KYC Associate - Proby

ICANN selects PwC to screen applicants for 2026 new gtld round. ICANN has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC (PwC) to conduct mandatory background checks on applicants seeking to operate new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) in its 2026 application round. The selection establishes the external screening provider responsible for examining applicants' corporate standing, ownership-related information, and eligibility under the program's existing rules. The appointment follows a competitive procurement process. According to ICANN's October 15 announcement, the organization selected PwC following a request for proposals launched in November 2025. The firm will review individual and organizational information, relevant public records, and applicant compliance with criteria established in the 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook. The appointment does not introduce new eligibility requirements or constitute approval of any application. Screening is a mandatory part of applicant evaluation. The process is intended to establish whether prospective registry operators meet ICANN's requirements for corporate standing and suitability. PwC's responsibilities draw on its corporate intelligence and due diligence capabilities, including investigations involving multiple jurisdictions. ICANN's original procurement announcement specified that the screening provider must deliver determinations accompanied by supporting rationale. Publicly traded companies listed on the world's 25 leading stock exchanges may qualify for a modified screening process. The checks involve potentially sensitive applicant information. ICANN's Applicant Guidebook identifies corporate information, applicant contacts, and individuals exercising ultimate control among the categories of information processed during screening. The process can also involve third-party reports based on publicly available information, reputational checks, and sanctions screening. Additional personal information may be requested when initial findings require further examination. These requirements introduce practical questions about how applicant and ownership information originating in different jurisdictions will be collected, transferred, retained, and protected. The appointment announcement does not separately explain PwC's operational safeguards for cross-border information handling or the procedures applicants will follow to contest disputed screening findings. The selection comes after the application window closed in August. ICANN reported receiving more than 1,600 primary applications when submissions ended on August 12, although the final total remained subject to payment verification. The organization subsequently revealed applications on October 7, moving the program into its next stages of review and evaluation. PwC's appointment identifies the contractor responsible for a required component of that evaluation. How screening findings are documented, communicated, and challenged will be consequential for applicants whose eligibility depends on information obtained from corporate records and other sources across multiple jurisdictions. - CircleID's internal staff reporting on news tips and developing stories. Do you have information the professional Internet community should be aware of? Contact CircleID. Filed under. Notify me of follow-up comments CircleID encourage you to post comments and engage in discussions that advance this post through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can report it using the link at the end of each comment. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of CircleID. For more information on its comment policy, see Codes of Conduct. More and more professionals are choosing to publish critical posts on CircleID from all corners of the Internet industry. If you find it hard to keep up daily, consider subscribing to its weekly digest. CircleID will provide you a convenient summary report once a week sent directly to your inbox. It's a quick and easy read. * CircleID Reporter * Oct 15, 2026 10:14 AM PDT * Views: 6,749 * Ben Gibbs * Oct 15, 2026 9:51 AM PDT * Views: 1,819 * David Weslow * Oct 13, 2026 10:58 AM PDT * Views: 2,470 * CircleID Reporter * Oct 13, 2026 10:38 AM PDT * Views: 2,369 * CircleID Reporter * Oct 13, 2026 10:29 AM PDT * Views: 1,822 * WhoisXML API * Oct 13, 2026 7:47 AM PDT * Views: 2,357 * Wilson Ramírez * Oct 12, 2026 11:54 AM PDT * Views: 2,504 * CSC * Oct 09, 2026 8:34 AM PDT * Views: 2,408 * CircleID Reporter * Oct 08, 2026 3:56 PM PDT * Views: 3,581 * Imteaz Chowdhury * Oct 08, 2026 8:25 AM PDT * Views: 3,785

EOS Group launches one-day securitization payouts via Stellar. October 8th, 2026 PwC has developed a new payout solution on Stellar, reducing timeframes from 30 days to 1. Here's why this matters. Quick take. Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. * PwC unveils a new payout solution that enhances efficiency. * Securitization payouts on Stellar now settle in one day. * This development could attract more institutional partners. Sponsored: Abra - Instead of selling your Bitcoin. Use it. Borrow against BTC In a significant move for blockchain applications, PwC has developed a securitization payout solution for EOS Group utilizing Stellar's network. This new technology reduces payout times from 30 days to just one day. The integration of smart contracts automates the payout waterfall, settling instantly in a MiCA-regulated euro stablecoin. This innovation could potentially attract more institutional interest in Stellar's capabilities as highlighted in this tweet. Inside the move. The broader crypto market exhibits mixed signals, but the announcement from PwC is generating buzz within the community. Currently, Stellar's price remains steady at $0, with no reported trading volume over the past 24 hours. The collaboration aims to streamline securitization processes, signaling a growing trend towards blockchain integration in traditional finance. By leveraging smart contracts, this solution enhances efficiency and could pave the way for wider adoption of Stellar's technology in financial services. Key details. * PwC has created a new securitization payout solution. This solution reduces payout times from 30 days to just one day. It operates on the Stellar blockchain, enhancing transaction efficiency. The payout process utilizes smart contracts for automation. The solution settles in a MiCA-regulated euro stablecoin. EOS Group is the first to implement this innovative technology. The numbers. Despite the current lack of trading activity, the announcement from PwC could serve as a catalyst for future engagement in the Stellar ecosystem. The focus on operational efficiency aligns with ongoing trends in financial technology, where speed and reliability are paramount. Market participants may begin to watch for potential partnerships or integrations stemming from this development. As the crypto landscape evolves, such innovations could significantly impact investor sentiment and adoption rates. Stellar is a blockchain platform designed to facilitate fast and low-cost cross-border transactions. PwC, a global leader in professional services, has jurisdiction over financial compliance and technology integration. Their collaboration with Stellar signifies an endorsement of blockchain's capabilities for real-world financial applications. What traders are watching next. What traders should watch next includes potential collaborations stemming from this new solution and the responses from other financial institutions. The efficiency of this payout system may prompt similar initiatives across the blockchain landscape. Additionally, traders should monitor the evolving regulatory frameworks surrounding blockchain technologies, as these could influence the adoption and scalability of solutions like the one introduced by PwC and Stellar. Risks include market volatility as institutions evaluate the effectiveness of blockchain integration in their operations.

Thai business leaders warned to overhaul operating models or risk extinction as global shocks become the new normal. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 08, 2026 * Thai business leaders are warned that persistent global shocks - including geopolitical conflict, tech disruption, and ESG pressures - are a permanent reality, rendering traditional operating models obsolete and risking extinction. * To survive, firms must proactively overhaul their business architecture by addressing supply chain vulnerabilities, divesting non-core assets to reallocate capital, and redesigning internal workflows. * Harnessing AI is presented as a critical survival tool, with an emphasis on integrating it with restructured operations to maximize financial returns and considering cost-effective "China Tech" options. * Businesses must adapt to new financial risks from environmental regulations, like the EU's carbon tax, and build resilience by moving away from "Just-in-Time" supply chains to more localized, buffered models. Presentations by Deloitte Thailand and PwC Thailand highlight a shared baseline: Thai enterprises must dismantle legacy models, address supply chain vulnerability, and harness AI to navigate persistent global volatility. Thai enterprises face an urgent, structural choice: overhaul their underlying business models and portfolio strategies or face diminishing competitiveness on the global stage. That was the core consensus delivered by top executives from two of the world's leading professional services networks, Deloitte and PwC, speaking at the Thailand Economic Outlook 2027: New Horizon Beyond the Trap conference organised by Krungthep Turakij. While approaching the challenge from distinct operational perspectives - Deloitte focusing on organisational redesign and cost efficiency, and PwC emphasising supply chain resilience and dealmaking capital allocation - both firms converged on a single macro assessment: the era of brief economic crises followed by a return to "normal" is over. Thai businesses are operating in a permanent environment of elevated geopolitical risk, energy transition pressures, tech-driven skill gaps, and tightening ESG regulations. Deloitte: overhauling operating models to survive 'recurring Black Swans' Metinee Jongsaliswang, managing director of Deloitte Thailand, warned corporate leaders during her keynote, Business Redesign: Challenges, Opportunities and Competitiveness, that traditional crisis-management playbooks are no longer sufficient to navigate modern markets. Metinee Jongsaliswang "Unforeseen shocks like global pandemics, regional conflicts, and extreme weather events are no longer rare occurrences," Metinee said. "What we previously categorised as 'Black Swans' have evolved into 'Recurring Black Swans'. We are not merely managing short-term disruption; we are living through a permanent structural shift." Metinee pointed to three structural headwinds threatening Thai corporate competitiveness: 1. Geopolitical and Trade Volatility: Ranked by 47% of global CEOs in Deloitte's research as their primary operational threat, geopolitical conflict directly inflates energy, transport, and raw material costs. 