Making sense of UBS’s cancelled Wealthfront acquisition
/On Friday, UBS announced that it had called off its acquisition of Wealthfront. UBS had been slated to purchase the robo-adviser for $1.4B.
Read MoreFintech News Stories
Bank branch closings are slowing down. What does that mean for fintech?
/US banks have closed 1,261 branches during the first six months of 2022. If closures continue at the same pace over the rest of the year, then this rate will represent a 15% decline compared to 2021.
Read MoreMaking sense of Texas’ war on ESG
/Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced a list of ten financial firms that are now banned from doing business with state entities in Texas. Hegar said those firms, which include BlackRock, Credit Suisse, UBS, and BNP Paribas, “boycott” the fossil fuel sector, which is illegal under a 2021 Texas state law.
Read MoreGoldman’s not at peak performance. What does that mean for fintechs?
/Reporting by the Financial Times suggests Goldman Sachs is lagging behind its main competitor, Morgan Stanley. Shares in Goldman trade at 1.1 times book value, compared to 1.7 times for Morgan Stanley.
Read MoreDid SoFi’s scattered acquisition strategy pay off?
/Shares in SoFi surged 8% on Tuesday after the personal-finance giant shared news of “durable growth and profitability.” Revenue rose from $231M to $362M, while analysts had expected $344M.
Read MoreHow diversified lending can buoy Black-owned banks
/According to a June 30 filing, three Black-owned US banks—Industrial Bank, First Independence Bank, and Mechanics and Farmers Bank—joined eighteen other banks, including Citigroup, in a $1.23B syndicated corporate loan. The loan was provided to Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), which offers IT services to the US government.
Read MoreBanking platform aims to close racial gaps in business
/Guava, a banking platform for Black business owners, announced a $2.4M pre-seed round led by Heron Rock. Guava will officially launch in 2023.
Read MoreStarling scraps European banking plans
/Starling, the UK-based challenger bank, withdrew its application for a European banking license four years after its initial application to the Irish Central Bank. The bank is now eyeing growth through its banking software subsidiary, Engine, and by expanding its lending initiatives.
Read MoreBuilding a financial ecosystem for SMBs with ForwardA
/In an interview with The Financial Revolutionist, Co-Founder and CEO of ForwardAI Nick Chandi outlines the market need ForwardAI addresses, describes the competitive dynamic between accounting platforms and banks, and envisions the future of SMB financial advisory services.
Read MoreVoyager’s misleading marketing in regulators’ crosshairs
/Crypto firm Voyager Digital, which filed for bankruptcy last week, previously told customers that their deposits were FDIC insured through a partnership with Metropolitan Commercial Bank. However, customer funds are only protected if Metropolitan Bank fails, not if Voyager fails; the FDIC is now investigating Voyager’s false claims.
Read MoreFormer OCC head talked big bank out of gun control measure
/Brian Brooks, former acting Comptroller of the Currency during the Trump administration, said the head of “one of the two largest banks in the United States” was considering a ban on gun purchases using the bank’s debit and credit cards. Brooks convinced the bank CEO to not go ahead with the move.
Read MoreCredit unions risk major climate-related losses
/A report by the Filene Research Institute and Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets suggests more than 60% of credit unions risk climate-related losses. These credit unions represent over $1.2T in assets.
Read MoreIs State Street about to acquire Credit Suisse?
/After a third straight quarter of losses at Credit Suisse as well as an upcoming round of layoffs, the Swiss blog Inside Paradeplatz has reported that State Street may make a bid for Credit Suisse at 9 francs per share.
Read MoreFrench bank eyes decarbonization as competitive edge
/La Banque Postale, the 16-year-old banking branch of France’s postal service, is the world’s first bank to set a hard deadline on financing for oil and gas. It will discontinue investments in those companies by 2030.
Read MoreDigitizing bank security with old-school practices
/The Royal Bank of Canada announced that it will combat fraud by combining card and biometric authentication with a PIN authentication via mobile apps. Canadians lost more than $300M to fraud in 2021, as compared to $80M in 2020.
Read More
