AMTD undeterred by failed Singapore banking bid

The group will proceed with its plans to create a one-stop digital solutions platform.

Hong Kong financial institution AMTD is undeterred from its goal of creating a global digital finance hub despite being unable to secure one of Singapore’s digital banking license, its CEO said.

Speaking at a panel at SFF x SWITCH 2020, AMTD Chairman and CEO Calvin Choi said the recent results of Singapore bank licenses won’t deter AMTD from setting up a Singapore-headquartered one-stop digital connector solutions platform, not only in Singapore and Hong Kong, but in Asia and beyond.

“Singapore [is] a place very special for us, because we set forth our digital everything to be headquartered globally in Singapore. I can tell you right here, the result of the licenses I think wouldn't derail was from our commitment and undertaking by having Singapore as our central hub,” Choi said.

In a separate statement, AMTD Group congratulated the successful digital bank applicants whilst sharing their plans moving forward.

“Whilst we were expecting to leverage our powerful platform bank model to help SMEs to digitalize and improve their access to funding, we remain steadfast in our commitment to build a one-stop, comprehensive, cross-market, and innovative digital solutions platform, creating our SingaWorld,” the statement read.

In January, AMTD Group, Chinese tech firm Xiaomi’s finance arm Xiaomi Finance, Singapore-government owned SP Group, and crowdfunding startup Funding Societies announced their bid for one of Singapore’s digital wholesale banking licenses. The consortium reportedly plans to focus on small and medium enterprises.

The consortium of AMTD and Xiaomi launched the pilot of their Hong Kong neobank Airstar Bank in April.