2. Energy Grid Strain: Driven by AI compute workloads and hyperscale data centres, electricity consumption across Asia-Pacific is projected to surge from 20% today to 45% by 2050, making clean, reliable power a baseline competitive metric. 3. Advanced Tech Talent Deficit: A severe skill bottleneck that cannot be solved purely by hiring, requiring comprehensive public and private workforce upskilling. To move beyond defensive survival, Deloitte outlined three strategic imperatives for local firms: Realising AI Value via 'China Tech': While AI adoption in Thailand grew from 47% to 60% over the past year, Deloitte data reveals that only 19% of firms have successfully scaled AI across their enterprise. To manage deployment costs, Metinee advised evaluating Chinese technology options ("China Tech"), which deliver 80% to 90% of Western technology performance at roughly one-third of the total cost. She recommended a hybrid approach - deploying cost-effective China Tech for baseline operations alongside specialised Western Tech for complex functions. Capital Optimisation via Divestments: Over 70% of Asia-Pacific business leaders are planning major asset divestments over the next 12 to 18 months. Selling off underperforming or non-core assets allows firms to redeploy capital into high-growth digital ecosystems, similar to how Singapore Airlines built its $1.6 billion KrisFlyer digital ecosystem. Redesigning Workflows for 2.5x Returns: Deloitte's research proves that firms that restructure their internal operating models alongside AI implementation achieve 2.5 times higher financial returns than those that layer technology onto legacy workflows - citing examples like Uniqlo's RFID-driven inventory tracking and Luckin Coffee's localised real-time queue management. Chanchon Chotikapanich PwC: fixing supply chain 'Choke Points' as capital pivots to resilient assets. Taking the global trade and dealmaking perspective, Chanchon Chotikapanich, Deals Leader at PwC Thailand, presented findings from the latest PwC Global CEO Survey (polling nearly 5,000 CEOs across 109 countries) during her session, Intelligent Infrastructure: The New Growth Advantage in the Digital Economy. Chanchon cautioned that legacy export models centred purely on low-cost production leave Thai businesses highly vulnerable to external economic trade shocks. PwC highlighted three primary megatrends disrupting established commercial markets: 1. Geopolitical Fragmentation and 'Choke Points': Rising tariffs, trade disputes, and shipping route disruptions are forcing firms to identify vulnerable operational bottlenecks. "The operational impact of global disruptions differs between firms," Chanchon stated. "It is the difference between having your arm squeezed for five minutes versus being choked for five minutes. Corporate leadership must identify their specific operational 'Choke Points' to prepare effective continuity contingencies." 2. AI Workflow Transformation: Beyond automation, AI is fundamentally altering R&D and business models. With the World Economic Forum estimating that 40% of core workforce skills face obsolescence, industries from pharmaceuticals to retail must overhaul how work gets done. 3. The Financialisation of Carbon: Environmental compliance has shifted from PR to the balance sheet. The European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) poses a direct financial risk to over 200 billion baht ($5.88 billion) in Thai exports if domestic suppliers fail to measure and lower carbon emissions across their entire supply chain (Scope 1, 2, and 3). In response to these threats, over 60% of global CEOs are actively restructuring supply chains - moving away from ultra-lean "Just-in-Time" models to localised, resilient supply networks built with inventory buffers. Concurrently, global institutional capital is flowing heavily into defence, aerospace, and specialised tech sectors, with Aerospace & Defense M&A seeing 26% profit margins and a $1 trillion international order backlog. To adapt, Chanchon urged Thai executives to evaluate corporate portfolios. Units that fail to align with digital or ESG requirements should be divested or spun off into Joint Ventures (JVs) to share capital expenditure and eliminate duplicate operational costs - a strategy already picking up momentum across Thailand's energy, petrochemical, and logistics sectors. Before approving future growth plans, PwC advised executive boards to test investments against three key questions: Choke Point Resilience: Can core operational choke points survive if geopolitical or trade conditions shift overnight? Capability Acquisition: Does this investment yield a net-new technological edge or structural advantage we currently lack? Contingency Allocation: Where specifically should capital be deployed to build operational redundancies against external shocks? Leadership execution: active redesign over reactive adaptation. Both Deloitte and PwC concluded that passive adaptation is no longer a viable corporate strategy for Thai business leaders. While reactive changes may allow a firm to survive short-term market stress, securing long-term financial returns and global market share requires corporate boards to proactively redesign their business architectures, reallocate capital into resilient assets, and embed digital and ESG compliance into the core of their daily operations. MOST VIEWED