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SPACS – ANOTHER BUBBLE THAT’S DEFLATING
SPACs are very much a child of this age of fervid expectation, which was founded in how quickly the adoption of new tech is going to change the world. Everything from space tugs to hydrogen cars was apparently possible – whatever the realities of profits and costs suggested. Just a few months ago SPACs were perceived to be the simplest route into hot new companies across the disruptive tech market – new EV makers, spaceships, health and sports firms.
UK PATENT BOX SCHEME SET TO BECOME AN EVEN MORE VALUABLE TAX BENEFIT
The UK Patent Box scheme is set to become an even more valuable tax benefit in the near future. With Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement of higher corporate tax rates from 2023, larger and more profitable companies in the UK will be able to enjoy even greater savings on profits qualifying for Patent Box relief.
Currently, Patent Box allows UK companies to benefit from a reduced 10% corporate tax rate for income derived from qualifying intellectual property, rather than the standard 19%.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT A LENDER’S DECISION ON YOUR LOAN
When you’re applying for a mortgage, auto loan, personal loan, or any other loan, you want to get the best outcome. However, your loan application may not go well all the time. It’s because lenders consider a range of factors to ensure that they are extending the loan responsibly.
If you don’t know what your lender is looking for, it can be more difficult for you to get approval. It would be best to acquaint yourself with the different factors that may significantly affect a lender’s decision on your loan.
KEY PROVISIONS IN NDAS IN A COMPETITIVE M&A SALES PROCESS
In any M&A sales process, the seller’s counsel will negotiate a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with potential buyers and their legal counsel. The one-way NDA that each buyer executes protects the seller’s confidential information. There could be 30, 40, 50 or more potential buyers in a highly competitive M&A sales process, which means an NDA for each potential buyer. Scott Rissmiller has counselled sellers in two different sales processes in the last nine months that involved over 30 and over 50 NDAs, respectively. While some buyers sign the NDA as provided, many buyers negotiate it. Comments on an NDA from the two types of buyers (i.e., strategic and financial sponsors) will vary, especially regarding certain NDA provisions.
ARCHEGOS LOSSES: UBS TAKES UNEXPECTED $774 MILLION HIT
UBS reported on Tuesday a net income of $1.8 billion for the first quarter, revealing that it had taken a considerable hit to earnings from the collapse of Archegos Capital Management.
The Swiss bank said that it had taken a $774 million hit to revenue as a result of Archegos’s default earlier in the quarter. The hedge fund was a client of UBS’s prime brokerage business.
UBS added that it had ended all exposure to Archegos and that any related losses in the second quarter would be “immaterial”.
UK ECONOMY EXPECTED TO GROW AT FASTEST RATE ON RECORD
The UK economy is predicted to grow at the fastest rate since the second world war this year, according to a widely cited economic forecaster.
The EY Item Club has upgraded its forecast for GDP growth during 2021 from 5% to 6.8%, which would mark the fastest annual growth since 1941. This comes in the wake of relaxing COVID-19 restrictions and optimism that rapid progress with the country’s vaccine programme will enable a swift return to business as usual.
FTSE 100 REBOUNDS AFTER WORST DAY IN TWO MONTHS
The FTSE 100 rose on Wednesday, rallying after a mass sell-off led to a 2% fall in the previous session.
The index rose 0.6%, lifted by oil giants BP Plc’s and Royal Dutch Shell’s respective gains of 2.0% and 1.7%. The surge followed a report from Azerbaijan’s energy ministry said BP’s oil output reached 5.9 million tonnes in the first quarter.
Some stocks continued to slip, however. Just Eat Takeaway.com fell 4.2%, slumping to the bottom of the index, following news that rival Uber Eats plans to expand into Germany.
MEME STOCKS: DOGECOIN RISES AS BITCOIN FALLS BACK
Bitcoin and Ethereum fell during Tuesday trading, extending a price decline that began last week, while joke cryptocurrency Dogecoin rallied further after a record surge.
Bitcoin was down 4.6% by 9.20 AM in London, while Ethereum was down around 5.3%. The world’s two most highly valued cryptocurrencies were trading at $54,763.19 and $2,134.70 respectively.
Meanwhile, Dogecoin was up 18% at $0.4075, a jump that coincided with social media attention on 20 April. Supporters of the cryptocurrency are celebrating the date – which is also International Weed Day – as “DogeDay” and are urging fans to buy up the token in a bid to raise its price to $1.
ZSUITE TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCES INTEGRATION WITH Q2’S DIGITAL BANKING PLATFORM
ZSuite Technologies, a financial technology company that powers community financial institutions with digital escrow products for specific commercial verticals, today announced its API integration with Q2’s Digital Banking Platform, leveraging the Q2 Innovation Studio. Through the integration, Q2 clients will be able to take advantage of ZSuite’s solutions via the Q2 Partner Accelerator Program.
