Lee Zhu Kuang, managing director and group head of UOB’s Innovation Group, outlines how the bank is preparing for tokenised assets and emerging digital money models as regional initiatives progress toward more structured forms of implementation.

MetaComp’s co-president Tin Pei Ling explains how its StableX Network addresses the structural inefficiencies and trust deficits in cross-border settlement, advancing institutional-grade infrastructure aligned with the Singapore Fintech Festival 2025 agenda on the new payments and settlement layer.

Kirit Bhatia, chief digital assets officer at Banking Circle, explained how the bank combined traditional banking infrastructure with tokenised assets to strengthen cross-border payment capabilities for institutional clients.

Isadora Arredondo, global policy director at Hedera, outlined how the network’s technical design, governance structure and regulatory engagements aim to meet institutional expectations as digital asset models progress through pilots and early-stage adoption.

First Bank of Nigeria, Bank of Punjab, Stanbic IBTC, Absa, Al Rajhi Bank and BDO Unibank were recognised at The TAB Global Finance Awards 2025 for excellence in retail banking, SME finance, cash management, trade finance and corporate banking.

Vincent Loy, assistant managing director (technology) and chief technology officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, outlines how the regulator is tightening operational resilience standards, elevating AI governance expectations and accelerating quantum-safe readiness amid evolving risks.

At The TAB Global Finance Awards 2025, Bank of China (Hong Kong), Hatton National Bank, Metrobank and TPBank were recognised for outperforming peers in financial strength, operational resilience and sustainable growth across Asia’s key banking markets.

At Hong Kong FinTech Week 2025, CEO Tim Shen highlighted LianLian Global’s global expansion, its use of AI in payments innovation and its approach to supporting Chinese enterprises in new markets.

At the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025, Liu Tianwei, co-founder and CEO of StraitsX, demonstrates how regulated digital money infrastructure is taking shape across Asia, enabling stablecoins to connect blockchain innovation with compliant, real-world payments.

In conversation at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025, Mai Kaneko, international business lead at DeCurret DCP, outlines how DCJPY is shaping Japan’s regulated ecosystem for tokenised deposits, stablecoins and potential future CBDCs across domestic and cross-border financial activity.

In conversation at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025, Rich Clow, head of innovation and strategy for Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America, explains how the bank is modernising its payments architecture to deliver scalable, interoperable and simplified services in a rapidly evolving global financial system.

As AI moves into the financial core, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is strengthening expectations around governance, testing and accountability. At the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025, Jessica Rusu, chief data, information & intelligence officer at FCA, outlines how the regulator is applying a supervisory lens to production-scale models—and why cross-border alignment matters as adoption accelerates.

At the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025, Sandeep Malhotra, executive vice president of core payments for Asia Pacific at Mastercard, outlines how the firm is reshaping regional payments infrastructure through tokenisation, interoperability and AI‑ready systems amid accelerating digital transformation.

With digital assets moving into real-world use, HSBC is taking a central role. John O’Neill, group head of digital assets and currencies, outlines how tokenised deposits, CBDCs and real-world assets are shaping the next phase of finance.

As ASEAN’s financial systems become increasingly interconnected, UOB’s group CISO Tobias Gondrom explains how the bank is strengthening ecosystem-wide cyber defences, deploying AI for early threat detection and preparing for a transition to quantum-safe security.