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Citi Hong Kong Continues to Underpin the Success of FinTech

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 4 November 2021 –

 

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Citi Hong Kong continues to support the annual flagship Hong Kong FinTech Week. As Diamond Sponsor, Citi’s line-up of ten speakers this year share their expertise and views to propel fintech development in Hong Kong. Citi CEO Jane Fraser delivered a keynote speech “Citi: Innovating for the Digital World” on November 3, where she discussed the acceleration in digital worldwide, how Citi fosters the fintech ecosystem in the new digital era and what opportunities lie ahead.

 

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Citi Hong Kong is pleased to be the Diamond Sponsor of “Hong Kong FinTech Week 2021” and continues to foster the development of FinTech in the city.

 

From left to right: Lawrence Lam, Consumer Business Manager, Citibank Hong Kong; Angel Ng, CEO for Citi Hong Kong and Macau; and Vishal Kapoor, Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi Hong Kong, attended the opening ceremony of “Hong Kong FinTech Week 2021”.

 

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Lawrence Lam, Consumer Business Manager, Citibank Hong Kong attended “Hong Kong FinTech Week 2021”.

 

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Citibank Hong Kong Consumer Business Manager Lawrence Lam joined the conference session “Pandemic: Accelerating the Digital Transformation” with industry experts to exchange views on “Know Your Customer” and enhancing customer experience through technology.

Co-creating a Regenerative Future with Cross-Sector Wisdom and Dialogue at the 14th Social Enterprise Summit

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 4 November 2021 – The 14th Social Enterprise Summit (“SES”) has officially launched today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Themed “Building Blocks of a Regenerative Future“, SES 2021 took a hybrid format, with over 70 speakers and representatives from 13 countries and regions, aiming to leverage strengths of different sectors to advance social innovation in the post-pandemic era. The four-day Summit consists of discussion panels with dynamic and interactive events, social innovation visits and workshops, that inspire participants’ creativity with first-hand experience.

 

The theme of this year’s Summit is “Building Blocks of a Regenerative Future“, which signifies a trend of shifting from prosperity to ‘thrivability’, focusing on planetary and societal wellbeing. As nature has demonstrated its innate capacity to regenerate, now is the time for all citizens to be equipped as changemakers to our respective social biospheres, and to drive innovative initiatives across different sectors for social good. Social Enterprise Summit held an array of exciting activities in nine districts including the Social Entrepreneurship Labs, Community Carnival, SE Bazaar, School Talks & Workshops, and Community Tours during July to early November, which aimed to outreach local community and inspire each other with new social innovation ideas.

 

Mrs. Rebecca CHOY YUNG, Chair of Organising Committee of Social Enterprise Summit expressed in her welcoming speech, “Despite the substantial challenges ahead, many social entrepreneurs have shown that positive change is possible. Since 2014, we have been scaling up social innovation and empowering individuals through our community programs. This year, we have expanded our programs to 9 districts in Hong Kong with the addition of Wanchai, Kowloon City and Tai Po. Cross-sector participation and dialogues are extremely robust. I am delighted to report that innovative ideas and pilot projects have been nurtured in different districts by passionate innovators coming from different backgrounds.”

 

The keynote speaker, Mr Charles EISENSTEIN, author of “Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition”, explained the concepts of demographic, economic and ecological maturity, as well as their relations to a “Regenerative Future” in the Keynote Speech. Various macroeconomic and social policies that helped accelerate the transition, and the roles that business, government, NGOs, and academia might play were also discussed. Mr James LAW, JP, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cybertecture Architects, HK and Ir Andrew YOUNG, Associate Director (Innovation) of Sino Group acted as keynote respondents and shared their visions on a “Regenerative Future”.

