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China regulatory chief’s appointment indicates tightening, reforms on cards

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China regulatory chief’s appointment indicates tightening, reforms on cards

The Chinese securities watchdog’s new head, “Broker butcher” Wu Qing, has lost no time in tackling the turmoil that has rocked the country’s stock markets, after it hit five-year lows this month, unveiling a slew of proposals aimed at reviving market confidence.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said late on Monday that its newly-appointed chairman Wu Qing led a host of meetings immediately after the Lunar New Year holiday to discuss topics around regulating and preventing risks in the country’s capital markets, as well as promoting their “high-quality growth”.

Wu Qing, a veteran official with experiences across regulators and exchanges, earned his moniker after he cracked down on brokers for regulation breaches during his time as director of risk management office at CSRC in 2005-2009.

He then handled asset management companies’ illegal trading cases as director of the fund department. His background contrasts with that of previous CSRC chairmen who were mostly SOE banking veterans.

A view of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) office building located at Beijing’s Financial Street in downtown Beijing, China, on Wed. Dec. 18, 2019. Photo: Simon Song

The post-holiday meeting was attended by a wide range of participants including academics, officials from listed companies, privately-owned companies that are preparing to go public, brokerage firms, private equity firms, financial and legal advisory firms and foreign-owned companies.

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The meeting proposed tightening the vetting process for IPOs, greater regulatory scrutiny of listed companies, and stricter weeding out of unqualified candidates. This will help to “fundamentally improve” the quality of public companies and generate better investment returns, a post-meeting statement said. The healthy development of China’s capital markets is of crucial importance to investors, it said, reflecting the issue of investor confidence.

China IPO volume dives after regulator engineers offering drought to boost markets

The watchdog also vowed to standardise transactions in various asset classes, in a bid to improve the fairness of the trading system. It also proposed to develop the country’s investment institutions and inject more medium and long-term capital into the stock markets.

“The capital market has wide implications, and the more complex and severe the situation is, the more open we should heed advice and pool wisdom,” the CSRC said in the statement.

“The CSRC will treat all feedback, suggestions and criticism with seriousness, and make sure to execute anything that has proven to be feasible. For those that cannot be executed right away, we will make sure to communicate and respond to the market concerns in time. We will join forces to foster the healthy development of the capital markets.”

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Wu, a banking and regulatory veteran with a PhD in economics, was appointed the chairman and party chief of the CSRC on February 7, replacing Yi Huiman after he failed to end a rout in the country’s US$8 trillion stock market. The carnage saw around US$5 trillion in market value being wiped off from its peak in 2021, with piecemeal support measures providing little relief.

Before his elevation as CSRC head, Wu ran the Shanghai Stock Exchange and served as the deputy party chief of the financial centre of Shanghai. His earlier stint at CSRC saw him take charge of fund and institutional supervision, as well as risk disposal for securities companies.

“Wu is likely to continue to enhance regulatory tightening in capital markets and the securities industry, considering his experience as well as the key tone of the Central Financial Conference in November 2023,” said Jefferies analysts in a note.

Wu has already indicated he means business. Two days after his appointment, the CSRC imposed a 4 million yuan (US$555,748) fine on S2C Ltd, a Shanghai-based semiconductor company, for inflating its earnings in its listing application. On the same day, the securities watchdog also fined employees at China Merchant Securities a total of 81.2 million yuan for illegal stock trading.

“We think this new appointment suggests China intends to strengthen supervision and crackdown on illegal activities in the capital markets,” said Everbright Securities in a note. “This aligns with CSRC’s 2024 work conference, which prioritised investor-oriented principles and risk prevention. Moreover, we expect Wu to be tasked with further financial reforms and opening up in Shanghai as well as financial support for sci-tech innovation, where the Star Market will continue to be the place for pilot measures.”

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Savings interest rates today, December 28, 2024 (best account provides 4.30% APY)

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Savings interest rates today, December 28, 2024 (best account provides 4.30% APY)

The Federal Reserve cut its target rate three times in late 2024, which means savings interest rates are falling. So it’s important to be sure you’re getting the best rate possible when shopping around for a savings account. The following is a breakdown of savings interest rates today and where to find the best offers.

The national average savings account rate stands at 0.42%, according to the FDIC. This might not seem like much, but consider that three years ago, it was just 0.06%.

Although the national average savings interest rate is fairly low compared to other types of accounts (such as CDs) and investments, the best savings rates on the market today are much higher. In fact, some of the top accounts are currently offering 4% APY and higher.

Today, the highest savings account rate available from our partners today is 4.30% APY. This rate is offered by BMO Alto and there is no minimum opening deposit required.

