
Manesh Samtani is the Editor at Regulation Asia, where he leads the regional news desk from Hong Kong, directing coverage of critical regulatory developments impacting financial services across APAC. Manesh specialises in analysing how new rules and technologies are reshaping banking, capital markets, and the fight against financial crime, providing finance professionals, compliance leaders, and policymakers with the intelligence they need to navigate risk and understand the impact of regulatory change in the region. manesh@regulationasia.com

PEPs & Sanctions
US Updates Hong Kong Sanctions After National Emergency Lapses
20/07/2026
The move, which lifts sanctions on nine officials, was initially praised by Beijing but later clarified by Washington as a technical change, with key restrictions remaining.

Structural Regulation
UK Eases Audit Rules for Chinese Firms Listing in London
20/07/2026
The move allows Chinese companies on the Stock Connect programme to use local audit standards for a temporary two-year period, subject to new disclosure requirements.

Emerging Prudential Risks
South Korea Signals Shift in Approach to Housing Finance Policy
20/07/2026
Regulators are considering macroprudential fees on high-value loans as the president criticises the over-reliance on real estate assets.

Market Data & Technology
ICMA Publishes New Definitions for Bond Price Distribution
17/07/2026
The updated taxonomy reflects the market's evolution towards greater electronification and automation and provides a basis for assessing dealer behaviour.

Structural Regulation
Korea Halts New Single-Stock ETFs, Tightens Trading Rules
17/07/2026
Authorities will halt new listings, triple cash deposit requirements, and tighten trading rules to cool speculative fervour and protect investors.

Trading & Investment
World Bank, ISDA Partner to Bolster EMDE Derivatives Markets
17/07/2026
The collaboration will focus on building the legal, regulatory and institutional foundations needed for well-functioning derivatives markets.

Clearing & Post-Trade
Asian Firms Aware of EU T+1 Transition, But Lag in Action - Report
17/07/2026
Awareness of Europe's planned move to T+1 is high among firms in Asia, but a significant portion are yet to translate this into concrete action.

Anti-Money Laundering
FATF Urges Action as Crypto-Enabled Illicit Finance Grows in Complexity
17/07/2026
New report highlights persistent gaps in global enforcement which are being exploited by increasingly sophisticated criminal networks.

Emerging Prudential Risks
BIS Paper: Geopolitical Threats, Not Just Acts, Raise Sovereign Risk in EMEs
17/07/2026
New paper finds that anticipated geopolitical risks have a larger and more prolonged impact on emerging market sovereign risk premia than realised events.

Tokenisation
DTCC Completes First Major Test of New Tokenisation Infrastructure
16/07/2026
The exercise processed live trades to validate that tokenised assets can maintain identical legal protections while testing new, more efficient settlement models.
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