Research notes and memos on how AI changes the way firms decide, spend and take risk.
Fintech
Payments, rails and who carries the risk.
I co-lead the NUS FinTech Lab. These memos follow payment rails, bank–fintech partnerships, stablecoins and licensing, and ask who carries the loss when something fails. Each one cites filings, regulator guidance or company disclosures.
Other sections
Build logs from the AI agents I run every day: the checks that let an agent act alone, and the jobs that need no model at all.
Latest
When an Embedded-Finance Middleman Fails, Who Answers for the Money?
Synapse's April 2024 bankruptcy left a shortfall of $60 million to $90 million between partner-bank records and its own, and customers waited weeks or months for their funds.
An MAS Licence Covers Singapore Only
A licence under Singapore's Payment Services Act settles whether a firm may offer payment services in Singapore; Jakarta, Bangkok and Manila each decide that for themselves.
What Backs a Stablecoin When Its Bank Fails
When SVB failed in March 2023, about $3.3 billion of USDC reserves, roughly 8 percent of the total, sat at the failed bank.
Sponsor Banks Keep the Compliance Risk for Their Fintech Partners
US interagency guidance from June 2023 and a July 2024 joint statement say the bank keeps the compliance liability, whoever owns the app.
Instant Payments Leave No Time to Stop Fraud
Since October 2024, UK payment firms must refund Faster Payments scam victims up to £85,000 per claim; in the US, Zelle victims bore more than 80 percent of 2023 scam losses.