Singapore bank DBS charts ambitious plans for digital exchange
The Hindu
Soaring popularity of cryptocurrencies has posed a problem for mainstream banks as they try and balance clients' interest in digital coins with regulatory concerns about their risks.
Singapore's DBS Group expects to double the number of members on its new platform for cryptocurrency trading to 1,000 by end-December and grow this by 20-30% annually for the next three years as digital tokens gain acceptability. (Subscribe to our Today's Cache newsletter for a quick snapshot of top 5 tech stories. Click to subscribe for free.) In an interview, DBS's senior executives said DBS Digital Exchange, set up in December as a members-only bourse, is seeing robust demand from corporate investors, accredited individuals and investment firms that manage the fortunes of wealthyfamilies.Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.