AFA Awards

XREX

2026-09-07 09:46:12

XREX wins AFA Awards regulatory excellence honor as Taiwan and Singapore compliance work gains recognition

Blockchain financial institution XREX Group has won the Regulatory Excellence Award at the first AFA Awards, standing out from 88 corporate nominations across the Asia-Pacific region and becoming one of five overall winners. It was also the only Taiwanese team nominated by the Taiwan FinTech Association to take home an award. The recognition covered several parts of XREX’s business at once: its compliance operations and risk management efforts, its regulated presence in both Taiwan and Singapore, its virtual asset exchange operations, its stablecoin-based cross-border B2B payments business, and its regtech work aimed at strengthening anti-scam and anti-money laundering capabilities. According to the event structure described by the organizer, the awards were run by the Asia FinTech Alliance, whose member associations represent 16 Asian economies. Each economy could nominate up to seven companies. The first edition received 88 nominations, narrowed the field through top-30 and top-10 stages, and selected final winners after live presentations and Q&A before seven international judges on Sept. 1. During the final presentation, XREX Group CEO Wayne Huang said fraud and money laundering risks are not costs a single institution should bear alone, but a shared burden across the financial industry.

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Finmo

2026-09-01 11:37:19

Finmo wins top prize at inaugural AFA Awards with cross-border TreasuryOS pitch

Finmo Tech, a Singapore-based fintech company, took the top honor at the AFA Awards 2026 grand final held in Taipei on Sept. 1, winning the Grand Award for Cross-Border Fintech Unicorn Potential. The company’s main product is TreasuryOS, which it describes as a treasury operating system built to consolidate financial operations that multinational businesses often manage across separate banks, accounting tools and ERP systems. According to Finmo’s website and public information cited in the source report, the platform covers cross-border payments, multi-currency accounts, cash flow visibility, cash forecasting, FX hedging and working capital optimization, with a payment network spanning more than 180 countries. Finmo has also recently launched a conversational AI assistant called MO AI for CFOs and finance teams, designed to support real-time cash management, forecasting, compliance and reporting. Founded in 2021, Finmo obtained a Major Payment Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2023 and now holds related licenses in Singapore, Australia, the United States and New Zealand. The company has raised about $27 million to date, including an oversubscribed $18.5 million Series A completed in February 2025 and co-led by Quona Capital and PayPal Ventures, with Citi Ventures also participating.

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AFA Awards

2026-09-01 11:11:56

XREX Named the Only Taiwanese Winner at AFA Awards 2026

XREX was the only Taiwanese company to win an award at the inaugural AFA Awards 2026, taking the Regulatory Excellence Award at the final held in Taipei on September 1. The awards, organized by the Asia FinTech Alliance, drew more than 100 companies from 16 economies. After selection rounds that reduced the field to 30 and then 10 finalists, five awards were presented. Singaporean companies won three categories, while Malaysia’s PolicyStreet took the Fastest Growing Award. The other Singaporean winners were First Answer Pte Ltd, Liquid Group Pte. Ltd. and Finmo Tech Pte Ltd. XREX was founded in 2019 by Wayne Huang and Winston Hsiao. Its Taiwan entity is one of the first virtual asset service providers in Taiwan to complete anti-money-laundering registration with the Securities and Futures Bureau of the Financial Supervisory Commission. Its Singapore entity holds a Major Payment Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and operates the stablecoin-focused B2B cross-border payments platform XREX Pay. Five other Taiwanese companies also reached the shortlist, with BaaS Innovation and CyCraft entering the Top 10 and three others reaching the Top 30.

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AFA Awards

2026-08-19 08:31:58

Six Taiwan companies make AFA Awards Top 30 ahead of Sept. 1 Taipei final

Asia FinTech Alliance on Aug. 11 released the Top 30 list for the inaugural AFA Awards, with six Taiwan companies making the cut from seven nominees recommended by the Taiwan FinTech Association. The shortlisted firms span financial infrastructure, regulatory compliance and market expansion, with names including XREX, Gogolook, OwlTing, CyCraft, Eastern Union and BaaS Innovation. According to TFTA honorary chair and AFA chairperson Tsai Yu-ling, all entrants first had to be nominated and screened in their home markets before competing against companies from 16 Asian economies. The first edition of the awards received 88 nominations across five categories. After the Top 30 round, the process will move into a second stage that will narrow the field to 10 finalists. The final round and awards ceremony are scheduled for Sept. 1, 2026, in Taipei, where the Top 10 companies will present in person to a judging panel drawn from financial and capital market institutions across Asia.

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VASP

2026-08-04 12:08:34

Tsai Yu-ling says VASPs will be treated as financial institutions under Taiwan’s licensing regime

At a media briefing for Taipei’s "Trendy Taipei 2026" tech event on Aug. 4, Asian FinTech Alliance (AFA) chair and honorary chair of the Taiwan FinTech Association Tsai Yu-ling said she had specifically checked with Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission and was told that virtual asset service providers, or VASPs, will be classified as "financial institutions" under the new licensing framework rather than "quasi-financial institutions." Tsai said the change reflects how crypto assets, which were not legally defined assets last year, have now become legal and compliant assets after the passage of the dedicated law, and can be regarded as financial assets with FSC approval. She also pointed to the next issue for the market: how traditional financial institutions will work with VASP operators now that the law allows financial institutions to run such business lines concurrently. The event also outlined the first AFA Awards, which drew 88 nominations from 16 economies. Nine international judges are set to travel to Taipei for the Sept. 1 final and awards ceremony, where the Top 10 companies will pitch live and winners will be selected on site. FinTechOn 2026 and the second AFA Summit will follow on Sept. 2-3, with speakers including GBBC CEO Sandra Ro, Peter Kerstens, an Abu Dhabi regulator representative, and a JPMorgan managing director overseeing Asia-Pacific product for securities services.

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