Flash News

TREE NEWS update: The Hong Kong government priced about HK$20 billion equivalent of digital green bonds on September 28 under its Sustainable Bond Programme, spanning Hong Kong dollars, renminbi, US dollars and euros. The four-tranche deal set a new record for the world’s largest digital bond issuance, with order books covering 1.3 to 11.3 times the amount offered.

TREE NEWS update: The European Central Bank is seeking firms to explore AI agents and machine-to-machine interactions as it prepares a separate digital euro pilot for 2027. The work will look at how autonomous software agents could make payments within the digital euro framework, ahead of the planned pilot. No firms or terms were named.

TREE NEWS update: European Central Bank Governing Council member Escriva said the ECB is still not in restrictive territory, adding that he is beginning to worry about a rising trend in global long-term interest rates, which could put pressure on rates. He said it would be concerning if high energy prices persist and generate second-round effects.

TREE NEWS reports: Ondo Perps’ CEO said there is a “huge opportunity” for perpetual futures in the US market, but under a different model. The comment comes as US regulators and several firms test how perpetual futures could enter domestic markets.

TREE NEWS update: El Salvador is developing Sivar, a government-backed app built with Modveon that lets users send, receive and hold dollar-pegged stablecoins via Coinbase’s Base network, and also supports remittances. Identity verification is handled through government-issued documents. The move comes five years after bitcoin became legal tender in the country.

TREE NEWS update: Aiden Pleterski, the Canadian man dubbed the “Crypto King,” will represent himself at his fraud trial, a judge has confirmed. The judge told Pleterski he will raise objections on his behalf to keep inadmissible evidence away from the jury. Pleterski faces fraud charges tied to his crypto investment scheme.

TREE NEWS update: Jamaica’s House of Representatives began reviewing the Virtual Assets Service Providers Act on September 22, creating a licensing and regulatory framework for crypto exchanges and other virtual asset service providers. Firms serving Jamaican consumers must obtain a Financial Services Commission licence regardless of headquarters, with unlicensed operation a criminal offence. Licensees must verify customer identity, monitor transactions and report suspicious activity. Finance Minister Fayval Williams said an FSC licence does not constitute official endorsement of the digital assets traded.

TREE NEWS update: US Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Luke Pettit, who also served as acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Domestic Finance, will leave the department in October to move to the private sector. Pettit led the Trump Accounts children’s savings program and worked on the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act legislation.

TREE NEWS update: China presented its “Further Reflections and Proposals on WTO Reform” at a WTO special session on the development track held on the 28th, with Ambassador Li Yongzhe setting out systematic positions on the role of development issues in the reform. The proposals drew broad attention and a positive response from members.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Finance and two other departments set the funding split for interest subsidy programs at 90% from the central government and 10% from local governments. Provincial-level finance departments will determine how the share below the provincial level is divided. The three departments did not specify which lending programs the subsidy applies to.

TREE NEWS update: The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance added a condition to its token buyback guidance, limiting it to networks with no central party. The change came three days after the agency published its crypto FAQ. a16z crypto’s Miles Jennings called the revision “great work by the SEC.”

TREE NEWS update: The People’s Bank of China increased its relending quota for agriculture and small businesses by 500 billion yuan, including a 300 billion yuan rise for private enterprises. The adjustment lifts the combined relending and rediscount quota from 4.35 trillion yuan to 4.85 trillion yuan, with the private-enterprise relending quota rising from 1 trillion to 1.3 trillion yuan. The PBOC said the move will further encourage local legal-person banks to expand credit support for agriculture-related and small and micro enterprises, especially small and medium-sized private firms.

TREE NEWS update: The People’s Bank of China raised the quota of its relending facility for technological innovation and industrial upgrading by 200 billion yuan, lifting the total from 1.2 trillion yuan to 1.4 trillion yuan, and raised the facility’s support ratio from 60% to 100%. The central bank said the adjustment is intended to guide banks to increase lending to small and medium-sized technology firms and support equipment renewal investment in key sectors.

TREE NEWS update: The People’s Bank of China adjusted several monetary policy tools to expand the scope of its Pledged Supplementary Lending (PSL) program, adding the construction of six network categories — water networks, new-type power grids, computing power networks, next-generation communications networks, urban underground pipe networks and logistics networks — as eligible areas. The move directs policy banks to increase financial support for these “six networks” and aims to boost effective investment and tap domestic demand potential.

TREE NEWS update: The People’s Bank of China lowered the interest rate on its Pledged Supplemental Lending (PSL) facility by 0.25 percentage points, cutting the one-year PSL rate from 1.75% to 1.5%. The central bank said the adjustment is part of a broader refinement of its monetary policy toolkit and is intended to better incentivize policy banks to support the real economy and serve national strategy.

TREE NEWS update: Greece has joined the EU’s MiCA register with four crypto providers, marking its first entrants under the bloc’s licensing regime. The Hellenic Capital Market Commission also expanded its denial of remarks attributed to officials in a report concerning Binance and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde.

TREE NEWS update: Coinbase has received CFTC approval for Coinbase Clearing, giving the exchange its own clearinghouse for its derivatives stack. The unit will accept USDC as collateral and settle around the clock, while margined products remain with partners. The approval makes Coinbase one of the few crypto firms to control trading, clearing and settlement in-house.

TREE NEWS update: People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng met with EU Ambassador to China Jorge Toledo Albiñana, the central bank said. The two sides exchanged views on the current economic and financial situation and on China-EU economic and financial cooperation. PBOC Deputy Governor Xuan Changneng also attended the meeting.

TREE NEWS update: Qi Wei, former party secretary and chairman of Jiangxi Financial Holding Group, has been indicted on charges of accepting bribes and abuse of power at a state-owned company, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said. The Jiangxi Provincial Supervisory Commission concluded its investigation and transferred the case for prosecution, with the Pingxiang Municipal Procuratorate filing the indictment with the Pingxiang Intermediate People’s Court. The case is still being processed.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Science and Technology said it will deepen cooperation with the central bank and financial regulators to expand tech-finance support for innovative companies. Vice Minister Qiu Yong told a State Council Information Office briefing on the 29th that the ministry, together with the People’s Bank of China, the financial regulator and the securities watchdog, has set up a coordination mechanism for tech finance and rolled out a series of policy measures. Next steps focus on policy implementation, services, pilot programs and the financing ecosystem.