China-ASEAN trade and direct investment have surged, but portfolio flows still depend on deeper, more liquid domestic markets.

As sustainability requirements move down supply chains, DBS is helping smaller suppliers define their investment needs and examining how larger corporate buyers may affect access to capital.

The Asian Banker Weekly Brief: The Federal Reserve resumed rate increases and the Bank of Japan tightened further, while authorities confronted AI, data-security and investment-fund risks.

Sustainable Finance Weekly: EU lawmakers back wider CBAM, China and Singapore deepen green finance cooperation, PBOC expands carbon financing and China’s green hydrogen capacity tops 1.4 million tonnes.

Financial Technology Weekly: Sony Bank and Fujitsu apply GenAI to core banking, FIS wins mandates across new US banks, Partior and LSEG develop 24/7 cross-border settlement liquidity.

Key emerging trends from this year's awards show the industry's centre of gravity shifting to the foundations — data, architecture, resilience and rails — that will decide which banks can move fastest.

Alex Bank is expanding beyond higher-margin personal and vehicle lending into transaction banking, small business lending and mortgages, testing whether lower-cost deposits, faster decisioning and partner distribution can turn individual product relationships into a broader and sustainable banking franchise.

Financial Markets Weekly: US Senate blocks Clarity Act, Circle launches Arc blockchain, Shanghai Clearing House adds three currencies, India widens tokenised-bond pilot.

TAB China Weekly Brief: PBOC flags slower loan growth, Hong Kong releases five-year plan, HKMA raises base rate, ABC completes renminbi transaction.

TAB Africa Weekly Brief: BCEAO kept monetary conditions unchanged, Ghana tightened credit and FX oversight, Morocco opened a new regional funding channel and PAPSS expanded its cross-border payments network.

Retail Finance Weekly: Grab expands into digital lending with Atome Financial deal, Revolut gains Colombia banking licence, Bank of Baroda pushes AI into banking operations.

Most large banks have adopted AI, but few have rebuilt around it. Governance, architecture and strategic priorities will determine who scales AI successfully.

TAB Middle East Weekly Brief: GCC bank assets top $4 trillion, Türkiye holds rates at 37%, US sanctions VTB Bank and ADGM assets under management rise 54%.

Transaction Finance Weekly: DBS, OCBC and UOB complete Swift's first live SGD tokenised-deposit settlement, Lloyds-SocGen digitise a letter of credit and US Bank pilots USBDC stablecoin.

AI is changing banking faster than any technology since the internet. As systems become more autonomous, institutions must keep them secure, explainable and trustworthy. Digital trust is emerging as the operating discipline that enables banks to scale AI safely.