight spot as the May contract approaches expiry. Alfred Cang Mark Burton #LME #tin #metals #commoditytrading https://lnkd.in/eCdy_Afm

58

New plans...

2

Singapore is proposing laws empowering authorities to order restrictions on bank transfers - this covers a wide scope of bank transactions, including PayNow, credit, and over-the-counter services. These orders can only be made if the individual is deemed to be a target of scams - and is refusing to listen to reason about the fact. A bill on this was introduced in Parliament today. Curious to find out how it will be received when it's debated at the (expected) next sitting.

21

📉 A Year of Challenges and Resilience for SEA Fintech #southeastasia’s #fintech sector witnessed a significant funding drop in 2024, falling to US$1.6 billion. That’s a 23% decrease from 2023 and a staggering 75% decline from 2022’s peak. Late-stage funding bore the brunt of this downturn (-31%), highlighting the challenges posed by macroeconomic headwinds, rising interest rates, and geopolitical tensions. However, not all was bleak. Certain segments flourished: 🔹 Payments funding surged by 53%, raising US$366 million. 🔹 Cryptocurrency funding rose by 20% to US$325 million. 🔹 Banking tech saw an impressive 63% increase, securing US$265 million. Singapore led the funding activity with US$955M, while Jakarta and Bangkok followed suit. Despite the decline, the long-term outlook remains optimistic. A young, tech-savvy population, government initiatives, and increasing demand for financial inclusion are expected to fuel the sector's future growth. What does this mean for investors and startups? Let’s discuss. 👇 https://loom.ly/MZiPOUE Tracxn #Fintech #SoutheastAsia #StartupEcosystem #FundingInsights #e27News

2

The first Trump presidency ushered in a tit-for-tat trade war between Washington and Beijing that led to tariffs from 7.5% to 25% on around $350 billion worth of goods shipped from China. The effects have been mixed. Bilateral trade ties between the U.S. and China have weakened, with the Chinese share of American imports dropping from 22% in 2017 to 14% in 2023. The U.S. goods trade deficit with China also fell last year to the lowest level in over a decade. The higher tariffs have also spurred more Chinese factories to accelerate a rerouting of supply chains to third countries such as Vietnam and Mexico, suggesting that the U.S. remains heavily reliant on China's manufacturing power. But multinationals continue to reduce their dependence on Chinese supply chains out of concern over geopolitical tensions. Many exporters Nikkei Asia spoke to are nervious. Katherine Yan, a manager at Changshu Maydiang Leather Goods -- which supplies nearly half the handbags it produces to prominent American brands including Alexander Wang and Phillip Lim -- was not particularly surprised by Trump's win in the U.S. presidential election. She was resigned to having few options to cushion her business from the impact. "We are stuck in a really passive situation and there is no way we can respond quickly enough [to higher tariffs]," she said. Read more: #Chinaeconomy #Trump #tradewar #tariff #USChinatrade #export

11

As much as China is opening its arms to foreigner businesses once again, calls have fallen on death ears. Until the government can create a sense of certainty and bring confidence back to the market, it is unlikely we will see any meaningful return in the near term. Had an interesting chat with the American and European chamber officials in Shanghai recently. As much as businesses want to be in China, a few factors will need to come into play first. #china #business #US #geopolitics #european

8

A very interesting line: “Unification will not fall from the sky automatically. In world history, unifications have always been achieved with a carrot and stick, and the carrot must be sweet.”

4