 

The subsequent session of “Public Innovation – Bridging the Gaps Between the People, Private and Public Sectors” examined the importance of tripartite collaboration among the public sector, business and the civic society to driving a “Regenerative Future”. The panel was hosted by Mr Warren LUK, CEO of Good Lab, HK, with Ms Ada WONG, JP, Deputy Chair of Organising Committee of Social Enterprise Summit, HK, Ms Sunkyung HAN, Founder and CEO of C., South Korea, and Ms Emily ONG, Deputy Executive Director of DesignSingapore Council, Singapore to be the guest speakers. They shared Hong Kong cases and discussed a few examples in Asian cities in the hope of encouraging cross-sector partnership.

 

The thematic session of “Building Community Blocks” in the afternoon was co-hosted by Mr Francis NGAI, Founder and CEO of Social Ventures Hong Kong and Ms Tiffany FUNG, Impact Producer of SONOVA, Social Ventures Hong Kong to facilitate dialogues with guest speakers. Ms Vivian LEE, Founder and Director of ActionHouse International Limited, Mr Linus LEUNG, Founder of ACTIVE CONCEPT Limited, Mr Sampson WONG, Co-founder of “When in Doubt, Take a Walk”, and Mr Manfred YUEN, Founder of Groundwork Architects & Associates explored, from the points of view of people, business and social enterprise, on how different sectors could leverage their own strengths to reinforce community cohesion via social innovation.

 

Aligning with the strategic focus of the SES, three-themed tracks on Day 1 and 2 highlighted the prerequisites and groundwork that are essential to building a “Regenerative Future”. Track 1-“Co-Creating an Open Knowledge Hub for Ecosystem Development” focused on building an open data bank to share insights on Environmental, Social and Governance across the world. Track 2 – “Building Alliances for Regional Collective Impact” brought together Asian social entrepreneurs to advance social innovation with new strategies and tools. Track 3 – “Bridging Purpose with Actions” will cover how resources can be channelled effectively to purpose-led projects.

 

On Day 3 and 4, delegates will be immersed in multiple dimensions of social innovation including two workshops, a concluding session themed “Beyond Sustainability”, and three social innovation visits. The concluding session will be hosted by Dr Ilex LAM, Chairman of iEnterprise Foundation. He will join hands with Ms Naomi CHAN, National Executive Vice President of JCI Hong Kong, Dr Eddy LEE, Founder of 350HK, Ms Nicolette TONG, Executive Vice President of The Wave and Mr YUEN Shu Wah, Founding Chairman of Gratia Foundation Limited, to examine the vision of sustainability in the post-pandemic era and the prospect of the future “regenerative development.

 

For further details, please visit the SES’s official website: https://ses.org.hk/

 

About Social Enterprise Summit (SES)

Social Enterprise Summit (SES) is a cross-sector platform to inspire and empower social innovation and social entrepreneurship. The flagship International Symposium builds on the experiences of over 70 speakers and attendances from 10+ locations to inspire, innovate, connect and collaborate with delegates from the civic society, businesses, government and academic sectors from Hong Kong, China; Asia Pacific region and beyond to advance positive societal changes. Community engagement activities are held in nine different districts in Hong Kong during the year to expand the participation and reach beyond the conference rooms, applying knowledge, social entrepreneurship and innovative mindsets to various day to day life settings. Official Website: http://www.ses.org.hk

#SocialEnterpriseSummit

RCEP, World’s Largest Trade Pact to Come into Effect in January

RCEP to come into effect in January
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attending the 4th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Summit online.

The RCEP, the world’s largest free-trade bloc, will officially come into effect in January next year.

Laos Sees Second Day of Record Covid-19 Numbers

Covid-19 Update


Laos has confirmed another record day of Covid-19 cases, reaching 1,170  new cases across the country, with three new deaths.

CUHK Business School Research Reveals Companies with Exceptionally Confident CEOs Performed Better in the Stock Market During the Pandemic

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 4 November 2021 – Overconfidence, or the tendency to underestimate risk and overestimate returns, is often cited as a leading factor behind some of the biggest corporate failures in history, from the Enron scandal at the turn of the millennium, to the spectacular collapses of investment banks Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers during the global financial crisis of 2007 to 2008. With the world now in the grip of a new crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent research study is challenging the stereotypical discourse on overconfident business leaders and suggests that a touch of conceit in CEOs may help to lead their companies through the storm.

