TREE NEWS update: Beijing released its “Implementation Plan for Comprehensively Improving the Financial Business Environment” at the 2026 Financial Street Forum annual meeting, the Beijing Municipal Financial Office said. The plan aims to build a market-oriented, law-based, convenient and internationalized first-class financial business environment, tailored to the capital’s industrial direction and market entities’ needs, to support high-quality development.
TREE NEWS update: Hangzhou police in Gongshu district have opened a criminal investigation into Zhejiang PanShi Information Technology and its affiliates on suspicion of contract fraud, and have taken criminal coercive measures against founder Tian Ning, 49, and other personnel, the district public security bureau said on October 22. Authorities said they are pursuing case investigation and asset recovery. The company’s headquarters has been emptied.
TREE NEWS update: China’s National Radio and Television Administration has issued its 15th Five-Year Plan for radio, television and online audiovisual services. The plan sets a target of major breakthroughs in reform and innovation by 2030, with broadcasters fully moving into the internet mainstream and a new coordinated development pattern taking shape. By 2035, it aims for decisive progress in digital-intelligent transformation and high-quality development to support building a strong cultural nation.
TREE NEWS reports: Mastercard Crypto Credential, KYC checks, Travel Rule transfer-party data and blockchain risk screening each serve distinct purposes in crypto compliance, and providers remain responsible for deciding whether a payment can proceed. Identity verification, transfer-party information and blockchain risk alerts are separate functions rather than substitutes, the analysis said. Compliance teams must weigh all three before approving a transaction.
TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and seven other departments issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for upgrading industrial base capabilities, targeting 2030 for markedly easing weak links in the industrial base. The plan calls for fully raising technological innovation, self-reliance and quality supply capacity, and for cultivating a batch of manufacturing single-champion and specialized ‘little giant’ enterprises in the sector.
TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and seven other departments issued the “Industrial Foundation Capability Enhancement 15th Five-Year Plan,” calling for AI to be applied across product R&D, design simulation, pilot testing and production operations. The plan urges development of general and industry-specific large models, integration of industrial mechanisms with agent decision models, and new businesses such as model-as-a-service and agent-as-a-service.
TREE NEWS update: California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a $500,000 settlement with Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association on Oct. 16 over the firm’s prior restriction on transferring crypto to external wallets for California retail clients. Regulators said the practice may have violated the California Commodity Law of 1990, which requires physical delivery of certain speculative commodity contracts. Fidelity attributed the restriction to NYDFS not approving the function at the time; approval came in April 2025 and transfers expanded to all California retail clients in June 2025.
TREE NEWS update: The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published final rules implementing the GENIUS Act, becoming the first regulator to finalize stablecoin implementation rules under the law. The rules take effect January 18, 2027, setting an access path for banks and non-bank firms to issue payment stablecoins and establishing standards for foreign issuers and asset custody. The final version removes a draft provision presuming certain issuer-third-party reward arrangements unlawful, while the statutory ban on issuers paying interest directly to holders remains.
TREE NEWS update: The Bank of Korea said its rate decision was unanimous, and will decide the timing and pace of further hikes while assessing inflation, domestic economic and financial stability trends. It said it needs to evaluate domestic and external risk factors and the impact of the previous two rate increases, and to keep watching financial imbalance risks tied to the housing market and household debt. Inflation is expected to stay above target for a considerable period.
TREE NEWS update: Robinhood’s venture fund RVI has invested $30 million in Erebor Bank, the company disclosed. The investment was announced alongside a batch of other developments, including the UK FCA opening a consultation on DeFi compliance guidance and crypto asset regulatory exemptions. Lighter also plans to apply for US derivatives trading and clearing licenses next month.
TREE NEWS update: An Australian court has accepted a class action against Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram, alleging the platforms exposed children to harmful content and algorithmically addicted them. Brought on behalf of eight plaintiffs who say they were harmed before turning 18, the suit seeks compensation and may be Australia’s first case accusing social media of harming users, particularly children and teenagers.
TREE NEWS update: Chinese regulators approved the appointments of chief compliance officers at several small and mid-sized banks during the year, extending a role already established at state-owned and joint-stock lenders to city and rural commercial banks. Wang Pengbo, chief analyst at Botong Consulting, said the push aims to bring compliance governance down to grassroots legal entities and strengthen banks’ primary responsibility for risk control.
TREE NEWS update: China International Capital Corporation’s share-swap absorption of Dongxing Securities and Xinda Securities entered its final implementation stage, with shares of the two targets delisted on Oct. 19. The same day, CSRC Chairman Wu Qing told the 2026 Financial Street Forum that regulators will step up support for securities-firm M&A and follow-on integration, aiming to build internationally competitive investment banks. Overseas capital replenishment by leading brokers is accelerating alongside the consolidation push.
TREE NEWS update: OpenAI updated its usage policies, effective November 20, 2026, requiring operators of model access intermediary platforms such as model routers and AI gateways to obtain prior approval from OpenAI. Integrating OpenAI models directly into applications for functionality remains exempt. The new policy also bans using OpenAI models or their outputs to prepare, curate or supply training data or signals for competing models, including building training tasks, reinforcement learning environments and scoring or ranking feedback, and prohibits extracting protected reasoning content via unauthorized access or reverse engineering.
TREE NEWS update: The American Bankers Association and other banking advocacy groups are pushing back against the OCC’s finalized rules implementing a stablecoin law, arguing that the changes to provisions on yield undermine US Congress. The groups object to alterations to the yield provisions in the rulemaking.
TREE NEWS update: OpenAI updated its usage policies effective November 20 to clarify rules on safe model development and sensitive AI uses, the company said. The company is also working to introduce a safety ID that customers can provide to help distinguish end users during investigations. The policy update sets clearer guidelines for developers and users of its AI models.
TREE NEWS update: Polymarket US filed suit against Ohio in federal court on the day the state’s compliance deadline expired, arguing that the CFTC’s Oct. 9 rulemaking and the Commerce Clause place its sports contracts beyond Ohio’s reach. The filing follows Kalshi’s loss in its own appeals case.
TREE NEWS update: The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on measures to revive and simplify the EU securitisation market. The deal, announced by the Council, aims to restart the bloc’s securitisation framework. No further details of the agreement were provided in the announcement.
TREE NEWS update: eMudhra disclosed that a certificate-key flaw went undetected through two independent audit cycles, prompting emergency trust updates. One recovered private key was just 4, the company said. The weak keys affect certificate trust and have triggered urgent remediation across relying parties.
TREE NEWS update: California’s financial regulator said the SEC’s proposal to exempt certain digital asset issuances from securities registration would undercut states’ ability to protect investors. In a comment letter to the SEC, officials said the plan would give federal rules precedence and displace state registration requirements, leaving investors without protection against fraudulent or abusive offerings. The letter was shared with Bloomberg Law ahead of the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation’s statement on Wednesday.