Here is a look at some of the best savings rates available today from our verified partners:

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Related: 10 best high-yield savings accounts today>>

The amount of interest you can earn from a savings account depends on the annual percentage rate (APY). This is a measure of your total earnings after one year when considering the base interest rate and how often interest compounds (savings account interest typically compounds daily).

Say you put $1,000 in a savings account at the average interest rate of 0.42% with daily compounding. At the end of one year, your balance would grow to $1,004.21 — your initial $1,000 deposit, plus just $4.21 in interest.

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Now let’s say you choose a high-yield savings account that offers 4% APY instead. In this case, your balance would grow to $1,040.81 over the same period, which includes $40.81 in interest.

The more you deposit in a savings account, the more you stand to earn. If we took our same example of a high-yield savings account at 4% APY, but deposit $10,000, your total balance after one year would be $10,408.08, meaning you’d earn $408.08 in interest. ​​

Read more: What is a good savings account rate?

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Canadian foreign, finance ministers meet Trump's team on tariffs

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Canadian foreign, finance ministers meet Trump's team on tariffs

Senior members of Canada’s cabinet held talks Friday with US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees to lead the departments of commerce and the interior, as Ottawa works to hold off the threat of punishing tariffs.

Canada’s newly-appointed Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly met with Howard Lutnick, Trump’s commerce secretary nominee, who will also lead the country’s tariff and trade agenda.

Interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum was also at the meeting held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Leblanc’s spokesman Jean-Sebastien Comeau, who confirmed the participants, described the talks as “positive and productive.”

Trump has vowed to impose crippling 25-percent tariffs on all Canadian imports when he takes office next month.

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He has said they will remain in place until Canada addresses the flow of undocumented migrants and the drug fentanyl into the United States.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised retaliatory measures should Trump follow through on his pledge, raising fears of a trade war.

Leblanc and Joly “outlined the measures in Canada’s Border Plan and reiterated the shared commitment to strengthen border security as well as combat the harm caused by fentanyl to save Canadian and American lives,” Comeau said in a statement.

Canada’s Border Plan — estimated to cost CAN$1 billion ($694 million) — was crafted as part of Ottawa’s response to Trump’s concerns.

Lutnick and Burgum “agreed to relay information to President Trump,” the statement said.

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Trudeau is facing his worst political crisis since sweeping into office in 2015.

Leblanc was named finance minister earlier this month after the surprise resignation of Chrystia Freeland.

In a scathing resignation letter, Freeland accused Trudeau of prioritizing handouts to voters instead of preparing Canada’s finances for a possible trade war.

More than 75 percent of Canadian exports go to the United States and nearly two million Canadian jobs depend on trade.

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The Future of Decentralized and Traditional Finance Integration

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The Future of Decentralized and Traditional Finance Integration


The future of finance, especially global finance, is not on the horizon — it’s happening now. Countries and Institutions that embrace interoperability, real-time compliance, and quantum-resilient security are positioning themselves as leaders of this transformation.

The financial system is in the midst of a monumental shift. Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are gaining momentum as governments and regulators aim to modernize monetary systems, while Decentralized Finance (DeFi) continues to challenge conventional financial services with speed, transparency, and decentralization. However, despite their potential, these two forces — along with traditional financial systems — remain disjointed. This fragmentation results in inefficiencies, rising costs, and settlement delays, hindering global financial connectivity. Bridging these worlds is no longer optional — it’s essential to create a faster, more secure, and more inclusive financial future.

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The Problems Holding Finance Back

For decades, the global financial system has relied on legacy infrastructure and fragmented regulatory and banking industry frameworks. While it has supported cross-border payments and international trade, it has done so at an exorbitant cost in terms of both time and money. The involvement of global politics has added an additional level as well to an already complex system. The emergence of blockchain-based DeFi platforms introduced new possibilities but failed to solve the underlying issues of scalability and compliance. Meanwhile, CBDCs add a new layer of complexity as central banks look to maintain control while modernizing payments.

The key obstacles are clear:

These challenges are not theoretical. They’re real-world problems faced by financial institutions, payment providers, and central banks trying to create more efficient, resilient systems.

See also: Transforming the Financial Sector: The Impact of Automation in Banking

Interoperability: The Bedrock of the Next Financial System

True interoperability is not a feature — it’s a requirement. For traditional finance, DeFi, and CBDCs to coexist, they must be able to communicate and transfer value across one another. Without this capability, cross-border payments will remain slow, and multi-system operations will continue to require expensive manual reconciliation. Interoperability enables payments to flow seamlessly between bank networks, DeFi protocols, and CBDC platforms, cutting out intermediaries and automating settlement.

