AMTD ASEAN Solidarity Fund Live Presentation | Supporting the innovative development of Southeast Asian fintech companies

Recently, the [AMTD ASEAN Solidarity Fund] live presentation was held online, hosted by the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN), co-organized by AMTD Group and Brankas, and participated by the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) and Virtusa. Michelle Li, CEO of AMTD Digital, Manish Diwaan, Managing Director of the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network, Chia Hock Lai, President of the Singapore Fintech Association, Anand Vikash, Chief Management Consultant of Virtusa, and Todd Schweitzer, CEO and founder of Brankas, attended the meeting to introduce the specific situation of ASEAN fintech companies for the two parallel programs of the [AMTD ASEAN Solidarity Fund] that are now open for application: MAS-SFA-AMTD FinTech Solidarity Grant and AMTD ASEAN - Solidarity Fund - Investment Scheme.

In April 2020, AMTD took the lead in jointly announcing the establishment of the AMTD ASEAN-Solidarity Fund with the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (co-founded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank) and the ASEAN Bankers Association. AMTD and Mastercard are founding corporate members of AFIN). The fund has an initial size of 50 million Singapore dollars, which aims to support the innovative development of eligible fintech companies registered on the APIX platform in Singapore and other ASEAN countries. On May 13, 2020, AMTD further announced the launch of the MAS-SFA-AMTD FinTech Solidarity Grant with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) to provide support to Singaporean fintech companies facing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and to help the booming innovative startups in Singapore.

Sharing by AMTD Digital CEO Li Lei

AMTD Digital CEO Li Lei said that as a financial institution group rooted in Asia and oriented to global development, AMTD Group has a comprehensive and in-depth layout in Singapore. Singapore is the regional headquarters of AMTD Group, and it will use Singapore as the core hub and strategic frontier for entering the ASEAN market. AMTD Digital is headquartered in Singapore and is committed to building a one-stop, cross-market digital financial service platform. AMTD International, an investment banking platform under AMTD Group, successfully completed its second listing on the main board of the Singapore Exchange on April 8. It is the first company to be listed on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Singapore Exchange, the first "same stock, different rights" listed company in the Singapore capital market, and the largest Chinese financial institution listed on the SGX so far.

AMTD is committed to promoting the vigorous development of the financial technology ecosystem. For three consecutive years, AMTD has been the biggest supporter in cooperating with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to organize the world's most influential "Singapore Fintech Festival". As the first founding corporate member, AMTD has co-founded the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) under the World Bank, and the ASEAN Banking Association. Calvin Choi, Chairman and President of AMTD Group, was invited to serve as a member of its board of directors. At the end of 2019, AMTD, SP Group, Xiaomi and Funding Societies jointly announced their application for a digital banking license in Singapore.

Talent and community ecosystem building have always been the focus of AMTD's support for financial innovation strategy. During the Winter Davos in 2020, AMTD also cooperated with Xiaomi, Singapore Management University and National University of Singapore to establish the "Singapore Digital Finance Leadership Program" to cultivate Singapore digital finance leaders. AMTD also jointly launched the AMTD Global Fintech Leader Program with the Singapore Fintech Association to coach fintech entrepreneurs. In addition, AMTD Digital has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in PolicyPal, a leading insurance technology company in Singapore. PolicyPal has become a member of AMTD's spider web ecosystem and a core carrier of AMTD's insurance technology strategy.

AMTD looks forward to becoming a super connector between Singapore and even the entire Southeast Asia with the Greater Bay Area and other parts of mainland China, and to incorporating innovative companies into AMTD’s unique spider ecosystem (AMTD SpiderNet), bringing AMTD’s rich capital market experience and extensive connections with the global new economy to Singapore, empowering more Southeast Asian entrepreneurs, facilitating their innovative development, and ultimately achieving interconnection with the international capital market.

