Global

November 26, 2024 @ 4:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

iwoca, one of Europe’s SME lenders, announces access to a £500,000 fund to help small businesses and employees build skills in artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics. Teaming up with learning provider Multiverse, iwoca can now transfer half of its unused apprenticeship levy (~£250,000) to… Read More

November 26, 2024 @ 1:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

SeedBlink has announced the launch of its secondary marketplace thus providing access to trading in private securities. SeedBlink is a pan-European online capital formation platform that aims to pair retail investors with issuers that have been backed by investment professionals. To kick off the secondary… Read More

November 26, 2024 @ 12:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

The UK recently revealed it intends to pursue comprehensive regulation of the digital asset sector in 2025. This includes the key stablecoin market, which is one of the most robust sectors of crypto. Today, much stablecoin activity incorporates onboarding or an off-ramp for crypto trading—an… Read More

November 26, 2024 @ 11:48 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says ownership of crypto is on the rise in the country. According to the securities regulator, 12% of UK adults hold digital assets, an increase from their previous study when 10% reported holding crypto. The FCA says that awareness… Read More

November 26, 2024 @ 10:54 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Klarna, the AI-powered global payments network and shopping assistant,  reported its financial results for the first nine months of 2024, achieving net income of SEK 216 million in Q3, up 57% YoY. Klarna noted that this marks the Fintech firm’s second profitable quarter, as the… Read More

November 26, 2024 @ 10:09 am By JD Alois  |  

UK Secretary to the Treasury Tulip Siddiq now expects stablecoin rules to emerge next year. Originally, stablecoin regulations were on the calendar for 2024. Bloomberg reports that the delay is due to the change in government, and the new Labour leadership needs more time. Simultaneously,… Read More

November 26, 2024 @ 8:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Temenos (SIX: TEMN) announced it is bringing on-premises Temenos generative AI — built with the NVIDIA AI platform — to banks, allowing them to transform data into real-time insights while retaining control over their information. Banks are now able to deliver customer-centered experiences by processing… Read More

November 26, 2024 @ 8:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Eurobank has announced that it expanded its strategic partnership with UK-based Plum Fintech Limited by advancing a second €5 million minority capital investment to Plum, which claims to be one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintechs that has built a “smart money management” app. With its latest… Read More

November 26, 2024 @ 8:51 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Cboe Clear Europe, a pan-European clearing house, today announced that it has received regulatory approval to clear European Securities Financing Transactions (SFTs). This has reportedly been granted by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and the Autoriteit Financiële Markten (AFM). With this approval, Cboe Clear Europe is… Read More

November 26, 2024 @ 8:50 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Brightflag, an AI-powered e-billing and matter management platform for corporate legal departments, launched Ask Brightflag, which is described as the first generative AI assistant for legal spend and matters. E-billing and matter management tools are said to serve the following purposes: They perform tasks, like… Read More

November 25, 2024 @ 10:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

US Bitcoin ETFs are reportedly on track to surpass gold ETFs in terms of overall size by this coming holiday season (around end of December 2024), with current assets valued at approximately $107 billion. Notably, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust is the dominant player this past… Read More

November 25, 2024 @ 10:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CaixaBank unveiled its 2025–2027 Strategic Plan in order to ensure sustainable levels of profitability “above 15% (ROTE)” in order to support the growth of loans to firms and households, which is on track to grow by around 4% CAGR during the next three years. Maintaining… Read More

November 25, 2024 @ 10:16 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Equito App creators, who are carrying out a crowdfunding campaign via Crowdcube, have noted that traditional real estate investing is becoming increasingly inaccessible for the average investor. Equito explained that it intends to change that by enabling anyone to invest in real estate properties starting… Read More

November 25, 2024 @ 10:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), which is the EU’s financial markets regulator and supervisor, has recently released its Final Report providing the assessment of the shortening of the settlement cycle in the EU. The report aims to highlight that the increased efficiency and… Read More

November 25, 2024 @ 10:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Lunar, the Nordic challenger bank, is reportedly focused on becoming one of the best “every day banks” in the Nordics region. Lunar is a digital challenger bank focused on simplifying and enriching customers’ financial lives by creating a frictionless everyday banking platform. Founded in Aarhus,… Read More

November 25, 2024 @ 10:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Klarna, the AI-powered global payments network and shopping assistant,  announced a global agreement with the technology solutions provider Lenovo. Consumers in 15 European countries are now able to pay for their tech purchases at Lenovo.com using Klarna’s flexible payment methods, including its popular interest-free Buy… Read More

November 25, 2024 @ 4:22 pm By JD Alois  |  

Birchal, the leading securities crowdfunding platform in Australia, has added a crowdfunding OG to its roster of resources. According to a note shared by Birchal, Darren Westlake, founder and former CEO of Crowdcube,  joins Birchal as Strategic Advisor. Additionally, Birchal says that Rod Bristow, former… Read More

November 25, 2024 @ 4:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A total of 2,116 venture capital funding deals valued at around $28.2 billion were announced in China during the timeframe between January-October 2024, according to a new research report. This represents a significant year-on-year (YoY) decline of 22.5% in VC deal volume, whereas the total… Read More

November 25, 2024 @ 11:32 am By JD Alois  |  

OurCrowd, a top securities crowdfunding platform, has distributed an update on its “fast-growing” funds sector, which now reports that fund assets will top $1 billion next year. Currently, there are approximately $800 million in assets in the Funds Division across four types of funds. These… Read More

November 25, 2024 @ 11:19 am By JD Alois  |  

Digital securities are the future of financial markets, this much is clear. While the Biden administration ignored the opportunity, choosing to pursue specious objectives, expectations are high that the incoming administration will pursue the opportunity with legislation and a forward-thinking regulator at the helm. CI… Read More