FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 17 March 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
Stripe raises $6.5bn in funding at reduced valuation of $50bn
Stripe raises $6.5bn in funding at $50bn valuation
US fintech giant Stripe has raised more than $6.5 billion from investors at a $50 billion valuation, a significant drop from the $95 billion valuation the company secured after its $600 million funding round in March 2021.
Stripe says it “does not need this capital to run its business” and the new funds will instead be used to pay current and former employees and address employee withholding tax obligations relating to equity awards.
Co-founder and president John Collison says the funding will give current and former employees the opportunity “to access the value they’ve helped create”.
Investors in this latest round include many existing shareholders such as Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, MSD Partners and Thrive Capital.
A number of new investors will also stump up cash, including GIC, Goldman Sachs Asset and Wealth Management and Temasek.
Anchorage Digital to cut 20% of staff as part of “strategic realignment”
Digital asset platform Anchorage Digital is to reduce its staff headcount by 20%, 75 employees, citing regulatory uncertainty, crypto market volatility and macroeconomic headwinds.
Despite a “robust and growing” business, Anchorage says the job cuts are a necessary part of a “strategic realignment” to refocus its resources as it adjusts to “changing economic, marketplace, and regulatory conditions”.
In a statement on the firm’s website, Anchorage outlines how the “adjustments” it is making are the result of a several months-long review process.
“This restructuring is aimed at fuelling the parts of our business that are most essential to our clients in the current and anticipated marketplace,” it adds.
Although its client assets under custody are “at an all-time high”, Anchorage says, the same dynamics driving demand for its “safe and secure” digital asset services are also creating headwinds for the business and the wider cryptosphere.
UK fintech Weavr acquires open banking platform Comma
Weavr acquires Comma for an undisclosed sum
UK Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) fintech Weavr has acquired B2B open banking platform Comma Payments for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisiton will see Weavr become the first embedded finance provider to bring BaaS and open banking together into an embeddable payment solution for B2B mass payments.
Comma’s technology allows firms to make bulk payments for processes such as accounts payable and payroll, saving time and labour and cutting the risk for errors.
The acquisition, which is largely equity-based, will see Weavr retain most of Comma’s current workforce, including company CEO and founder Tom Beckenham and chief technical officer Gianluca Pengo.
US regulators shutter New York’s Signature Bank following SVB collapse
New York’s Signature Bank has been shuttered by US regulators as the banking sector looks to see off a domino effect following the closure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).
In a joint statement, Treasury secretary Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve board chair Jerome Powell, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) chair Martin Gruenberg outlined how they are taking “decisive action” to strengthen confidence in the banking system.
As well as confirming that the FDIC has protected all deposits in Silicon Valley Bank, the group announced a similar “systemic risk exception” for Signature Bank. “All depositors of this institution will be made whole,” the statement reads.
However, shareholders and some unsecured debtholders will not be protected, while senior management has been axed.
Central Bank of Nigeria publishes open banking guidelines
Central Bank of Nigeria publishes open banking guidelines
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued operational guidelines for open banking in the country, making it the first in the African region to do so.
The guidelines, which were released this week, encapsulate how banks and other financial institutions in Nigeria can access and share consumer data, and outlines minimum requirements, responsibilities and expectations from participants.
The central bank says the guidelines are anticipated to drive competition and improve access to financial and payments services in the country.
“The adoption of open banking in Nigeria will foster the sharing of customer-permissioned data between banks and third-party firms to enable the building of customer-focused products and services,” says Musa Jimoh, director of the payments system management department at Central Bank of Nigeria.