An area that overconfident CEOs excelled at is withholding bad news and accentuating good news, according to the study. (Source: iStock)

 

The study CEO Overconfidence and the COVID-19 Pandemic was co-conducted by Maggie Hu, Assistant Professor of Real Estate and Finance at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management and the Department of Finance; Desmond Tsang, Associate Professor at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School; and PhD candidate Wayne Wan Xinwei at the University of Cambridge. The researchers theorised that overconfident CEOs could be beneficial to their firms during unprecedented times of crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic provided a perfect backdrop for them to test their theories. They found that companies with exceptionally confident CEOs performed better in the stock market during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought an unrivalled level of uncertainty to our world. It has also become a test for CEOs in whether they can keep their companies intact,” Prof. Tsang says. “We found that overconfident CEOs actually provided strong leadership and kept both their employees and investors positive during a crisis.”

 

Overconfidence and Abnormal Returns

Using data from the U.S., the research team looked at companies’ stock market performance from January 22, 2019, to March 23, 2020. Only companies with the same CEOs since 2018 were included in their sample to control for any possible haphazard performance of newly appointed CEOs.

 

The researchers measured the level of CEO overconfidence by investigating CEOs’ options holdings. As senior managers, CEOs typically are vested in their companies’ stock options which they can exercise anytime. A CEO is considered more confident by researchers if they are willing to wait for a later date to exercise their stock options, as it may mean the CEO is confident enough to seek a higher payoff somewhere down the line.

 

According to the results, companies with more self-assertive CEOs displayed significantly higher abnormal returns, defined as returns that are unexpectedly and unusually large, during the COVID-19 period compared with companies with CEOs that have relatively less confidence. Given that COVID-19 brings negative impact of 0.52 percentage point in terms of daily abnormal return and 1.57 percentage points in terms of three-day cumulative abnormal returns, the overconfident CEOs mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 by about 37% on abnormal returns, and 33.7% on cumulative abnormal returns over the period studied, respectively.

 

The researchers then looked at whether the positive effect of overconfident CEOs would differ among different firms, specifically those highly affected by the pandemic. They measured how much the sampled companies suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic. They looked at companies’ exposure to the pandemic by calculating the frequency of the COVID-19-related keywords used when the management discussed their results in their quarterly reports. They found that the positive effect of overconfident CEOs was even more pronounced in firms that suffered more from the pandemic.

 

“Super confident CEOs had a crucial role in mitigating negative market reaction due to the COVID-19 pandemic because their positivity helped them to manage investor perception,” Prof. Tsang says.

 

The ‘CEO Magic’

So how did self-assured CEOs successfully manage investor perception during the crisis? The researchers explain that while the market sentiment was generally pessimistic for all firms, super confident CEOs tended to be more effective in managing public perception, which then influenced investors’ perception of their firms. As a result, investors maintained a positive attitude towards the companies’ stocks. This ability to keep a positive image of the company was extremely important for companies that faced high uncertainty and lack of resources during the pandemic, according to the study.

 

Another area that overconfident CEOs excelled at is withholding bad news and accentuating good news, according to the study. While it’s an activity that may be deemed questionable by some, it turns out to be quite valuable during a crisis. According to the study results, overconfident CEOs indeed withheld more bad news, which resulted in less negative stock price reactions during the pandemic.

 

However, despite the marginal edge gained by companies who are helmed by overconfident CEOs during the pandemic, the researchers found that even a highly overconfident CEO would not be able to save companies with inherently higher risk or weaker foundations from going under. For firms with a high risk of failure and bankruptcy, rational investors simply would not be swayed by any amount of spin-doctoring conjured up by overconfident CEOs.

