The trading suspension was announced for American Security Resources Corp. (ARSC) on August 24, 2017; the suspension will be effective until September 8, 2017; according to the SEC, "The Commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities of ARSC because of questions that have arisen regarding publicly available information about the company in press releases on OTCMarkets.com, dated August 1, and August 8, 2017, concerning, among other things, the company's business transition to the cryptocurrency markets and early adoption of blockchain technology."; the SEC has suspended trading on at least two other companies involved in bitcoin that are listed on the OTC markets. Source
PitchIt @ LendIt Europe is one of the industry's most popular startup competitions providing eight finalists with unparalleled access to industry expertise and funding opportunities as well as invaluable exposure, branding and more at the event; hosted in partnership with Startupbootcamp, the event also offers fast-track status to the finalist round for Startupbootcamp Fintech Accelerator as one of its prizes; interested startup companies must submit their application by September 4 and finalists will be announced on September 10; more details about the competition can be found here. Source
Level39 has launched Cyber39, a program focused on fighting cyberthreats in London; Cyber39 will initially involve the 22 cybersecurity companies associated with the Level39 startup accelerator and it hopes to add more companies; additionally Level39 has also opened the Cyber Demonstration Centre in Canary Wharf with the support of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and the Department of International Trade; the accelerator's efforts are aimed at building out cybersecurity solutions in the private sector and keeping London at the forefront of cybersecurity innovation. Source
HNA is one of China's most ambitious private conglomerate investors, investing $45 billion in global deals in the last three years with high profile deals including the buyout of Anthony Scaramucci's SkyBridge Capital, and multi-billion dollar stakes in Deutsche Bank AG and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.; Bloomberg reports on how the business is financed; its findings show a network of capital providers including a number of shadow bank lenders as well as trusts and asset managers resulting in over $10 billion of unlisted shares pledged to non-bank lenders and interest rates from shadow bank financings that far exceed benchmark rates from bank loans and bond issuances; Bloomberg reports additional details on HNA's financing structure and shadow banking loans as well as the shadow banking platforms it currently operates as subsidiaries. Source
CB Insights outlines five tech giants' notable investments, partnerships and M&A moves in the Southeast Asia region; the five tech giants included in the article are Alibaba, Ant Financial, Tencent, Didi Chuxing and JD.com; the article highlights Ant Financial's investments in Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia, as well as its strategic partnerships throughout Southeast Asia. Source
PitchIt 2017 was a competition for fintech startups, in exclusive partnership with global venture capital fund 500 Startups, the world leader in investing in and mentoring early-stage fintech startups; the platform nurtures emerging talent in fintech throughout the competition, provides selected finalists with unparalleled access to industry expertise as well as invaluable exposure and branding; eight finalists present their businesses to a panel of select judges who then ask questions to determine a winner. Source
AltFi takes a look into the future at what the new Payment Services Directive will mean when it takes effect in 2018; companies will learn a great deal by trial and error as this is a new market and new markets need time to grow; client on boarding using KYC and AML requirements will be a key test for global banks who need to comply with the directive; open banking might also allow for banks to come across new customers that they might not have had access to in the past; ultimately client value is the biggest takeaway and open banking has the ability to deliver more to the client. Source
UK-based personal finance management app Money Dashboard raises $1.7 million in an equity crowdfunding round; the company used crowdfunding platform Crowdcube and the 1,708 investors together acquired a 9.55% equity stake; they use bank statements to organize spending data, give insight on budgeting and help to build a financial forecast. Source
Caixin reports that China's relevant regulators will take measures on ICOs; before ICOs are included into the nation's legal framework, it cannot be ruled out that regulators will ban such activities; People's Bank of China and China Securities Regulatory Commission are now discussing the measures. Source (Chinese)
The companies are grouped into 16 categories with total average fundraising from all 100 companies of $14 million; year to date ICO fundraising is at $1.5 billion with the top fundraisings from Filecoin and Tezos; in the US, most are falling within the SEC's definition of securities issuances, with the prevalent testing measure being the Howey Test. Source