 

Sharing by Li Lei, CEO of AMTD Digital

The MAS-SFA-AMTD Fintech Solidarity Fund will provide comprehensive support and assistance to Singaporean fintech companies through the Business Support Grant (BSG) and the Business Growth Support Scheme (BGG), ensuring the stable development and growth opportunities of fintech companies during the epidemic. At the same time, AMTD took the lead in co-founding the AMTD ASEAN-Solidarity Fund with the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network. The fund has an initial size of S$50 million, aiming to support eligible fintech companies registered on the APIX platform in Singapore and other ASEAN countries to overcome the challenges brought by the epidemic, and promote the connection and cooperation between Southeast Asian fintech companies, capital markets and international markets. The application channel for the MAS-SFA-AMTD Fintech Solidarity Fund will be officially opened on May 18 (Monday) and will last until December 31, 2021.

The Investment Scheme Fund focuses on providing long-term support to fintech companies in Southeast Asia in the form of equity, convertible bonds and venture debt capital. The project will last until the end of 2021. Under this plan, AMTD will lead other investment partners to work together to match and invest in qualified high-quality fintech companies. The fund welcomes other venture capital institutions to support and participate, build a broader investor community, and empower more high-quality fintech companies to innovate and develop. Li Lei emphasized that applicants for the investment support plan must first register on the APIX platform and complete 100% of the information. It is recommended that fintech companies also publish their own APIX and solutions on the APIX platform to facilitate the selection of the review committee. AFIN's investment committee will select a group of preliminary lists and hand them over to AMTD, and then the AMTD investment committee will make the final decision on the investment. AMTD will comprehensively consider the company's own innovation strength, its contribution to Singapore's fintech field, and the synergy effect on AMTD's ecosystem strategy, select outstanding fintech companies, and become its long-term strategic investors, with no upper limit on the amount of a single investment. AMTD hopes that all fintech companies that receive investment can be fully integrated into AMTD's spider web ecological network and make good use of AMTD's resources to accelerate development.

Chia Hock Lai, President of the Singapore Fintech Association, introduced the specific arrangements of the MAS-SFA-AMTD Fintech Solidarity Fund

Chia Hock Lai, President of the Singapore Fintech Association, introduced the specific arrangements of the MAS-SFA-AMTD Fintech Solidarity Fund. The MAS-SFA-AMTD Fintech Solidarity Fund hopes to help fintech companies overcome the impact of the epidemic, maintain normal operations, and stabilize employment rates in the short term; in the long term, help fintech companies achieve stable growth.

AMTD and the MAS-SFA-AMTD Fintech Solidarity Fund will provide comprehensive support and assistance to Singapore fintech companies through the Business Support Grant (BSG) and the Business Growth Support Program (BGG), ensuring the stable development and growth opportunities of fintech companies during the epidemic. At the same time, AMTD took the lead in co-founding the AMTD ASEAN-Solidarity Fund with the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network. The initial size of the fund is S$50 million, which aims to support eligible fintech companies registered on the APIX platform in Singapore and other ASEAN countries to overcome the challenges brought by the epidemic, and promote the connection and cooperation between Southeast Asian fintech companies, capital markets and international markets.

The application channel for the MAS-SFA-AMTD Fintech Solidarity Fund officially opened on Monday, May 18, and will last until December 31, 2021. At the same time, the application committee will submit a list of companies to AMTD every two weeks. AMTD will comprehensively consider the company's own innovation strength, contribution to Singapore's fintech field, and synergy with AMTD's ecosystem strategy, and select outstanding fintech companies to become their long-term strategic investors, with no upper limit on the investment amount.

AFIN Managing Director Manish Diwaan introduced AFIN's API platform

AFIN Managing Director Manish Diwaan introduced that APIX is AFIN's flagship product and the world's first cross-border, open-architecture API platform. On the APIX platform, financial institutions and fintech companies can integrate resources, conduct innovative tests through cloud-based architecture, collaborate to explore emerging global market opportunities, jointly design financial innovation products and sandbox experiments, and improve innovative financial solutions at the lowest cost. Currently, all fintech companies in Singapore can register on APIX for free and get up to 6 months of free use. Virtusa Chief Management Consultant Anand Vikash gave a detailed explanation of the registration process, usage methods and application methods of the Fintech Solidarity Fund of APIX.