Q2’s Partner Accelerator program allows in-demand financial services companies who are leveraging the Q2 SDK to pre-integrate their technology to the Q2 Digital Banking platform. Financial institutions can work with these partners to purchase their solutions and rapidly deploy the standardized integrations to their customers.
TRUIST ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMERCE PLATFORM COMPANY AUTOFI
Truist Financial Corporation , through its Dealer Finance and Regional Acceptance business groups, today announced a partnership with commerce platform company AutoFi. Under the agreement, financing options will be available to clients who are shopping for a car through a dealer that partners with Truist or Regional Acceptance as well as the AutoFi platform. This will enable clients to create and submit an online credit application.
NUMERATED ACQUIRES FINCURA TO TAKE THE PAIN OUT OF FINANCIAL SPREADING FOR BUSINESS LENDERS AND THEIR BORROWERS
Numerated, the Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing fintech SaaS company, has acquired Fincura Inc., adding spreading automation and financial analysis to Numerated’s Digital Loan Origination System. The strategic acquisition expands Numerated’s underwriting capabilities for business loans that require deep financial analysis, improving the experience for lenders and their borrowers, and ultimately saving valuable time while improving the financial institution’s understanding of risk.
BLOCKCHAIN SECURITY SOLUTION PROVIDER CYBAVO SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN TOKYO FINANCIAL AWARD
Blockchain security firm CYBAVO has been selected as a participant for the Tokyo Financial Award, Financial Innovation Category. Chosen from a pool of 88 applicants, CYBAVO is one of the 16 companies that have moved into the next phase of the prestigious award.
The Tokyo Financial Award is hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) as part of its “Global Financial City: Tokyo” project, which aims to revitalize the city’s financial sector and reaffirm Tokyo’s position as the top global financial city in Asia. The award is designed to attract FinTech companies, both local Japanese and international organizations, to develop and provide innovative products and services that contribute to enhancing Tokyo residents’ daily lives and solve problems that Tokyo’s government may face.
XY FINANCE RAISES $12M FUNDING ROUND FROM INVESTORS INCLUDING CIRCLE
Rapidly growing blockchain startup XY Finance has announced that it has closed a $12M funding round led by some of the most prominent venture capital firms in the cryptocurrency space. Led by investors including Circle Internet Financial, LLC, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Mechanism Capital, TRON Foundation, Morningstar Ventures, Yield Guild Games Ventures, Block Capital and Animoca Brands, the full consortium includes more than forty investment firms.
The fund raise also comes as XY Finance is about to conduct its Initial DEX Offering (IDO) on December 9. “XY Finance is excited to acquire significant support from our investors. In the near future, the cross-chain mechanism will be a game-changer of the DeFi ecosystem and GameFi market.” says XY founder Wilson Huang. “Including cross-chain transactions, GameFi, and NFT, what we’re doing will become essential for advanced DeFi users; therefore, we are eyeing more than $1 trillion transaction growth in 2022.”
UDEGO FINANCE LAUNCHES NEW TOKEN ON THE BINANCE SMART CHAIN WITH THE POTENTIAL TO CREATE AN ECOSYSTEM OF FINANCIAL APPLICATIONS
Udego Finance, an open-source, permissionless, and transparent financial service ecosystem launches new cryptocurrency Udego today on the Binance Smart Chain. Udego Finance is an Automated Market Marker (AMM) built on top of blockchain networks. It has the potential to create entirely new financial markets, products, and services.
CETERA EXTENDS INVESTOR ACQUISITION PROGRAM TO ALL AFFILIATED FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS BASED ON ORGANIC GROWTH RESULTS
Cetera Financial Group, one of America’s largest networks of financial professionals, today announced that its investor acquisition program is expanding to all Cetera-affiliated financial professionals and that participants are eligible for reimbursement of their investment into the program. LeadEngine, which is powered by SmartAsset – the largest lead generation platform for financial professionals – is Cetera’s exclusive investor acquisition program that connects financial professionals directly with highly qualified prospects who are actively seeking a financial professional.
DAKOTA CREDIT UNION ASSOCIATION COLLABORATES WITH LEADING AI-BASED CREDIT DECISIONING PLATFORM PROVIDER SCIENAPTIC AI
Scienaptic announced today a collaboration with the Dakota Credit Union Association (DakCU) enabling the company to offer its AI-based credit underwriting technology to credit unions throughout North and South Dakota.
The Dakota Credit Union Association (DakCU) is a professional financial trade association serving 69 credit unions with more than 520,000 members in North and South Dakota, with assets of more than $9.4 billion and are currently providing Dakota consumers with over $5.7 billion in loans. The goal of this alliance is to extend the accessibility and power of AI to smaller credit unions in the region. The collaboration will help reach more credit unions regardless of asset size, making AI more attainable across the states.