FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 7 April 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
UK government delays plan to sell NatWest shares by two years
HM Treasury delays plan to return NatWest to private ownership
The UK Treasury has put plans to return NatWest to private hands on hold for two years after uncertainty in the banking sector has depressed share value.
The UK government currently owns around 42%, down from 84% at its peak, of NatWest Group after taking over the bank following the financial crisis of 2008. That bailout cost the taxpayer £45.5 billion.
The government bought its stake in NatWest at 502p per share. Today they are worth around 268p, having fallen 9% in the past month alone.
Now, rather than offload a 15% stake in the group in August this year, HM Treasury has pushed this back to August 2025 and will continue to sell shares under the trading plan set up by then chancellor Rishi Sunak in 2021.
Rathbones acquires wealth management arm of Investec in £839m deal
Private investment and wealth management firm Rathbones is to acquire the UK investment and wealth management arm of Investec Group in an all-share deal worth £839 million.
Rathbones will issue shares in the company in exchange for the entire share capital of Investec Wealth and Investment (Investec W&I), creating a UK wealth manager with around £100 billion in funds under management.
The combined company will continue to operate as an independent firm under the Rathbones brand with Investec Group acting as a long-term shareholder. Investec W&I’s standalone branding will be phased out following a transition period, Rathbones says.
On completion of the deal, Investec Group will own 41.25% of the enlarged Rathbones Group, with Investec Group’s voting rights limited to 29.9%.
Railsr appoints new CEO, CFO and COO following rescue sale
Railsr appoints new CEO, CFO and COO
UK-based embedded finance platform Railsr has appointed a raft of new executives to lead the firm following its recent sale to a consortium of venture capital companies.
The fintech has named Philippe Morel as its new CEO, Debbie Lotz as chief financial officer (CFO) and Nick Charteris as chief operating officer (COO).
Morel boasts over 25 years of financial services experience and will report directly to board chair Rick Haythornthwaite.
He replaces Nigel Verdon, who co-founded Railsr in 2016 (it was known as Railsbank at the time).
Lotz is a chartered accountant with over 25 years of experience in global banking. Most recently, she served as an executive leading data risk governance at National Australia Bank.
Charteris rejoins Railsr from Crypto.com, where he served as general manager in the UK for the last 12 months. He previously served as global head of operations at Railsr.
Dutch challenger Bunq applies for US banking licence
Dutch digital challenger Bunq has applied for a US banking licence with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in New York as the firm looks to expand its services to all 50 states.
The neobank says it is targeting a “community of almost 5 million digital nomads – expats, international entrepreneurs, and professionals working remotely – who are EU or US citizens with deep ties on both sides of the Atlantic”.
Bunq says that by the end of 2021, the number of European expats in America reached 4.9 million, including international entrepreneurs and professionals working remotely, and claims many Europeans are met with “complexity and lack of transparency” when accessing financial services in America.
US saving and investing app Acorns acquires UK’s GoHenry
Acorns acquires GoHenry
US saving and investing app Acorns has acquired GoHenry, a UK-based financial literacy app for kids and teens, and its European arm Pixpay for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2012, Acorns allows Americans to save and invest for the long term. The firm’s app includes a retirement savings product, a bank account, automated investing in diversified portfolios, investing for kids and financial education tools.
GoHenry also launched in 2012 in the UK and offers prepaid debit cards and a financial education app for children. It claims to have more than two million members across the UK and US and recently rolled out its services in France, Spain and Italy through the acquisition of French fintech Pixpay in July last year.
Together, both firms will now serve over 6 million customers across the US, UK and Europe.
