1、The De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific FintechsA report from Kapronasia and Banking CircleHow banks across Asia are re-thinking their customer relationships,and the not so positive implications for fintechsMarch,2023ContentsIntroduction 3Origins of the Great De-risk 4The Risk of Financial Exclusion 5

2、Practical Mitigation Approaches 8De-risking Will Persist 9Conclusion 11MethodologyThe De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific Fintechs from Kapronasia in collaboration with Banking Circle,is based on a combination of secondary and primary research.Secondary research consisted of existing and new datasets

3、from Kapronasias databases as well as various reports,news articles,and commentaries in the media.Primary research included discussions with various market participants including banks and payment providers.The De-Risking Threat to Asia Pacific Fintechs3Introduction1 Banking Circle,“Big Bank De-Risk

4、ing:The Invisible Threat to Financial Inclusion,”https:/ recent years,banks in the Asia-Pacific(APAC)region have faced rising regulatory scrutiny amid a global fight against money laundering and other financial crime.Banks have been rocked by the massive 1MDB scandal,implicated in the FinCEN papers

5、and are wary of being exposed to the cryptocurrency industry,which is in its nascent stages and lacks comprehensive regulation.As a result,financial institutions are pausing taking on any clients they perceive as overly risky.Such clients require additional due diligence work,and should something go

6、 awry,the costs of compliance failure can be considerable,from stiff fines to reputational damage.Consequently,traditional financial institutions are shedding customers or refusing to onboard firms who they deem too risky,putting significant strain on correspondent banking relationships.Known as“de-