Standard Chartered and HSBC completed the first live cross-border transaction using tokenised deposits through Swift’s blockchain-based ledger, testing interoperability between two bank-issued tokenised deposit infrastructures. Citi launched Custody+, a suite of custody solutions providing institutional clients with enhanced access to custody data, asset servicing and operational workflows.

Elsewhere, a EUR 538 million ($627.5 million) export-credit-backed financing was arranged for Angola’s Luanda water infrastructure project, while EBRD provided a $75 million trade finance facility to Al Mansour Bank in Iraq. DBS deployed agentic AI tools for corporate bankers, and TenPay Global and ShopeePay launched cross-border QR payments in China for Southeast Asian users.

Read more on the week’s key developments:

1. Standard Chartered and HSBC complete first live tokenised deposit transaction on Swift ledger

Standard Chartered and HSBC announced on 19 August that they completed the first live cross-border transaction using tokenised deposits through Swift’s blockchain-based ledger, demonstrating interoperability between the two banks’ tokenised deposit infrastructures. The transaction involved the exchange of payment messages between HSBC and Standard Chartered through Swift’s ledger, with the resulting obligations recorded as tokenised deposit obligations on HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service and Standard Chartered’s tokenised-deposit infrastructure. Swift’s ledger matched and netted the obligations before final settlement through existing systems.

The transaction tested the interoperability between two bank-issued tokenised deposit systems rather than introducing a new settlement rail. It shows how obligations issued by different banks can be reconciled through a shared infrastructure layer in a controlled test environment.

2. Citi launches Custody+ suite with near-real-time custody solutions

Citi announced on 18 August the launch of Custody+, a suite of custody solutions designed that provides institutional clients with near-real-time access to custody data, asset servicing and operational workflows. The offering combines Citi’s custody infrastructure with digital tools for visibility into positions, transactions and cash activity, alongside enhanced reporting and workflow capabilities. It is aimed at institutional investors, asset managers and other securities-services clients managing global portfolios across multiple markets.

Custody+ moves information closer to real-time workflows rather than periodic reporting cycles, allowing clients to access to positions, transactions and servicing information without changing their underlying custody arrangements.

3. Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Ant International partner on cross-border payments and corporate financial solutions

Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK) and Ant International have formed a strategic partnership on 20 August to enhance cross-border payment connectivity and develop corporate financial service solutions. Under the agreement, the two organisations will explore collaboration across cross-border payments, merchant services and corporate financial solutions, leveraging BOCHK’s banking capabilities and Ant International’s payment and financial technology platforms. The partnership includes cooperation around Alipay+, Ant International’s global wallet gateway, and Whale, Ant International’s treasury infrastructure platform for global businesses. The collaboration covers cross-border payment and financial-service solutions for businesses operating across markets.

The partnership connects BOCHK’s banking infrastructure with Ant International’s payment and treasury technology platforms, creating a framework for cross-border payment and corporate-finance solutions. The agreement remains exploratory, with no transaction volumes, specific products or implementation timetable disclosed. Its commercial impact will depend on how the two organisations translate the framework into customer-facing services.

4. Standard Chartered arranges EUR 538 million (about $627.5 million) financing for Luanda water infrastructure project

Standard Chartered has arranged EUR 538 million (about $627.5 million) in financing for the Republic of Angola to support Phase 2 of the Quilonga Grande Water System project, which will expand Luanda’s potable water distribution network. Standard Chartered acted as Export Credit Agency (ECA) Coordinator, Structuring Bank, Sole Bookrunner and Mandated Lead Arranger for the transaction. Announced on 20 August, the project is commissioned by Empresa Pública de Águas (EPAL) under Angola’s Ministry of Energy and Water, and will draw water from the River Kwanza and process it through a new treatment plant with a capacity of 518,000 cubic metres per day. The expanded network is expected to provide access to clean water for approximately five million people in the Greater Luanda Metropolitan Area. The financing received support from Bpifrance Assurance Export, acting on behalf of the French State, through export-credit insurance coverage, while Sfil, a French public development bank, is participating through its export-credit refinancing scheme.

The transaction uses export-credit support to reduce the risk retained by commercial lenders on a large infrastructure project. Standard Chartered’s role extends beyond lending to arranging the financing structure, coordinating ECA support and bringing together public-sector and commercial participants.

