Malaysia-based CIMB Group Holdings and Singapore-based Ant International have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly explore developments in cross-border payments and treasury and liquidity management solutions.
The partnership covers collaboration across Ant International's businesses, including Alipay+, Antom, and Bettr Treasury, and spans CIMB's capabilities in cash management, treasury and markets, credit and financing, capital markets, and sustainability-related initiatives.
A key element of the agreement is the joint development of a digital framework intended to improve treasury and liquidity operations for both parties. The framework will draw on Ant International's blockchain-based treasury management solution, subject to applicable regulatory frameworks and approvals. It is designed to support capital efficiency, transparency, and cross-border liquidity optimisation across both organisations' regional financial ecosystems.
Strategic and regulatory context
The MoU aligns with CIMB's Forward30 digital transformation strategy, which the bank has described as embedding innovation into its core operations. The partnership also builds on CIMB's recently announced participation in Bank Negara Malaysia's Digital Assets Innovation Hub, positioning the initiative within a broader regulatory and institutional push to develop digital financial infrastructure in Malaysia.
Novan Amirudin, Group CEO of CIMB, said the collaboration enables the bank to accelerate institutional adoption of distributed ledger technology within the treasury ecosystem and positions CIMB toward building scalable digital financial infrastructure across ASEAN, with a focus on efficiency, transparency, and cross-border connectivity for clients.
Expanding on this, Douglas Feagin, President of Ant International, noted that the partnership aims to scale institutional adoption of tokenization as a key pillar of next-generation financial infrastructure, to create a more efficient and inclusive financial ecosystem for businesses in Malaysia.
Implementation outlook
Both parties have indicated that development of the framework will focus on scalable and practical implementation to support evolving institutional treasury needs across the region. The agreement reflects a shared focus on responsible digital innovation within a defined governance structure, though the timeline for operational deployment remains subject to regulatory approval.
