HSBC CEO Georges Elhedery urged a selective approach to data-centre investment, saying not every facility will prove attractive even as AI spreads. He called AI a major investment theme and a core technology that can help redesign banking, but said infrastructure funding should be judged by contract structure and profitability, including the quality and pricing of leases. His comments come as AI and cloud demand fuel a surge in data-centre spending and raise concerns about rising debt issuance.

Meritz Securities will work with the Optimism Foundation, which operates Ethereum layer2 network OP Mainnet, to review the issuance, settlement and distribution structure for tokenised financial assets. The company said it signed a memorandum of understanding for business cooperation. It plans to examine ways to tokenise domestic financial assets and distribute them to global investors through a public blockchain ecosystem, while considering global trends and the status of domestic token securities rules.