Asia Newsletter | October 2024

NEWSLETTER: Market integrity seems to be a recurring theme from the regulators lately, featuring across multiple fronts.

The recent SFC circular shares a laundry list of shortcomings including conflicts of interest, risk management procedures, investor information, and valuation methodologies. And alongside increased AML scrutiny in the wake of the Binance failures or the HK$23m penalty in the insurance sector, spending some quality time testing your governance arrangements, internal controls, and culture can pay dividends.

In Singapore, while the Business Continuity Management audit requirement is firmly in the rear-view mirror – it’s what you do with the findings that matters most. We share some of our key observations and areas of risk identified from recent work supporting clients.

In the virtual assets space, the MAS has introduced new rules limiting the value of digital payment tokens that can be included when classifying an individual as an ‘accredited investor’. While there’s still a little time given to reassess existing accredited investors, there’s work to do to assess processes and re-run calculations.

Finally, it was wonderful to visit our colleagues and clients in Hong Kong and Singapore last week. As our clients look to the future, so do we – let us know if you need any help, or even just a point in the right direction.

 

Rebecca Thorpe, Global Head of Regulatory Consulting and Aron Brown, Global Head of Regulatory & Compliance