PRA fines Standard Chartered £46.55m for reporting failures
The penalty is the PRA’s highest ever fine in a PRA-only enforcement case.
UK
British Business Bank backs SME-focused lender Simply with £300m funding line boost
Simply has provided £650 million worth of support to businesses since it was founded in April 2017.
FCA fines HSBC £64m for failings in its AML processes
The FCA says HSBC’s transaction monitoring systems showed “serious weaknesses” between 2010 and 2018.
Challenger banking player Monese makes its first acquisition
Monese has acquired Trezeo, a specialist financial services platform for the self-employed.
Why start-ups, not incumbents, will be the engines of post-pandemic SME growth
Many lendtechs are looking to leverage the digital revolution to help drive post-pandemic recovery in the UK.
Citi spin-out Proxymity raises $31m in Series B funding round
Proxymity says it has delivered significant growth since launch in April 2020.
Dear Luc: What fintech trends should I prepare to see in 2022?
Four trends that FinTech Futures’ Agony Uncle predicts will occur in 2022.
NatWest and TrueLayer conduct first series of variable recurring payment transactions
NatWest is the first of the nine largest UK banks to conduct VRP transactions in a live environment.
ICYMI funding round-up: Novus, Bumper, topi, Toucan, & Raison
With the fast-paced nature of the fintech world, it’s easy to let announcements slip by from time to time.
US paytech Flywire enters UK education market with WPM acquisition
The acquisition will build on Flywire’s existing education payments business.
Report: Safety in numbers – levelling the playing field for green finance
Turning up the volume on green finance – read & download the full report for free.
Global paytech PPRO hires e-commerce tech veteran Bernie Miles as CTO
Miles will lead a global team based across Europe, South America and Asia.
Zopa shutters P2P retail investment business to focus on banking offering
Zopa CEO says erosion of consumer trust and regulatory burdens are to blame.
NatWest hit with £264.8m fine from FCA for money laundering failures
The fine includes a 33% discount thanks to the bank’s early guilty plea.
Nuvei partners Visa to launch branded crypto debit cards across Europe
The programme plays “a vital role in expanding the crypto ecosystem”, Nuvei CEO says.
Collateral analytics platform Cassini secures $20.5m financing round
“With this latest investment, we look forward to deepening and expanding our solutions,” CEO says.
UK SME lender OakNorth acquires cashflow forecasting solution Fluidly
Since its launch in September 2015, OakNorth Bank has lent over £6.5 billion to SMEs.
Aussie fintech Finder secures first capital injection worth $22m
Finder co-founder Fred Schebesta says the company has been “bootstrapped since day one”.
Curve appoints new CTO, Eric Molitor
Molitor replaces Matt Collinge, who left Curve after almost four years.
Monzo raises more than $500m from investors at $4.5bn valuation
The neobank has already closed the first batch of money — $480 million — with more expected soon.
Payroll start-up Pento raises $35m in Series B
The Series B was co-led by new investor Tiger Global and existing investor Avid Ventures.
Paytech Recharge.com hires David Lindheimer as CPTO
The appointment will bolster the paytech’s global expansion plans, CEO says.
Brewin Dolphin goes live with Avaloq’s core banking system
One of the UK’s largest wealth managers has gone live with new SaaS-based core.
Accounting software firm Tipalti hits $8.3bn valuation with $270m Series F round
Tipalti says new funding places it “among the most valuable private fintech companies in the world”.
APIs, open banking and the changing face of financial services
The pandemic played a substantial role in boosting the adoption of open banking and APIs.
Digital wealth manager Wealthsimple exits UK
All eligible accounts will be transferred to Moneyfarm in January.
Start-up Quantile acquired by London Stock Exchange Group
LSEG will pay a maximum aggregate consideration of up to £274 million to Quantile’s shareholders.
DIY investment platform Tillit launches
Tillit offers “a curated investment universe, exclusive content and a fee that is based on time rather than wealth”.
Regtechs PassFort and kompany acquired by Moody’s Corporation
Both companies will be integrated into Moody’s KYC business within Moody’s Analytics.
Republic to buy Seedrs to create global private investment player
The $100 million deal brings together the US and UK-based partners.
Abrdn to acquire online investment platform Interactive Investor in £1.49bn deal
Abrdn had previously confirmed it was in talks to acquire the company in November.
Wise to add 1,000 staff across the globe in 2022
The recruitment drive would take its total headcount to 4,000.
The Bank of London launches in UK with $1.1bn valuation
The company received its first bank licence as the sixth principal clearing bank of the UK.
Money management app Plum raises $24m from investors and crowdfunding
The London-based company plans European expansion and product development.
New e-money fintech Twig launches in UK
Twig customers can turn their unwanted possessions into cash.
TSB to close 70 branches across UK as digital-first banking becomes norm
Over 90% of customer transactions are now carried out digitally, the bank says.
Telecoms finance firm Lenderwize completes €100m Series E1 round
International expansion is planned for the niche London-based fintech.
Revolut buys SME hospitality ePOS software provider Nobly POS
Nobly POS software will be integrated with Revolut payment offerings internationally.
UK challenger Allica Bank completes £110m Series B funding round
The cash will go towards enhancing Allica’s proprietary technology and client support.
FairXchange marks United Fintech’s third acquisition in its first year
London company completes busy first 12 months as it builds a capital markets solutions business.
