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On 11 March 2025, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) published a Press Release on the status of licences issued to portfolio managers and trustees, following the implementation of the Swiss Financial Institutions Act (FinIA). The release details the progress of applications submitted under the new licensing requirements introduced in January 2020. Since the entry into force of Swiss FinIA on 1 January 2020, portfolio managers and trustees operating commercially in Switzerland have been required to obtain a FINMA licence. A three-year transitional period was granted for existing institutions, concluding at the end of 2022. FINMA received 1,699 applications before this deadline and has since processed 94% of these applications by the end of February 2025. In total, 1,532 out of 1,864 applications submitted since the introduction of the requirement have been approved. 131 applications were withdrawn, while 94 remain under review, with half of these cases involving...

On 6 March 2025, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HK SFC) has issued a public warning against Linkbex, an entity suspected of engaging in virtual asset-related fraudulent activities. The HK SFC stated that Linkbex falsely claimed affiliation with seven HK SFC-licensed corporations and misled investors by citing a fake anti-money laundering investigation by the regulator. In response to the suspected fraud, the Hong Kong Police Force has taken action at the HK SFC’s request to block access to Linkbex’s website. Linkbex and its website is added to the HK SFC’s Suspicious Virtual Asset Trading Platforms Alert List on 6 March 2025. (Source: https://apps.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/news-and-announcements/news/doc?refNo=25PR29)

On 6 March 2025, the Saeima of Latvia announced the re-election of Māris Kālis and Zita Zariņa for a second term as Members of the Council of Latvijas Banka. Under this decision, Māris Kālis’ term will extend until 12 March 2030, while Zita Zariņa’s tenure will conclude on 14 April 2030. Māris Kālis, is re-appointed as Deputy Governor, and will oversee financial stability, macroprudential supervision, financial investment management, market operations, financial planning, control systems, and human resource management. Zita Zariņa is responsible for cash and non-cash payments, the development of payment infrastructure, and the implementation of the digital euro project. She will also supervise innovation, data and statistics, audit, and information technologies. Before joining Latvijas Banka, Māris Kālis worked at Arthur Andersen, an international auditing and business advisory firm and has contributed to national and international projects, close collaboration with the European...

On 21 February 2025, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released its latest update on jurisdictions under increased monitoring, commonly known as the ‘Grey list’. When the FATF places a jurisdiction under increased monitoring, it means the country has committed to resolve swiftly the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to increased monitoring is referred as Grey list countries, they are actively working with the FATF and FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs) to address strategic deficiencies in anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CFT), and proliferation financing. The newly updated grey list by FATF, published in Paris, includes Algeria, Angola, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Mali, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Yemen. These jurisdictions are expected...

On 7 March 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) initiated a review of a proposal submitted by The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) to list and trade shares of the Canary HBAR ETF under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d). This proposal, detailed in the document “Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1, to List and Trade Shares of the Canary HBAR ETF under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d) (Commodity-Based Trust Shares),” was filed under Release No. 34-102540; File No. SR-NASDAQ-2025-018. The filing was initially submitted on 21 February 2025 and was later amended and resubmitted in full on 4 March 2025. The proposal seeks approval for the listing of shares issued by the Canary HBAR ETF, a Delaware statutory trust sponsored by Canary Capital Group LLC. The trust's primary objective is to provide exposure to Hedera Hashgraph’s native token (HBAR), for its market performance while accounting...

On 7 March 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) released a notice regarding the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC’s proposal to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Polkadot Trust (DOT) under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d). The proposal, filed on 24 February 2025, outlines regulatory considerations for listing the trust, which will hold Polkadot (DOT) tokens. The US SEC has invited public comments on the proposed rule change. The Nasdaq proposal identifies Grayscale Operating, LLC and Grayscale Investments Sponsors, LLC as the sponsors of the trust, with CSC Delaware Trust Company as the trustee, Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC as the custodian, and BNY Mellon Asset Servicing as the administrator and transfer agent​. On 24 February 2025, The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC submitted a proposed rule change to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Section 19(b)(1) of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1)), and US SEC Rule 19b-4...

On 5 March 2025, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published an Oral Reply to Parliamentary Question on the tightening of regulations for digital payment token service providers, delivered by Mr. Alvin Tan, Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, and Board Member of MAS, on behalf of Mr. Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, and Chairman of MAS. The statement was made in response to a parliamentary question by Mr. Yip Hon Weng, MP for Yio Chu Kang SMC, who inquired about the Government’s considerations in tightening these regulations and their anticipated impact on younger consumers aged 18 to 25, who are increasingly adopting cryptocurrency use. While the Singapore Government stating that digital assets are speculative and high-risk, it discusses the dangers of using credit or leveraged funds for such investments. Borrowing money to purchase cryptocurrencies can lead to greater...