MORGAN Stanley has thrown its weight behind London fintech Thought Machine in a $160m (£129m) funding round announced yesterday, as the London-based cloud banking firm gears up for international expansion.

The fresh funding round, led by

Singapore investment giant Temasek with backing from institutional heavyweights including Morgan Stanley, Lloyds Banking Group and JP Morgan, doubles Thought Machine's valuation to $2.7bn.

Bosses at the London fintech said the round was a "statement of intent" as it gears up for an expansion into markets including

Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines. "We intend to become the leader in core banking technology, and are being deployed by the biggest, most successful banks around the world," said Paul Taylor, founder of Thought Machine.

"We will use this new capital to accelerate our expansion plans and serve more clients around the world."

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper