Australia moves to rein in buy-now-pay-later with credit check law

SYDNEY, June 5 (Reuters) – The Australian government on Wednesday introduced legislation that would require buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) firms to run credit checks on borrowers, aiming to regulate the rapidly growing sector popular among youth like other consumer credit products. BNPL companies typically offer on-the-spot interest-free short-term loans with minimal credit checks that spread payments over […]

U.S. ignored evidence major U.K. bank was helping fund sanctioned Iranian groups, whistleblower says

Recent documents submitted to a U.S. federal court allege that major British bank Standard Chartered helped finance sanctioned Iranian entities and terrorist groups, and that relevant evidence was ignored by American authorities. London-based Standard Chartered, which primarily serves clients in emerging markets, was previously punished with more than a combined $1.7 billion in fines after admitting in 2012 and 2019 […]

China exchanges mull withholding ‘certain’ data from quant funds, sources say

SHANGHAI, June 5 (Reuters) – The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges are considering suspending certain value-added market data feeds to institutions such as computer-driven quant funds, two sources said in an effort by Chinese regulators to tighten scrutiny of a sector blamed for contributing to market volatility. The bourses may suspend providing granular transaction details […]

Tencent-backed AI firm QuantumPharm seeks to raise funds, marking a milestone for Hong Kong’s pre-revenue IPO rules

Tencent-backed artificial intelligence (AI) drug researcher QuantumPharm is raising up to HK$1.13 billion (US$144.5 million) in a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) from Tuesday, eyeing the first listing under a new regime for pre-revenue specialist technology firms that was introduced more than a year ago. The Shenzhen-headquartered company, also known as XtalPi, is offering […]

GameStop Stock Jumps After ‘Roaring Kitty’ Reveals $116 Million Position

A Reddit account linked to the meme-stock folk hero posted for the first time in years over the weekend, with a screenshot showing a $116 million position in GameStop stock, plus a big options bet. GameStop shares soared roughly 80% in premarket trading Monday. Other meme stocks also rallied: AMC shares jumped over 20%; Koss advanced more than 12% and BlackBerry shares […]