Disruption

FinanceAsia's editorial team picks five of the biggest stories from the year across M&A, ECM, digital assets and Trump's tariffs.

The Astana International Financial Centre was established to support a modernised finance sector and capital market in central Asia’s largest economy. AIFC’s governor Renat Bekturov spoke to FA about the financial hub's progress, challenges and ambition.

Tonik is the first digital-only bank in the Philippines with a banking licence from the BSP. Ukraine's Diligent Capital Partners, which is leading the pre-Series C funding round, has backed founder Greg Krasnov before.

The Central Bank of the UAE has approved Zand, a digital bank, to launch Zand AED, a multi-chain AED-backed stablecoin.

Banks and payment giants at the Singapore FinTech Festival warned about deepfakes, cyberattacks, and AI-driven fraud even as they push aggressively into agentic AI and design their firms around AI-native operating models. With risks rising, leaders said 2026 will force a balance between ambition and safeguards.

Hong Kong’s financial secretary Paul Chan described the government's issuance of a third digital green bond as "reflecting the market support for tokenised products". The many times oversubscribed issuance had a large range of global investors.

HKEX to welcome Middle Eastern issuer soon, while Xiaomi hopes to bring its EV products to Europe.

Emerging markets are fuelling the rise of stablecoins. New regulations mean that more institutions are tapping greater distribution that could reshape global finance, including in Apac.

In an opinion piece, Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) chairman Jesmond Gatt, shares his views on how Apac's financial community can work closer together with Malta, including across digital assets, insurance and family offices.