What true interoperability requires:

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  • Multi-Ledger Transaction Support: Payments must move across different financial ledgers — from commercial banks to DeFi protocols to central bank digital currency networks — without reconciliation bottlenecks.
  • Real-Time, Multi-Currency Settlement: Payments involving fiat, cryptocurrencies, and CBDCs must be processed and settled in real time, enabling frictionless commerce at scale.
  • The governance, regulatory, privacy, and Nation-State requirements need to be automated in the new Platform.
  • Universal Payment Flows: Payment solutions must enable a single payment to cross multiple networks — legacy, private, blockchain, and government-issued systems — without requiring separate processing channels.

The results are undeniable: greater efficiency, lower settlement costs, and a path to instant cross-border payments. This shift eliminates the need for batch processing and multi-step settlement chains, replacing them with real-time payment routing and automated multi-ledger transfers.

Compliance Can’t Be Bolted On – It Must Be Embedded

Cross-border payments are subject to varying regulatory requirements, which are enforced by regional authorities. Ensuring compliance with KYC, AML, and sanctions screening has traditionally been a manual, labor-intensive process, leading to costly delays. But the future of compliance is no longer manual — it’s embedded. By embedding compliance checks directly into payment flows, financial institutions can meet regulatory requirements in real time, reducing risk, eliminating delays, and supporting faster payments.

Key elements of embedded compliance:

  • On-Demand KYC/AML Screening: Compliance screening occurs automatically, with KYC/AML checks happening as the payment is processed, not after.
  • Dynamic Rule Adjustment: When payments cross borders, the system recognizes which jurisdictions are involved and applies the proper compliance rules in real time.
  • Automated Risk Scoring: Transactions are evaluated for risk on the fly, with high-risk payments flagged for review while low-risk payments flow uninterrupted.
  • Immutable Audit Trails: Every payment is accompanied by an immutable, tamper-proof record that supports regulatory audits and provides transparency.

By automating and embedding compliance into the payment process itself, financial institutions lower operational costs, reduce exposure to regulatory risk, and accelerate payment settlement. This approach moves compliance from being a roadblock to being an enabler.

Securing Payments for the Quantum Era

As quantum computing advances, the cryptographic protections that underpin today’s financial system are at risk. Many existing encryption methods, like RSA and ECC, could be cracked by a quantum computer. While quantum computing may seem distant, its implications for financial security are real. The financial sector must act now to prepare for a post-quantum world.

Key security measures to counter quantum threats:

The transition to quantum-resistant encryption isn’t speculative. Financial leaders know that, when quantum computing matures, it will disrupt financial security as we know it. Early adoption of quantum-safe protocols future-proofs payment infrastructure, ensuring financial stability in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.

Distributed Edge Processing: Faster Payments with Local Control

For decades, payment processing has relied on centralized data centers that route transactions through a central hub. While effective, this model introduces latency, network congestion, and single points of failure. The future of payment processing is at the edge.

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Edge processing pushes payment activity to the “edge” of the network — closer to where the payment originates — reducing travel time and allowing payments to be processed locally. Instead of relying on a central server, mini-processing nodes handle payments on-site, enabling near-instant settlements.

How edge processing changes the game:

This shift in processing models enables faster cross-border payments and lays the groundwork for true real-time settlement. Localized processing nodes create resilience, reduce downtime, and remove bottlenecks in global payment flows.

Sustainability and Financial Inclusion as Critical Imperatives

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors are playing a larger role in financial infrastructure design. From environmental sustainability to financial inclusion, future-ready payment infrastructure must meet new societal expectations. This shift is not just ethical; it’s strategic. Institutions are under pressure from regulators, investors, and customers to create more equitable, transparent, and sustainable financial systems.

ESG-driven imperatives shaping financial infrastructure:

  • Environmental Impact: Centralized data centers consume enormous amounts of energy. By adopting distributed processing, institutions reduce energy use and carbon emissions.
  • Financial Inclusion: Millions of people remain unbanked. Financial inclusion solutions enable low-cost cross-border payments, giving underserved communities access to global finance.
  • Transparency and Accountability: Blockchain-based payment records create immutable, tamper-proof audit trails, ensuring visibility into every transaction.

The Call to Lead the Financial Future

The future of finance, especially global finance, is not on the horizon — it’s happening now. Countries and Institutions that embrace interoperability, real-time compliance, and quantum-resilient security are positioning themselves as leaders of this transformation. Delays are no longer an option. The financial world will reward those who act with speed, precision, and foresight. The question is not if change will come — it’s whether you’ll be ready to lead it.

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