In today’s major news from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, count on China not to join in the West’s sanctions on Russia for its war on Ukraine, and the UK advertising regulator has pulled an advert from crypto firm Floki Inu for an alleged breach of advertising standards.
Additionally, Netflix has announced plans to acquire Finnish mobile game maker Next Games, delivery startup GoPuff has launched an expansion in France, and the European Union is considering banning seven Russian banks from SWIFT, the messaging system. international used to process payments.
China will refrain from sanctions against Russia, says regulator
China opposes financial sanctions against Russia and will not join Western countries in imposing them, the head of the country’s banking and insurance regulator has said.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday March 2 that Guo Shuqing said that China will not participate in such sanctions and that we will continue to maintain normal economic, trade and financial exchanges with relevant parties.
UK Regulator Bans Crypto Floki Inu Advertising
The UK advertising regulator has taken aim at another crypto ad. the Advertising Standards Authorityalleged Floki Inu, the piece inspired by Elon Musk’s dog of the same name, broke advertising standards, the agency announcement .
A poster for Floki Inu displayed on the London Underground last fall featured an image of a cartoon dog wearing a Viking helmet. The text read “Missed Doge. Get Floki,” aimed at consumers who missed out on the popular crypto Dogecoin which sold out quickly.
Netflix to Acquire Upcoming Finnish Games
netflixto acquire Finnish mobile game maker Next gamesthe streaming giant said on Tuesday (March 1) on its website.
Netflix said it hopes Next Games will provide mobile games based on entertainment franchises. Among its offerings is Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, which is inspired by one of Netflix’s most popular series.
Binance and OKX reject calls to ban Russian crypto transactions
Not all financial sectors have joined the drive to exclude Russia since its invasion of Ukraine last week, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday (March 1).
Binanceone of the largest exchanges by volume, said it has no plans to block Russian crypto addresses. OKXthe Seychelles-based company near the east coast of Africa, also said it has no plans to ban Russian accounts.
Exchanges between the Russian ruble and bitcoin and tether have doubled since the start of the offensive. It hit $60 million a day on Monday. The data suggests that Russian account holders who have been banned from the dollar-based financial sector through sanctions are storing cryptocurrencies or transferring money overseas.
Banks: Russia intensifies cyber war against the financial system
Russia has launched a cyberwar against the United States in retaliation for recent sanctions targeting the banking system and other major industries, The New York Post reported on Tuesday (March 1).
The Biden administration has worked with bank executives over the past few months to prepare for these attacks.
Google and Meta step up efforts to fight Russia’s disinformation campaign
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, has announced that it will ban Russian state media’s ability to serve ads and monetize them on its network. For this reason, the Russian government has decided to “partially restrict” access to Facebook in the country.
Russia justified the action by alleging that Meta had engaged in illegal censorship. CNN reports that Russia ordered Meta to “end independent fact-checking and labeling” of four Russian news outlets, but Meta refused.
Blockchain Game Company Animoca Blocks Russian Users
Animoca brandsthe blockchain gaming giant, is breaking ranks with most of its peers and blocking Russia from its platform in response to the invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday (March 2).
While sanctions against Russia continue across most corners of the map and across many industries, most major crypto firms are still working with Russia.
Zip Acquisition Gives Spotii a Boost in the Highly Competitive BNPL MENA Market
In the Middle East and North Africa, four major UAE-based providers buy now, pay later (BNPL) dominate the ecosystem with a common background of launching within months of each other during the pandemic.
For Anuscha Iqbal, co-founder and CEO of Spotii, launching around the same time as the other players “was a good thing” because it allowed the BNPL concept to materialize more quickly and to validate the need for the product in the market. region.
And less than two years after going live, Australian global giant BNPL Zip has finalized a deal to fully acquire the UAE-based fintech company in October 2021, a deal that has allowed Spotii to leverage cutting-edge technology. and Zip’s expertise to accelerate Spotii’s growth in the MENA region.
Bunq set to improve ‘sub-optimal’ service provided by traditional EU lenders
“Bankers are more inward and process oriented. At Bunq, we work the other way around. We try to really understand what our users want and need and try to surprise and delight them by applying technology,” Ali Niknamfounder and CEO of Amsterdam-based challenger bank Bunq said PYMNTS in a recent interview.
Available in 30 markets across the European Economic Area, the neobank received a full banking license from the Dutch Central Bank in 2014 and allows users to open a personal or business bank account in around five minutes, with a 30 day trial to test the product.
In April last year, the digital bank announced that it had reached 1 billion euros ($1.11 billion) in user deposits since its launch in 2012.
GoPuff is expanding throughout France with a 24/7 delivery service
Delivery startup GoPuff is launching expansion efforts in France and serving all of Paris, most of Île-de-France and parts of Marseille, Lille and Toulouse, with plans for branches across the country.
Based in Philadelphia and founded in 2013 by co-CEOs Rafael Ilishayev and Yakir Gola, GoPuff delivers daily necessities from dark warehouses and selects, sources and owns its own inventory, providing customers with local products .
EU mulls blocking Russian banks from SWIFT, but major financial institutions miss out
The European Union could remove seven Russian banks from SWIFT, the international messaging system used to process payments, according to documents seen by Politico on Tuesday.
The list includes VTB, the country’s second largest lender and a financial services provider with branches in Russia, former Soviet states, Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States.
Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Rossiya Bank and Sovcombank are also on the list. But not all banks are included.
EU rules on crypto assets make euro stablecoins unprofitable
For European investors, bitcoin exchange operators and decentralized financial networks wondering when cryptocurrency regulations will be implemented, it could be as early as next year.
This is the prediction of Philipp Sandner. In an interview with PYMNTS, the economist and head of the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management in Germany, said that at the latest the rules will be in place by early 2024.
As Crypto Money Transfer Companies Cut Russia, Bitcoin’s ‘Beyond Politics’ Utility Is Tested
As crypto-focused and crypto-friendly FinTechs follow Wise’s lead in cutting off remittances to Russia, the fundamental principle of neutrality that bitcoin brought to the industry is being tested, financially and morally.
Alongside FinTechs Wise and Zepz, two out-of-bank money transfer companies with strong ties to crypto payments — Ripple partner TransferGo and Coinbase partner Remitly — have been cutting citizens off from Russia and its allies.
Central Bank of Russia plans daily auction as financial crisis tightens
Russia’s central bank said on Wednesday (March 2) that it would hold 3 trillion rubles ($28 billion) of seizure and deposit auctions daily to help credit institutions “manage their liquidity and maintain market rates.” overnight money market close to their key rate,” according to a Reuters report.
Auctions are scheduled to begin on Thursday (March 3) and will take place every weekday, according to a statement from the central bank, according to the outlet.
HealthTech startup Susu wins $1m to boost insurance in Africa
Health insurance start-up based in Ivory Coast and France susuis backed by $1 million in pre-seed funding, Yahoo! Financial report.
The 3-year-old HealthTech said the money couldn’t come at a better time, given the scarcity of quality healthcare in Africa due to lack of insurance or ill-equipped hospitals.
Angel investors made the funding possible, along with $1.2 million in debt and grant funding from Bpifrance, the one-stop shop for entrepreneurs funded by the French government.
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NEW PYMNTS DATA: ACCOUNT OPENING AND LOAN SERVICE IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
On: Forty-two percent of US consumers are more likely to open accounts with financial institutions that facilitate automatic sharing of their bank details upon sign-up. The PYMNTS study Account opening and loan management in the digital environmentsurveyed 2,300 consumers to explore how FIs can leverage open banking to engage customers and create a better account opening experience.
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