 

“Our study shows that extremely confident CEOs can make a difference for the survival of a firm during a crisis, but they are not all-powerful. If a company is fundamentally unsound, then no matter how confident the CEOs are, it’s going be hugely difficult for them to pull a rabbit out of the hat and save the day regardless of how much smoke and mirrors they employ,” Prof. Hu says.

 

All in all, the beneficial impact of conceited CEOs only worked for companies with more cash holdings, lower leverage, higher ROA (return on assets) and larger market capitalisation before the crisis. In addition, the study highlights that this positive effect only lasted during the crisis period. This impact was no longer notable in the post-crisis recovery period when companies started to bounce back following government interventions and aids.

 

The researchers believe the study has strong implications for companies searching for the right leader. “Companies should think twice before turning down any overconfident CEO candidate because they can be highly beneficial in curbing stock price crashes at crisis times,” says Prof. Hu. “But they should also bear in mind that when the storm is over, then the magic of overconfident CEOs could vanish immediately.”

 

Reference:

Hu, Maggie and Tsang, Desmond and Wan, Wayne Xinwei, CEO Overconfidence and the COVID-19 Pandemic (November 22, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3716618 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3716618

 

This article was first published in the China Business Knowledge (CBK) website by CUHK Business School: https://bit.ly/3BDcmnE.

 

About CUHK Business School

CUHK Business School comprises two schools – Accountancy and Hotel and Tourism Management – and four departments – Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics, Finance, Management and Marketing. Established in Hong Kong in 1963, it is the first business school to offer BBA, MBA and Executive MBA programmes in the region. Today, CUHK Business School offers 9 undergraduate programmes and 18 graduate programmes including MBA, EMBA, Master, MSc, MPhil and Ph.D. The School currently has more than 4,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students from 20+ countries/regions.

In the Financial Times Executive MBA ranking 2021, CUHK EMBA is ranked 19th in the world. In FT‘s 2021 Global MBA Ranking, CUHK MBA is ranked 48th. CUHK Business School has the largest number of business alumni (40,000+) among universities/business schools in Hong Kong – many of whom are key business leaders.

More information is available at http://www.bschool.cuhk.edu.hk or by connecting with CUHK Business School on:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cuhkbschool

Instagram: www.instagram.com/cuhkbusinessschool

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/school/cuhkbusinessschool

WeChat: CUHKBusinessSchool

#CUHKBusinessSchool

Symphony showcases front office, operations, and wealth workflows at Innovate 2021

New York and London – News Direct – 4 November 2021 –

Symphony – the leading markets’ technology and infrastructure platform – showcased front office, operations, and wealth workflows that are solving for markets industry challenges in its flagship conference Innovate 2021, held yesterday in New York City.

Symphony showcased for the first time how its secure and compliant collaboration platform is integrating the technology of the two companies it acquired earlier this year: StreetLinx’s counterparty mapping platform and Cloud9’s markets voice and electronic communication platform into one powerful inter-firm workflow.

Symphony CEO Brad Levy said: “Harnessing networks and connecting with purpose has never been more important. This year’s Innovate gave us the opportunity to highlight how we can help bridge this gap across workflows and client segments, bringing finance and tech together for the benefit of users, clients and counterparties.”

The hundreds of financial professionals that joined the day’s sessions in person and online learned about the innovation and digital transformation taking place across markets directly from Symphony partners, customers, developers and innovators. Innovate 2021’s highlights included discussion panels with industry leaders and live demonstrations of Symphony’s platform and partnerships.

Chief product officer Michael Lynch added: “We were thrilled to showcase such a diverse set of innovations, all meant to help our customers be more connected and efficient—moving beyond legacy disparate systems into a holistic ecosystem of interoperability and collaboration.”

Videos from all the sessions will be posted on innnovate.symphony.com.

