Capital Calls: Bitcoin is last crypto standing 6 Jun 2023 Concise views on global finance: SEC action against crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase clarify the regulator’s thinking on which cryptocurrencies it deems to be securities. The lawsuits threaten every digital token except bitcoin, whose design makes it an outlier.
Binance charges are a last gasp for crypto 5 Jun 2023 The SEC sued the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange saying it misled investors and evaded securities law. Even if Changpeng Zhao’s firm works through regulatory investigations, dabblers will become even more shy, and diehards will pivot further to decentralized exchanges.
Revolut-SoftBank fight exposes VC share artifice 22 May 2023 The fintech group may only win a UK banking licence if it gets rid of preference stock held by the Japanese investor. Similar structures are common in startup land, and help justify puffed-up valuations like Revolut’s $33 bln price tag. The fracas shows they also have a downside.
PayPal’s struggles make case for bold CEO choice 11 May 2023 Boss Dan Schulman is leaving a longer and tougher to-do list for whoever replaces him at the $71 bln digital wallet provider. Disappointing results sent the shares tumbling another 16%. It’s increasingly evident that a shakeup led by a creative-thinking outsider would be best.
Guest view: Why bank investors have it the hardest 21 Apr 2023 Lenders were supposed to be boring after 2008. Recent collapses exposed that vision as a fantasy. Shareholders grapple with high leverage, opacity, erratic regulators and intangibles like trust. Seemingly low valuations may not be low enough, argues former analyst Rupak Ghose.
Japanese online lender is curious beast 21 Apr 2023 Rakuten Bank shares jumped 33% in Tokyo’s largest IPO since 2018. Loans only account for a third of its balance sheet, the government is its biggest borrower and it buys lots of assets from its parent. The pop reflects a thin supply of tech-savvy finance listings.
Capital Calls: Bridal bankruptcy 18 Apr 2023 Concise views on global finance: David’s Bridal, which dresses one in four American brides, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in five years. Trends that push women to spend more on themselves suggest the chain would have better luck with bachelorettes.
Tech IPO freeze will thaw soon 11 Apr 2023 Late-stage tech companies such as Instacart and Reddit are procrastinating going public. But investors are antsy to cash out, employees are owed, and bankers are motivated. History suggests the window won’t stay shut past this fall, even if companies debut at lower valuations.
Walmart gets early credit in India to offer credit 20 Mar 2023 The US retailer’s payments app, PhonePe, is raising funds at a $12 bln valuation, or 25 times forecast sales, sixfold rival Paytm's multiple. A dominant market share is a factor, but the premium rests on expectations that PhonePe will secure a coveted lending license.
Where is Silicon Valley’s J. Pierpont Morgan? 17 Mar 2023 JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon channeled his predecessor by corralling fellow bank CEOs to support First Republic. Financiers band together, even with regulators, when the going gets tough. Silicon Valley, more fragmented and libertarian, lacks such a savior. That could change.
Capital Calls: Gas station M&A 16 Mar 2023 Concise views on global finance: Canada’s $44 bln Alimentation Couche-Tard pays 3.1 bln euros for TotalEnergies’ European gas station cast-offs.
Fintech darling Stripe has first-world problems 2 Mar 2023 The payment startup is raising new cash at a valuation roughly half its previous worth of $95 billion. A solid business model and rapid growth allowed Stripe to stay private. But slowing revenue and the need to retain employees have forced it to acknowledge financial gravity.
Revolut audit snag undermines $33 bln price tag 1 Mar 2023 The startup published 2021 results after a long delay. Growth soared but bean-counters raised questions over how its IT systems record revenue. That’s unlikely to help its quest for a British banking licence, which will in turn limit Revolut's ability to make sustainable profits.
Capital Calls: Alibaba’s Paytm exit 13 Feb 2023 Concise views on global finance: The e-commerce group has sold out of the Indian fintech company, though Paytm’s other Chinese backer may find it harder to follow suit.
Robinhood’s Wall Street bets aren’t yet working 9 Feb 2023 As retail stock trading and crypto have withered, so have the online brokerage’s main sources of income. So it has slashed costs, and staff, and is aggressively launching new products. But for now, it’s rising interest rates – not happy customers – that are holding Robinhood up.
How Ant fell into fintech’s middle-income trap 9 Feb 2023 The Chinese payments-to-credit superapp once boasted a valuation surpassing banks like ICBC. New rules and capital requirements have cut it down to size. But there's still room for Ant to thrive as a mid-sized lender, provided it weathers its first economic stress test.
Payments darling wisely resists tech layoff trend 8 Feb 2023 Shares in $40 bln Adyen fell 12% after a hiring spree crimped its earnings. Adding more staff is conspicuous at a time when rivals like Stripe are doing the opposite. But boss Pieter van der Does has still-chunky margins, and needs to boost his small in-store payments business.
Paytm is stuck in dealmaking catch-22 6 Feb 2023 A banking licence would help the $4 bln Indian fintech generate earnings and boost its flailing share price. Regulators might only grant it once Ant and Alibaba offload their combined 28% stake. Yet the Chinese firms are unlikely to sell entirely until the stock improves.
Battered fintech sector’s next play: sell ads 20 Jan 2023 Erstwhile financial technology stars like $47 bln Block and Klarna are suffering from falling valuations and slowing sales. Yet they’re sitting on potentially valuable insights about punters’ spending habits. That points to an opportunity in helping retailers reach their users.
Fintech fight tests Fed’s transparency mission 19 Jan 2023 The Federal Reserve will soon disclose which firms it approves for valuable master accounts. It’s the latest in the central bank’s push toward greater transparency, but change has been slow. Fintechs seeking master accounts of their own will check the Fed’s sincerity.