Registering a company comes with a valid trade licence, named directors, and a stack of registration documents. From the company’s perspective, everything is in order to do business. Yet, for a bank or payment provider deciding whether to accept it as a customer, that paperwork is just the starting point. Who owns the company? Does someone else control its decisions? Does the business it conducts match the activities prescribed in its paperwork? These questions are at the crux of know-your-business, or KYB, the process of verifying a company and understanding the risks of doing business with it. Answering them becomes…

AI’s been reshaping financial services for several years now. But as its digital adoption accelerates, one factor determines whether AI extracts value or adds complexity: choosing the right partners for specialised applications. According to McKinsey, while AI tools are now widespread, most organisations have not embedded them deeply into their workflows, limiting their ability to generate impact at the enterprise level. The right AI fit has the capability to unlock something powerful, like transforming financial systems into agile, high-performance engines that respond as instantly as a digital-native platform. On the flip side, AI trained on flawed data and assumptions festers…

As the first major milestone of the global financial calendar, the 19th Asian Financial Forum AFF returns to Hong Kong on 26 and 27 January 2026, bringing together policymakers, investors, and business leaders at a moment of global economic recalibration. Co-organised by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), this year’s forum boasts a fresh yet apt tagline: “Finance Empowering Business.” The event is set to be a pragmatic response to a world in flux, centred on the theme “Co-creating New Horizons Amid an Evolving Landscape.” Across two days, the…