About Symphony Symphony is the most secure and compliant markets’ infrastructure and technology platform, where solutions are built or integrated to standardize, automate and innovate financial services workflows. It is a vibrant community of over half a million financial professionals with a trusted directory and serves over 1000 institutions. Symphony is powering over 2,000 community built applications and bots. For more information, visit www.symphony.com.

Contact Details

Symphony Communication Services

Odette Maher

+44 7747 420807

odette.maher@symphony.com

Company Website

https://symphony.com/

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/symphony-showcases-front-office-operations-and-wealth-workflows-at-innovate-2021-442870921

Authorities in Laos Destroy 4.2 Hectare Marijuana Farm

Marijuana plantation destroyed in Bolikhamxay Province, Laos
Authorities destroy a marijuana plantation in Bolikhamxay Province, Laos (Photo: KPL)


Authorities have destroyed a large marijuana plantation over four hectares in size in  Bolikhamxay Province.

Cyberport Venture Capital Forum 2021 concludes drawing 110,000 views

Premier venture capital event attracts 2,500+ online and offline participants and facilitates 300+ deal flow

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 3 November 2021 – Cyberport’s premier annual venture capital event, the Cyberport Venture Capital Forum (CVCF), ended on a high note today. Presented for the first time in a brand-new hybrid format of online and offline engagement, the two-day CVCF main forum gathered a host of global venture capital experts, investors, innovation and technology enterprises and Cyberport start-ups. Together with the spotlight events, including Cyberport FinTech InnoCon 2021, Edventures Global Business Acceleration Summit and the world-renowned venture event Silicon Dragon Online 2021 held during CVCF, the affair attracted more than 2,500 participants. Since its launch on 20 October, CVCF’s interactive online platform has recorded a total of around 110,000 page views.

 

The one-on-one meetings arranged by CVCF for investors and start-ups received all-round enthusiastic feedback. More than 300 meetings were arranged to facilitate deal flow.

 

Dr. George Lam, Chairman of Cyberport, said, “With the successful conclusion of this year’s CVCF, I would like to thank the over 100 distinguished speakers for sharing their insights and practical tactics with no reservation. I believe the participating investors and start-ups have gained a much deeper comprehension of the future developments of venture capital and the dynamics of the fundraising marketplace. I am also pleased to see investors and start-ups being enabled to exchange and explore future opportunities for win-win collaboration, with a sizable number of fundraising matching meetings successfully held at the event. Cyberport will continue to promote and facilitate the connection of start-ups with investors in hopes to expand their business network and turn the fruits of their innovations into business opportunities.”

 

The start-up workshop held on the second morning of the main forum assembled professional investors to share with start-ups their practical skills on topics such as positioning in an ever-changing environment, strategies for retaining talents, getting the best out of your angel investors and mentors, and intellectual property strategies in the digital age.

 

Among the spotlight events this year was the Edventures Global Business Acceleration Summit (Edventures GBA Summit), organised jointly by Cyberport and Esperanza. Founder of Esperanza John Tsang commented, “Themed ‘Think Big with EdTech, From Quick Fix to Driver of Change’, the Edventures GBA Summit this year explored how education technology (EdTech) has transformed from an auxiliary tool for remote learning during the COVID pandemic into an innovative instrument that drives learning in the 21st century.”

 

EdTech experts from mainland China, United States, Finland, Israel and Hong Kong deliberated on a huge variety of topics. These included the trends, development and opportunities of the global application of EdTech, how to cross the digital divide chasm, the transformation of new models of workforce development in the digital age, different funding models for EdTech ventures, validating efficacy and learning outcomes, and fostering cross-sector and cross-border partnerships. The topic on developing Hong Kong as an education innovation hub in the Greater Bay Area was also discussed, with a report on this fascinating area to be published by Esperanza in the first quarter of 2022.

