Daily Briefing: Singapore bankers cautious of mainland China travel; Razer sets eyes on international market expansion

And trade and supply chain investor GTR Ventures makes its first African investment.

From eFinancial Careers:

Bankers in Singapore and Hong Kong are becoming more cautious about travelling to mainland China after a UBS relationship manager was questioned by authorities in October.

Although the Chinese request was said to not be bank or employee related, the news has raised flags amongst bankers as currency controls in China continue to make it difficult for travellers to move money overseas.

More specifically, the UBS news has renewed concerns about the tough stance taken by Chinese authorities on the selling of offshore products by visiting bankers, according to two Singaporean private bankers, both of whom asked not to be named. This is despite there being no suggestion that the UBS banker is suspected of breaking any onshore selling rules.

Read more here.

From Channel News Asia:

Razer is aiming to bring its gaming-focused smartphone Razer Phone 2 to potential markets in China and Malaysia.

Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia are also set to join Singapore and Hong Kong to claim access to Razer’s flagship device.

Razer is also preparing the ground to enter the vast and lucrative Chinese market, a bold move considering the dominance of local handset makers like Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi, as well as the popularity of Samsung and Apple.

Read more here.

From Deal Street Asia:

Trade and supply chain focused investor GTR Ventures announced its first African investment into fintech deals platform Orbitt which is based in London with operations in Mauritius and a user base across Africa.

Africa-Asia trade is said to stand at US$500b annually, and GTR hopes to strengthen its trade finance capabilities and access to a network of trade finance players through the investment.

GTR Ventures was launched in September 2017 and announced its investments in five other trade fintech companies with a combined value of US$50m in March.

Read more here.