Flash News

TREE NEWS update: China’s draft revision of fireworks business licensing rules would bar issuing authorities from delegating approval work to lower-level bodies and require on-site inspection by at least two officials for every wholesale business and retail outlet. The draft, released for public comment, also shortens the licensing time limit. It targets regions where delegated authority let unqualified operators win permits.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing “consistently opposes and cracks down on hacking activities in accordance with the law” and rejects the spread of disinformation for political purposes, responding to a Reuters question about a cybersecurity firm report that an unidentified actor used a Chinese-developed AI tool with Chinese-language prompts to attack South Korean financial institutions. Mao said she was unaware of the specific case and called for stronger international cooperation and new rules on AI and cybersecurity.

TREE NEWS update: Greece’s draft bill proposes a 10% tax on cryptocurrency capital gains, with exemptions for annual gains of up to 500 euros and for crypto-to-crypto swaps. The proposal sets out the country’s planned tax treatment of digital-asset trading gains.

TREE NEWS update: Standard Chartered said it will expand its crypto custody services into Singapore, extending a footprint that already covers the UAE, Luxembourg and Hong Kong. The bank did not disclose a launch date or the scope of the Singapore offering. The move adds to the lender’s existing digital-asset custody operations across three other jurisdictions.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on October 8 that she was unaware of CrowdStrike’s allegation that Chinese individuals and entities used AI tools to attack South Korean financial institutions. Mao said China opposes and lawfully cracks down on hacking, and rejects the spreading of disinformation for political purposes, adding that AI deeply affects cybersecurity and the international community should strengthen cooperation and set new rules.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Oct. 8 released draft measures on protecting the rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment, opening them to public comment through Nov. 8. It is the first time the country has used a regulatory instrument to bring workers whose arrangements do not fully meet the criteria for an established labor relationship into the labor law system.

TREE NEWS update: UK tax authority HMRC is pushing to expand its powers to obtain crypto asset information, proposing to let tax officials request client data directly from crypto asset service providers and update rules for inspecting software and electronic records. UK crypto tax software firm Recap warned the proposed definition of “service provider” is too broad, potentially covering non-custodial wallet software, blockchain explorers, hardware wallet makers and tax software providers. Because blockchain transaction records are public, linking an investor’s name, address and tax identity to wallet addresses could expose long-term asset activity, raising risks of data leaks, extortion and physical attacks.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on October 8 that questions about when the first meeting of the China-US AI dialogue mechanism will be held should be directed to the competent Chinese authorities. She made the remark at a regular press briefing in response to a Bloomberg reporter’s question on the timing of the inaugural meeting and whether senior officials from both countries would attend.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Foreign Ministry said open cooperation and resolving trade and economic differences through equal dialogue serve the common interests of both China and the EU, as the EU trade commissioner visits Beijing. Spokesperson Mao Ning declined to detail expectations for the visit, referring specific questions to the competent Chinese authorities. She made the remarks at a regular press briefing in response to a question on the trip.

TREE NEWS update: Greece is preparing legislation to impose a 10% tax on cryptocurrency capital gains, with the draft bill now in public consultation and expected to reach parliament in November. Individuals would be exempt on the first €500 (about $559.95) of annual crypto gains. Officials said the size of Greece’s crypto market is hard to estimate because most investors use offshore platforms, and no revenue forecast has been made.

TREE NEWS update: Alexander Sisemore, founder of Kishu Inu, faces three counts of wire fraud over an alleged $9 million rug pull, prosecutors said. He is accused of secretly selling tokens allocated to him at the project’s launch while making false statements to investors. The FBI is seeking out Kishu Inu investors.

TREE NEWS update: Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the crypto industry’s heavy backing of Republicans has alienated Democrats and could block federal crypto legislation. Speaking at Token2049, he said the industry believes investing heavily in the GOP is the way to pass the CLARITY Act, but that passing the bill requires both parties and a more balanced approach.

TREE NEWS update: Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the crypto industry’s heavy backing of Republicans has alienated Democrats and urged the sector to balance its political support across both parties if it wants federal crypto legislation passed. Cuomo’s remarks frame the industry’s Washington strategy as a bipartisan problem, not a partisan one.

TREE NEWS update: The European Central Bank releases minutes of its Sept. 9-10 monetary policy meeting at 19:30 Beijing time, alongside the Sept. 9-10 meeting record and US initial jobless claims for the week of Oct. 3 at 20:30. Fed Governor Waller speaks on the economic outlook in Istanbul at 16:30, and the 2026 Nobel Literature Prize is announced at 19:00. Japan’s central bank publishes its regional economic report at 13:00.

TREE NEWS reports: South Korea is considering regulations that would bar investment banks without a domestic securities business license from arranging overseas bond issuance for local issuers. The proposed measure would restrict offshore debt deals to institutions holding an onshore securities license.

TREE NEWS update: Senate Banking Committee Democrat Elizabeth Warren sent a letter Wednesday to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent demanding an explanation of recent Treasury market interventions she called “unprecedented and chaotic,” asking whether the Treasury plans to fund expanded long-bond buybacks by drawing down the Treasury General Account. The Treasury raised single-operation buyback caps on 10- to 30-year bonds from $2 billion to $6 billion on Aug 19, yet 10-year yields hit their highest since 2002 and 30-year yields neared 5.7%. Bessent must respond by Oct 21.

TREE NEWS update: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is recruiting two assistant governors and a chief of staff, with the two new assistant governor roles covering monetary policy and payments and cash respectively. The move follows the previously announced departure of assistant governor Karen Silk in mid-December. The central bank is restructuring its senior leadership as it fills the newly created positions.

TREE NEWS update: South Korea’s Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that HSBC Holdings did not engage in illegal short selling. The decision finalizes the finding in favor of the bank, closing the case at the country’s highest judicial level.

TREE NEWS update: Several Chinese-owned brokerages in Hong Kong have told mainland clients they can no longer buy or open positions from mainland IP addresses, nor deposit funds, under regulatory requirements. Selling, closing positions, account queries and withdrawals remain unaffected. Firms including Guotai Junan International, Guosen Securities Hong Kong, Shenwan Hongyuan Securities Hong Kong and CITIC Securities International have issued such arrangements since September.

TREE NEWS update: CFTC Chairman Mike Selig said the agency will not engage in a “race to the bottom” on leverage, telling CNBC it will apply to crypto markets the same margin models and risk controls long used to preserve integrity in derivatives markets. Selig’s remarks signal the CFTC’s approach to supervising leveraged crypto trading.