Flash News

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs announced export controls on tunneling machines, walking excavators and plateau-type wet shotcrete machines, citing national security and interests. The decision, approved by the State Council, was issued under the Export Control Law, Foreign Trade Law, Customs Law and dual-use export control regulations. The controls cover related items in all three equipment categories.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce, General Administration of Customs and the Central Military Commission Equipment Development Department issued Announcement No. 49 of 2026, adjusting export control measures on certain unmanned aircraft-related items to safeguard national security and interests. Items meeting specified characteristics may not be exported without a license, and exporters must apply to the State Council’s commerce department under relevant regulations. The measures take effect on Nov. 18, 2026.

TREE NEWS update: Ding Xiangqun, party secretary and director of China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration, met Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio and his delegation on October 14, 2026. The two sides exchanged views on the international economic and financial situation, the development of China’s financial sector and high-level opening-up. No further details of the meeting were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Cyberspace Administration has begun accepting filings from online platforms that meet the criteria for serving large numbers of minors. Platforms aimed specifically at minors with more than 10 million registered users or 1 million monthly active users must file, as must general-audience platforms with over 10 million registered minor users or 1 million monthly active minor users. Qualifying providers are required to submit materials proactively and promptly.

TREE NEWS update: China’s securities fund institution supervision department issued a regulatory notice on Oct. 16 penalizing five securities and fund institutions and related personnel for violations in offshore research and staff behavior management. The notice followed media reports of loopholes at some institutions, prompting inspections and regulatory measures. The specific penalties were not disclosed.

TREE NEWS reports: South Korean finance officials are set to meet major crypto exchanges on Tuesday, days after a lawmaker introduced legislation that could delay the start of the crypto tax by two years. The meeting comes as the industry pushes for more time before the tax takes effect.

TREE NEWS update: The 2026 Financial Street Forum annual meeting opens in Beijing, with the heads of four Chinese financial regulators — including the central bank and the securities regulator — scheduled to speak. The State Council Information Office holds a press conference at 15:00 Beijing time on advancing technology-driven commerce. Canada releases September CPI at 20:30 and the US October NAHB housing market index is due at 22:00. Hong Kong markets are closed for the Chung Yeung Festival.

TREE NEWS reports: The Bank of England has opened an investigation into Barclays over allegations of misstatement, the Financial Times reported. The central bank is examining claims tied to the bank’s disclosures. No further details on the scope or timing of the probe were immediately available.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce and eight other departments issued an opinion on accelerating technology-driven commerce, calling for coordinated efforts to upgrade goods consumption, expand services consumption, improve circulation efficiency and integrate new application scenarios. The document urges higher adoption of AI, big data, IoT, cloud computing, blockchain, digital twins and embodied intelligence to make the commerce chain smarter, greener and more integrated, supporting a strong domestic market.

TREE NEWS update: The 2026 Financial Street Forum opened in Beijing on Oct. 19 and runs through Oct. 22, drawing more than 400 senior guests from over 40 countries and regions under the theme “Openness, Cooperation, Inclusiveness — Building a New Ecosystem for Global Financial Development.” PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng, NFRA Director Ding Xiangqun, CSRC Chairman Wu Qing and SAFE Administrator Zhu Hexin will attend and deliver keynote speeches. The program includes 21 main and parallel forum sessions plus three special conferences.

TREE NEWS update: Crypto.com and Novig have filed lawsuits against Missouri over sports event contracts, while Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood and Underdog have not filed suits in the state, court records show. The four platforms also received cease-and-desist orders but have yet to challenge them in court.

TREE NEWS update: Early bitcoin investor Roger Ver has reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve criminal charges of mail fraud and tax evasion, under which the indictment against him will be dismissed in one month if he complies with its terms. The IRS may recover up to $49.9 million from Ver, covering taxes, civil penalties and interest. Prosecutors had alleged Ver failed to pay at least $48 million in taxes after renouncing his U.S. citizenship in 2014.

TREE NEWS reports: A majority of Americans polled oppose betting on elections, even as the prediction market industry enables wagers on US elections and sporting events. The finding comes as prediction markets face growing scrutiny over election-related contracts. No further details on the poll’s sample size or methodology were provided.

TREE NEWS update: China’s State Administration for Market Regulation Deputy Director Pan Xiaodong met AmCham China Chairman Michael Hart and member companies on October 12 to discuss consumer rights protection, fair competition review and advertising regulation. Pan said SAMR will work with the chamber to implement recent agreements between the two countries’ leaders and create a favorable business environment for foreign firms, including U.S.-invested enterprises, in China. Hart said AmCham China will continue to serve as a bridge to support expanded bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

TREE NEWS update: Hyperliquid Labs co-founder Jeff Yan is lobbying for US rules that would protect its blockchain and place regulatory responsibility on the financial institutions running markets on top of it, rather than on the network itself. Yan said the split would let Hyperliquid work with Wall Street without carrying the full compliance burden of a traditional exchange. Hyperliquid is not yet open to US customers and aims to be trading infrastructure for traditional firms, akin to AWS.

TREE NEWS update: Hong Kong police have arrested four people in connection with an alleged scam by “BBB Group,” which claimed to invest in Malaysian agarwood plantations and sold over-the-counter shares and digital assets, HK01 reported on October 18. Police have received reports from 21 victims involving HK$14 million, and the Commercial Crime Bureau is investigating on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. The company said it would convert OTC shares into cryptocurrency by February 2027, while Hong Kong’s SFC has listed the agarwood investment products as suspicious.

TREE NEWS update: Police in Bangkok arrested a Chinese suspect alleged to have run cryptocurrency and foreign-currency exchanges for criminal groups through more than 133 accounts, in a case tied to an international crime network handling $75 million. The arrest was announced by police, who said the accounts were used to move funds for the groups.

TREE NEWS update: The European Union and eight countries — Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino and the United Kingdom — signed an additional protocol to the Council of Europe’s Warsaw Convention on laundering, search, seizure and confiscation of criminal proceeds and terrorist financing. The protocol extends the convention’s scope to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), aiming to tackle cross-border crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing carried out with crypto assets.

TREE NEWS update: Huang Ribo, former vice chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, is under investigation by the National Supervisory Commission for suspected serious duty-related violations, Xinhua reported. The announcement did not specify the nature of the alleged violations or give a date for the start of the probe.