 

Peter Yan, Chief Executive Officer of Cyberport said, “The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation within society, driving the development of EdTech and its adoption by the general public. These developments have prompted us to reimagine our models of education and talent cultivation in the 21st century. Cyberport’s EdTech community continues to grow and now consists of more than 140 EdTech start-ups who are thriving under the various support programs provided by Cyberport. I am keen to see more talented entrepreneurs join Cyberport in the future to inject new impetus into the Hong Kong growing EdTech ecosystem.”

 

Another highlight of CVCF was the final presentation of the “Edventures Global Business Acceleration Fellowship” in which 12 promising EdTech start-ups from Israel, Canada, India, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and Hong Kong presented their innovative solutions for early childhood education and special education, K12 learning programmes, higher education, career development, and lifelong learning. The Global EdTech Startups Awards (GES Award) China Final was also held during CVCF, with four of the six finalists coming from the Cyberport community. They were AESIR, Find Solution AI, Connect AR and Big Bang Academy. Find Solution AI won the China Final and will enter the global contest on behalf of the China region, while Big Bang Academy was the first runner up.

 

To provide start-ups with an all-round platform to explore venture opportunities, more than 100 online booths will be featured until mid-November as part of CVCF and its series of spotlight events. Through this platform, start-ups can showcase their innovative technology solutions, participate in investor matching and put forward project pitches.

 

More information about the contents and speaker line-up of Cyberport Venture Capital

Forum 2021 is available at:

http://cvcf.cyberport.hk/

Click here to download high resolution photos.

1.    Cyberport Venture Capital Forum 2021 recorded X views in total. The event received more than 2,500 participants online and offline. Since its grand opening on 20 October, CVCF’s interactive online platform has recorded a total of around 110,000 page views.

 

2.    Dr. George Lam, Chairman of Cyberport, thanks the over 100 distinguished speakers for sharing their insights and practical tactics with no reservation, allowing participating investors and start-ups to gain a much deeper comprehension of the future developments of venture capital and the dynamics of the fundraising marketplace.

 

3.    The one-on-one meetings arranged by CVCF for investors and start-ups received all-round enthusiastic feedback. More than 300 meetings were arranged to facilitate deal flow.

 

4.    Industry experts shared their new trends, development and opportunities at the Edventures GBA Summit. Founder of Esperanza John Tsang (left) and Dr. George Lam, Chairman of Cyberport (middle) held a dialogue with young moderator Ryan to kick-off the summit.

 

5.    Peter Yan, Chief Executive Officer of Cyberport introduces Cyberport’s EdTech community which now consists of more than 140 EdTech start-ups who are thriving under the various support programs provided by Cyberport.

 

6.    The Global EdTech Startups Awards (GES Award) China Final was also held during the summit. Cyberport start-up, Find Solution AI won the China Final and will enter the global contest on behalf of the China region, while Big Bang Academy was the first runner up.

 

Viola Lam, CEO and Co-founder of Find Solution AI (left) and Peter Yan, Chief Executive Officer of Cyberport (right)

 

7.    Presented for the first time in a brand-new hybrid format of online and offline engagement, more than 100 online booths will be featured until mid-November as part of the Cyberport Venture Capital Forum and its series of spotlight events to provide start-ups with an all-round platform to explore venture opportunities. Through this platform, start-ups can showcase their innovative technology solutions, participate in investor matching and put forward project pitches.

 

More information about the contents and speaker line-up of Cyberport Venture Capital Forum 2021 is available at: http://cvcf.cyberport.hk/

About Cyberport

Cyberport is an innovative digital community with around 800 on-site start-ups and technology companies. It is managed by Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, which is wholly owned by the Hong Kong SAR Government. With a vision to be the hub for digital technology, thereby creating a new economic driver for Hong Kong, Cyberport is committed to nurturing a vibrant tech ecosystem by cultivating talent, promoting entrepreneurship among youth, supporting start-ups on their growth journey, fostering industry development by promoting strategic collaboration with local and international partners, and integrating new and traditional economies by accelerating digital transformation in the public and private sectors.

For more information, please visit www.cyberport.hk

#Cyberport