CIMB and China Merchants Bank Sign an LOI to Scale Cross-Border Trade and Payments Across China-Malaysia-ASEAN
CIMB Bank, Malaysia's second-largest lender, signed a letter of intent with China Merchants Bank to build a comprehensive framework for cross-border banking across the China-Malaysia-ASEAN corridor. Announced in late May and carried regionally on June 1, the agreement spans trade finance and payments, cross-border financing, cash management, settlement, syndicated loans, investment-banking advisory and mutual client referrals. No transaction figures were disclosed; the LOI sets the scope rather than committing capital.
The partnership sits within CIMB's Forward30 strategy and is framed explicitly as positioning the bank as a financial bridge for flows between China and ASEAN. "By leveraging CIMB's strong ASEAN footprint and expertise, this partnership strengthens our role in advancing regional financial connectivity," said Chu Kok Wei, CEO of Group Wholesale Banking at CIMB. China Merchants Bank brings the China-side corporate relationships and head-office connectivity to streamline cross-border treasury operations.
TikTok Confirms Nearly $5 Billion in Vietnam and Will Establish a Domestic Legal Entity
TikTok confirmed it has invested nearly US$5 billion in Vietnam over the past seven years and intends to set up a domestic legal entity, transitioning from a cross-border operating model to a locally incorporated one. Nguyen Lam Thanh, TikTok Vietnam's director, said the move aims to strengthen data management, simplify regulatory filings and improve collaboration with local authorities. Vietnam's Ministry of Finance welcomed the plan and directed tax authorities and the Foreign Investment Agency to assist with compliance and investment procedures.
The scale of TikTok's Vietnam footprint underlines why localisation now matters to both sides: more than 6 million content creators earn on the platform, alongside roughly 500,000 sellers and 500,000 advertisers, and TikTok Shop's share of Vietnamese e-commerce has climbed to 41% from 29% at the end of 2024. Vietnamese users consume around 100 million hours of video daily. The shift onshore aligns the company with Vietnam's tightening data-governance regime and its push to anchor large foreign platforms inside the local legal perimeter.
Vietnam's Deputy PM Asks Bybit to Help Build the Legal and Technical Framework for Its Pilot Crypto Market
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang received Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou in Hanoi on June 4 and asked the exchange to share its experience in developing a regulated digital-asset market. The request spans legal-framework development, market supervision, technology infrastructure and workforce training — the institutional plumbing Vietnam needs to stand up the pilot crypto market it approved under Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP. Zhou said Bybit was ready to cooperate and to share international experience in institution-building and human-resource training.
Vietnam's government approved a five-year pilot program for cryptocurrency exchanges in September 2025, and roughly ten businesses — including Techcombank, VPBank, LPBank, VIX Securities and Sun Group — have expressed interest. The pilot is anticipated to launch in the third quarter of 2026. The Deputy PM said he hoped Bybit would become a trusted partner of Vietnamese regulators in building a transparent, efficient ecosystem balancing the interests of the state, investors and the public.
Eyes on the Day Ahead
Nothing is formally docketed in the next 24 hours, so look to the coming days. On CIMB, the detail to track is conversion — whether the China Merchants Bank LOI produces named trade-finance or settlement mandates rather than staying a framework. On TikTok, watch for the formal registration of its Vietnamese legal entity and any data-localisation commitments that come with it, which would set a template for other platforms. And on Vietnam's crypto pilot, the signal to follow is the move from this week's expertise-sharing meetings toward concrete licensing criteria and a firm Q3 start date — the gap between political intent and a working exchange framework is where the timeline usually slips.
Layer 7 Ventures is a research-driven firm focused on AI and cryptocurrency in Southeast Asia. Views expressed are those of the firm and do not constitute investment advice.
