BOJ ready to join fintech revolution

TOKYO • Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank may apply financial technology, or "fintech", to its operations in the future, given its growing influence on global payments, settlements and financial services.

The BOJ is ready to lead research and analysis to promote fintech in Japan, given it has "various implications" for central banking, Mr Kuroda told a seminar hosted by the bank on fintech yesterday.

Fintech involves newly enabled technologies that companies make or use to make financial services more efficient. A laggard in embracing the fintech revolution, Japan is moving to ease investment restrictions that could free up the flow of capital in an economy sitting on an estimated US$9 trillion (S$12 trillion) in individuals' cash deposits.

REUTERS

Waldorf's China parent plans HK IPO

BEIJING • Anbang Insurance Group, the Chinese owner of New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel, has asked banks to pitch for a role in a planned Hong Kong initial public offering next year, sources said.

The Beijing-based insurance giant asked investment banks to submit proposals by the end of this week. The listing may include Anbang's domestic life-insurance operations as well as many of its overseas businesses, the sources added.

Anbang is considering first raising funds through a pre-IPO private placement in the coming months, according to a source. The proposed listing would be an important step forward for Anbang's transparency, shedding some light on its ownership structure while also providing an offshore war chest to fund further expansion.

BLOOMBERG