5. EBRD provides $75 million trade finance facility to Al Mansour Bank for Investment in Iraq

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced on 18 August that it would provide a trade finance limit of up to $75 million (approximately €65 million) to Al Mansour Bank for Investment (MBI), a private-sector bank in Iraq, under its Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP). The facility will offer guarantees and cash advances to support MBI's cross-border import and export activity, covering political and commercial payment risk. MBI, launched in 2006 and majority owned by Qatar National Bank Group, will use the facility to expand its correspondent banking network and increase trade finance availability for Iraqi businesses, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), across agriculture, construction, manufacturing and consumer goods.

The facility addresses a specific constraint for MBI: access to foreign confirming-bank support for trade transactions. By transferring political and commercial payment risk through EBRD guarantees, MBI can issue or confirm trade-finance instruments without assuming the full exposure itself.

6. DBS deploys agentic AI tools for corporate bankers to automate workflow tasks

In an announcement dated 19 August, DBS said that it deployed agentic artificial intelligence (AI) tools for its corporate bankers to assist with workflow tasks, including information retrieval, preparation of client materials and other banker support activities. The tools are designed to help relationship managers access relevant information and complete selected operational tasks through AI agents integrated into corporate banking workflows. DBS said the agents are intended to reduce manual preparation work across customer engagement and internal processes. The deployment builds on DBS’s existing use of AI across banking operations and does not introduce additional review or control requirements, according to the bank.

The deployment moves DBS’s use of AI closer to workflow execution within corporate banking rather than information assistance alone.  Its operational effect will depend on how much preparation and administrative work the agents can remove while maintaining existing oversight and controls.

7. CIMB provides payroll banking services for Infineon Malaysia’s workforce of more than 10,000 employees

CIMB has been appointed by Infineon Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to provide payroll banking services for more than 10,000 employees at Infineon’s Melaka operations. Under the arrangement, which was announced on 20 August, CIMB will support salary crediting services for Infineon employees, alongside payroll-related banking services. The collaboration covers Infineon’s employee base at its Melaka manufacturing site, which is part of the company’s semiconductor operations in Malaysia. CIMB said the arrangement forms part of its corporate banking relationship with Infineon, while Infineon highlighted the role of payroll banking in supporting employee banking access and salary administration.

The mandate gives CIMB access to recurring salary-payment flows linked to Infineon’s employees, extending the bank’s corporate relationship beyond traditional company-level services. Payroll arrangements can also create additional retail banking touchpoints.

8. Ant International expands FalconTST AI model for cash-flow forecasting and FX management applications

Ant International announced on 19 August that it introduced Falcon Time-Series Transformer (FalconTST) Model 2.0, an AI model for cross-border payment cashflow forecasting and foreign-exchange (FX) risk management. The model achieved a Mean Absolute Scaled Error (MASE) score of 0.666 on a public benchmark for time-series foundation models, which Ant said ranked it first.  FalconTST 2.0 has also been integrated by Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered for cash-flow forecasting and FX management. Ant initially deployed the model internally to manage cashflow and FX exposure on hourly, daily and weekly time horizons before being integrated by banking partners.

FalconTST’s application to treasury forecasting is more relevant than its benchmark ranking alone. Its use in cash-flow and FX forecasting places the model within workflows where banks manage currency exposures and liquidity requirements.

9. TerraPay and Deutsche Bank expand global payment connectivity through cross-border payments partnership

TerraPay and Deutsche Bank entered into a partnership to expand cross-border payment connectivity on 20 August. Under the arrangement, Deutsche Bank will provide banking connectivity and payment capabilities to support TerraPay’s international payments network, which connects banks, mobile wallets, money transfer operators and other payment providers across multiple markets.

The partnership links Deutsche Bank’s payment infrastructure with TerraPay’s network of banks, wallets and money-transfer providers, creating another channel for cross-border payment connectivity. The announcement does not disclose the specific corridors, transaction volumes or settlement arrangements covered by the partnership.

10. TenPay Global and ShopeePay enable cross-border QR payments in China for Southeast Asian users

TenPay Global, Tencent’s cross-border payment platform, and ShopeePay, a digital payment and financial services provider in Southeast Asia and Brazil, announced the launch of cross-border QR payments in China on 20 August, allowing ShopeePay users to scan and pay at Weixin Pay QR code merchants directly through the ShopeePay and Shopee applications. The service initially covers Singapore and Thailand, with Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines planned for subsequent phases. The solution is built on TenPay Global’s cross-border payment infrastructure and Weixin Pay’s merchant network, providing access to Weixin Pay QR code merchants across China.

The partnership extends wallet interoperability by allowing ShopeePay users from selected Southeast Asian markets to access China’s Weixin Pay merchant acceptance network through an existing wallet relationship. The immediate change is payment acceptance access rather than a new payment rail.

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