Financial Technology Weekly: Deutsche Bank consolidates core systems as TD and CMB scale AI while regulators flag cyber-resilience risks.

TAB China Weekly Brief: China tightens property financing with lead-bank oversight while expanding SME credit subsidies, private-fund disclosures, and cross-border e-CNY payment infrastructure this week.

Chairman Wang Dufu outlines ICBC-AXA Life ’s expansion strategy, financial performance and long-term ambition to scale assets and customer reach as China’s insurance market deepens.

ICBC (Asia)’s custody business expanded in 2025 as assets, transactions and cross-border activity increased. Its platform combines China market connectivity, global sub-custody reach, fund administration, automation and risk controls, positioning the bank as a Hong Kong-based provider of institutional asset servicing amid changing custody, digital asset infrastructure and market expectations.

As China’s capital markets open further and its asset management industry expands, institutional investors are demanding more from custodians. Once centred on safekeeping, cash clearing and trade settlement, custody now increasingly encompasses asset servicing, risk management, data services, cross-border support and digital operations.

Techcombank is upgrading a core platform that has fallen seven releases behind as it expands across banking, securities and insurance, but the larger transformation will come after migration as it decides what should remain in the core and what can move into more flexible data, pricing and customer services.

Temenos CEO Takis Spiliopoulos says banks are becoming more disciplined about the cost and returns from AI, while exploring whether the technology can reduce implementation and upgrade effort and change the economics that have made core modernisation slow, expensive and risky.

Financial Markets Weekly: Institutions globally advanced tokenisation and cross-border settlement infrastructure this week, as Broadridge scaled its $351 billion repo platform and China enforced variation-margin rules.

BPI president and CEO Jose Teodoro “TG” Limcaoco is seeking to reduce the bank’s historical dependence on institutional lending by growing consumer and SME businesses faster, while higher credit costs and a weaker economic environment are testing the economics of that shift.

Retail Finance Weekly: Banks and fintechs globally deepened embedded and digital-asset finance this week, as Affirm re-entered Australia and Better-Coinbase launched Bitcoin-backed mortgages.

TAB Africa Weekly Brief: African institutions diversified funding sources this week, with TDB, Rwanda and South Africa securing new facilities as SARB overhauled national payment system governance.

TAB Middle East Weekly Brief: CBUAE opens urgent Banque Misr examination, Saudi deposit growth outpaces credit and Qatar's economy contracts.

Risk and Capital Weekly: Swiss committee proposes UBS capital compromise, FDIC defeats SVB parent's claim, FSB flags frontier-AI cyber risk

Transaction Finance Weekly: UOB and HSBC complete tokenised deposit transactions, RBC unifies transaction banking and TD tests Agorá.

Wealth and Society tracks a week of consolidation in asset management and adviser infrastructure, as Victory Capital agrees a $7 billion deal for First Eagle Investments, Vanguard moves to acquire Altruist and SBI Holdings takes a stake in Jakarta's Ajaib Group.