SEC and Justice Department reportedly investigating SVB’s collapse

Good morning FinTech Fanatic,

News about the SVB collapse still keeps piling up. To keep you on track, we summarise the most important headlines in the dedicated SVB section below.

That gives me the opportunity to set sight at some other developments in the FinTech scene.

For example the FinTech deals that occurred in Europe last week . In over 12 deals a total of €54.8m was raised, with companies from the UK, France and Germany strongly represented.

Congratulations to all the teams!

A topic I have discussed before in this newsletter, is Flutterwave and its troubles in Kenya.

Africa’s most valuable unicorn is still not off the hook in the African country, as a sum of almost $3 million of its money that was confiscated in the second government seizure over money laundering and fraud claims remains frozen .

The initial case against Flutterwave was closed last month and $52.5 million released, after the ARA formally withdrew the case. This second case, however, continues. Kenyan high court judges set the next mention for 23 March 2023. To be continued…

To return to the SVB topic for a moment again, I would like to remind you of the poll I set up around the question ‘Who killed SVB? yesterday.

We almost got 5.000 votes by now, which already gives a reasonable picture of the sentiment in the market, but do not hesitate to share your thoughts on the matter; feel free to vote !

Please find a selection of the other FinTech news below, and have a nice day!

SVB NEWS

‘A huge relief’: Startups react to Silicon Valley Bank UK’s HSBC rescue deal. It follows a night of crunch talks to save customer deposits after U.S. regulators shut down SVB Friday, rocking the financial world.

SVB fallout unlikely to affect fundraising for Southeast Asia startups, venture capitalists say . “I think it’s a watch out, but I don’t think that contagion spreads,” said David Gowdey , managing partner at Southeast Asian venture capital firm Jungle Ventures .

How Trump’s Deregulation sowed the seeds for Silicon Valley Bank’s demise. Anyone who doubted how detrimental Trump administration policies would be should analyze the damage unfolding for those trampled by SVB’s collapse. Read more

Stablecoin USDC nearly regains $1 peg after Circle says $3.3 billion held with SVB will be available. Circle, which issues USD Coin (USDC), said that the $3.3 billion it held with the now-collapsed SVB will be “fully available” when U.S. banks open. The broader cryptocurrency market rallied Monday as regulators stepped in.

African Fintech Startup Financed by FTX, SVB Said to Weigh Sale. Chipper Cash , the Africa-focused FinTech company that was backed by Silicon Valley Bank, and cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is weighing options including exploring a sale or seeking new investors, people familiar with the matter said.?

SVB gets a new boss as former CEO and CFO are sued for fraud. Tim Mayopoulos , the new CEO, sent an email to clients on Monday evening. He stated that he came to this role with experience in these kinds of situations; and also confirmed that the institution was not only open, it was also business as usual .?

SEC and Justice Department are investigating SVB’s collapse, including insider stock sales. They are investigating how SVB became the second largest bank failure in U.S. history, NBC News reported Tuesday.

INSIGHTS

MANGOPAY collaborates with PayPal. The cooperation is set to enable marketplaces to build a dynamic payment experience in a simplified manner and provide additional choices to their end-users by making PayPal available.

FINTECH NEWS

HyperPay to go public in Saudi Arabia. The company has planned to go public through an initial public offering (IPO) in Saudi Arabia within the next two years.

Iwoca introduces open banking-powered instant decisions for SME loans. The technology enables SMEs who have signed up for CRIF’s open banking-powered Credit Passport service to pre-populate their applications and securely share their financial information.

Clik2pay integrates with Xero to help SMEs save on credit card fees. By using Clik2pay on the Xero platform , small businesses can offer their customers an easy and familiar payment option - while saving up to 50 per cent or more versus credit card fees.

Credit Suisse reports ‘weaknesses’ in financial controls. In its latest financial report detailing its 2022 performance, Credit Suisse raised cause for concern as it reported that ‘management did not design and maintain an effective risk assessment process to identify and analyse the risk of material misstatements in its financial statement’.

FinTech Meetup?in Vegas is just around the corner and I will start and close it with a bang. Join me and let's do this together! ??Sign up here !

DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

Bank of Africa UK migrates to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure . Oracle says that OCI will give the lender access to flexible, secure, and high-performance computing resources not previously available with its on-premises systems.

BSP sets deadline for full adoption of QR Ph by 1 July. The guidelines were issued via a memorandum that provides for the transition of non-QR Ph codes for electronic payments services to the QR Ph standard before the deadline.

Swift completes Sandbox testing of API-Based CBDC project. Swift said that 18 central and commercial banks found “clear potential and value” in its API-based Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) connector.?

BLOCKCHAIN

Binance suspends sterling deposits and withdrawals after losing UK partner. In an e mail to customers, Binance informed that?the suspension will be effective from 22 May. The move has been forced by Paysafe subsidiary Skrill 's decision to stop offering fiat services.

Australian Taxation Office monitors crypto transactions. The ATO has implemented a new data-matching program in order to keep a close eye on cryptocurrency transactions and ensure compliance with tax laws.

M&As

Nigerian credit-led fintech FairMoney acquires PayForce in retail-merchant banking play. Both companies have similar goals and visions of closing the financial inclusion gap, putting merchants first, giving them the opportunity to grow, collect payments seamlessly and earn extra income.

PARTNERSHIPS

Noda partners with ThetaRay . Following this collaboration, the companies aim to enhance payment monitoring and compliance capabilities and services on Noda’s platform, and to support the development of the new digital economy in Europe.?

Paymentology , Fondeadora partner for Apple Pay in LatAm. This payment service allows cardholders to quickly and securely make payments online or in-store with participating merchants that accept the payment type.

F5 and Visa partners to reduce login friction. With the partnership, merchants can reduce login friction for customers and ensure seamless commerce experiences. Link here

Nets partners with Visa and Mastercard. Through this partnership , eligible merchants can now have access to an enhanced suite of digital payment schemes such as NETS, Mastercard, and Visa from a single payment service provider, making it more convenient for them.

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Cheers,

Marcel van Oost

Connecting the dots in FinTech

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