
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 Adds 43 Chinese Firms to Xinjiang Forced Labour Blacklist
04/08/2026
The largest-ever single expansion of the UFLPA Entity List targets companies in sectors from electronics and metals to food and lithium production.

PEPs & Sanctions
Global Alliance Issues Alert on North Korean IT Workers
04/08/2026
11 nations have issued a joint advisory detailing the methods used by North Korean IT workers to evade sanctions and fund weapons programmes.

Tokenisation
BIS Project Agorá Tests Real-Value Tokenised Cross-Border Payments
04/08/2026
A consortium of 28 global banks and five central banks has successfully settled approximately USD 1 million in live transactions using tokenised money.

Market Risk
Japan, Korea and US Coordinate Intervention to Support Yen, Won
04/08/2026
Japan and the US conducted their first joint intervention since 2011, with Korea also acting to support its currency amid coordinated efforts.

Anti-Money Laundering
Egmont Group Issues Guidance for FIUs on Environmental Crime
31/07/2026
New bulletin series provides FIUs with practical typologies and risk indicators to help disrupt money laundering linked to environmental offences.

PEPs & Sanctions
US Advances Sanctions Bill Targets Top Buyers of Russian Energy
31/07/2026
A bipartisan bill moving through the US Senate would grant the president new powers to sanction and impose tariffs on major buyers of Russian energy.

Anti-Money Laundering
Egmont Group Issues Guidance to Bolster Public-Private Partnerships
31/07/2026
New report outlines practical models and governance frameworks for jurisdictions to strengthen structured collaboration in the fight against financial crime.

Supervision & Enforcement
Thai Banks Caught Between Industrialised Crime and Hardening Supervision
30/07/2026
Thai banks are being squeezed by the challenges of industrial-scale criminal enterprises and a wave of aggressive new regulatory demands.

Market Risk
BOE Probes Concentrated Asia AI Equity Risk at UK Prime Brokers
30/07/2026
The BOE is reviewing investment banks' exposure to hedge funds' highly leveraged and concentrated bets on Asian AI stocks.

PEPs & Sanctions
US Sanctions HK, China Firms in Iran 'Extortion' Clampdown
30/07/2026
OFAC designated entities in Asia for their alleged role in an IRGC-backed maritime insurance scheme and sanctions-evading oil shipments.
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