The WSJ reports that the hack actually occurred in March instead of May; the breach wasn’t discovered until July 29th and it was announced to the public on September 7th. Source
The European Central Bank (ECB) is considering additional capital buffers to banks looking to incorporate fintech; the regulator says adding fintech to the bank will increase the potential for a volatile client base and the untested products will need a lot of capital; this is part of the recent draft licensing guidelines released by the ECB. Source.
UK digital Bank Starling Bank is seeking to raise $54mn in a new funding round for international expansion; the capital will help the bank to move into other European markets and continue development of the technology; the bank recently acquired a passport via Ireland to allow them to access the European markets since Brexit is on the horizon. Source.
Chinese regulators have been cracking down on bitcoin recently but traders have found a workaround; traders can use the messaging app WeChat to buy and sell coins; users are not sure how long this will last as the government is keen to shut down as much as they can; traders do believe they can stay ahead of the government by moving from app to app. Source.
The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance has released its second report on the Asia Pacific region. Alternative finance volume totaled $245.28 billion in 2016, up from $103.31 billion in 2015; China continues to be a main driver for growth but other geographies continue to grow albeit off of smaller bases; further details about the region are outlined in the report. Source
The Reserve Bank of India will begin regulating p2p lending firms; the government of India released a notification on Wednesday; the platforms will be treated as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs); article shares the suggested regulatory framework from a paper released in 2016. Source
CrossLend shares the history of the company and how they shifted their business in November 2016; discusses seven reasons to invest in CrossLend’s single-loan-backed notes. Source
The complaint was filed on Thursday with the story echoing similar stories that have been published in the last few weeks; the lawsuit is one of at least three filed against the company. Source
ZhongAn Insurance, China’s first internet-only insurer, raised $1.5 billion in its IPO; ZhongAn priced its 199.3 million new shares at HK$59.70 ($7.65) each, the top of a HK$53.70-HK$59.70 range; the IPO is the world’s first “insurtech” public offering. Source