Singapore Financial News

most powerful passport list for 2024, with citizens allowed to travel to 62 countries without a visa. The country shares its rank with Uzbekistan, while the neighboring nation Pakistan is positioned at 101 spot. Singapore and Japan have boasted the world’s most powerful travel documents for the last five years, granting their citizens access to more countries without a prior visa than anyone else.

Passport Index, offering their citizens visa-free access to a record-breaking number of destinations. According to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and Singapore now boast the most powerful passports globally, enabling their citizens to visit an impressive 194 destinations out of 227 worldwide without the need for a visa. Are you immigration ready? Find out Four EU member states—France, Germany, Italy, and Spain—have now joined them at the top. Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and the originator of the passport index concept, highlighted the widening global mobility gap. «The average number of destinations travelers can access visa-free has almost doubled from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024. However, the top-ranked countries now have a staggering 166 more visa-free destinations than Afghanistan, which ranks at the bottom with access to just 28 countries without a visa,» he said. South Korea takes the second spot alongside Finland and Sweden, enjoying visa-free access to 193 destinations. In the third spot, four EU nations—Austria, Denmark, Ireland, and the Netherlands—share access to 192 destinations.

Alchemy Pay, a Singapore-based crypto payment gateway has added new Bank Identification Numbers (BINs) for its crypto card. The feature will be available for users in Hong Kong.

Fintech firm Mylapay said it has raised Rs 4.6 crore in a seed funding round led by venture capital firm CDM Capital. Singapore-based Saison Capital, the venture arm of Credit Saison, and 77 Capital, led by fintech veteran Amit Goel. Mylapay addresses challenges in the payment industry, such as high transaction failure rates and the intricacies of complex payment operations through the company's unified cloud-based platform.

I think there’s a lot of room for growth. ONDC and McKinsey have jointly published a report in which we examined the potential for e-commerce in India. According to McKinsey, ONDC will enable a 5-fold rise in India’s digital consumption to $340 billion.

The token dipped to $46,850 as of 1:05 p.m. Tuesday in Singapore after a 6.5% jump on Monday in the US to a 21-month high. Bitcoin’s new year climb now stands at 10%, contrasting with drops over the same period in stocks and gold. The crypto market expects a green light for US spot Bitcoin ETFs by a Jan. 10 deadline. Prospective issuers such as BlackRock Inc., Fidelity Investments and Ark Investment Management updated paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the regulator has until Wednesday to take action on at least one of the applications. Speculators are wagering that the agency will announce a slew of decisions at once to avoid handing out a first-mover advantage. If the funds are approved, the next question is how much money they will woo. Bitcoin is up 173% in the past 12 months in a sign that traders anticipate wider adoption of the token.

By Ankur Banerjee

By Tom Westbrook

Mint explains the significance: What is a P&I entity or club? A P&I entity or a P&I club is a mutual insurance association that provides risk-pooling information and representation for its members. Unlike a marine insurance company, which reports to its shareholders, a P&I club reports only to its members that include ship owners, operators, charterers, freight folders and warehouses. These act as both insurer providers and insurance receivers for its members and provide coverage for a carrier’s third-party open-ended risks such as damage to cargo, war, and environmental damage such as oil spills.

zero forex markup cards, provide currency at the exact inter-bank exchange rate without adding any markup fees on top of the base exchange rate. Forex cards are available in different variants based on the requirements of the travellers. The main types of forex cards are: A single-currency forex card is loaded with only one foreign currency and is suitable when you plan to visit just one destination country.

CoinDCX is offering a 1% bonus to all investors who wish to shift their holdings to the platform in a bid to capitalise on the government’s crackdown on offshore crypto trading platforms. CoinDCX has earmarked $1 million as incentives for investors looking to withdraw from offshore crypto exchanges, with a cap of Rs 10,000 per person. Through this initiative, the exchange expects a 500% surge in fresh inflows, contributing to an overall 10,000% increase in cryptocurrency deposits, Minal Thakur, EVP, Growth & Strategy at CoinDCX told ET. “In alignment with our unwavering commitment to the community, we have dedicated $1 million to incentivise users transitioning to CoinDCX,” Thakur said.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has recently added the non-custodial crypto wallet imToken to its Investor Alert List.

interim budget 2024 before the Lok Sabha elections later this year. Over the last few years, capital gains taxation is one aspect of individual taxation which needed some reform. While some changes have been made over the years, the structure is still pretty complex and difficult to comply with for a layperson.

By Rae Wee

It is the thing every mother of a teenage girl dreads. Taylor Swift is coming to your city—and you don’t have tickets. I scoured high and low for what has become a precious commodity in Singapore these days, without success: They had all been snapped up in a buying frenzy for The Eras Tour last year.

Love may come knocking at the door when you least expect it! LinkedIn, one of the most visited sites for job-hunting and building professional networks has apparently turned into a hub for dating!

Beware of fake delivery scam! What to do if victim of cybercrime According to a report in the Hindustan Times, companies need to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the DoT to begin selling eSIMs in India. Singapore-based Airalo and Spain-based Holafly have been removed as the two companies did not possess the necessary authorisation.

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) — China's securities regulator is allowing mutual fund managers to sell more shares than they buy each day, three sources said, removing a ban introduced late last year aimed at propping up a flagging stock market.

South Korea’s leading crypto exchange Upbit’s subsidiary Upbit Singapore announced that it has received a Major Payment Institution License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

By Florence Tan

By Rae Wee