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JPMorgan Tops the 2026 Evident AI Index Again: UBS Is the Only European Bank in the Top 10
• Evident ranked 50 large banks on AI using only public data, and JPMorgan Chase stayed first. • Capital One, RBC and CommBank followed; UBS is the only European bank in the top ten. • Twelve banks now report a realised or projected return on AI, up from eight a year earlier. • Evident says the AI leaders are still hiring, while Standard Chartered plans about 7,800 back-office job cuts.
OKX Raises Again at $25B: Circle, Ripple and Standard Chartered Pay the Same Price ICE Paid in March
• OKX took strategic money from Circle, QRT, Ripple and SC Ventures at a $25 billion pre-money valuation. • The price matches the March round, when ICE put in around $200 million according to Decrypt. • OKX did not disclose how much it raised, and the shares were sold privately. • Each investor already serves OKX as a stablecoin issuer, liquidity provider or custodian.
Old Glory Bank Holds 2.69% Capital Against Assets. The FDIC Gave It Two Weeks for a Plan
• The FDIC classed Old Glory Bank as significantly undercapitalized, the fourth of five capital categories. • Tier 1 capital stood at 2.69% of average assets on 30 June, against 14% required by a 2024 consent order. • Old Glory lost roughly $8 million in the first half, and its SPAC merger collapsed in August without Fed approval. • The bank's own July prospectus named a sale or an organized wind-down as the fallback options.
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OKX Raises Again at $25B: Circle, Ripple and Standard Chartered Pay the Same Price ICE Paid in March
• OKX took strategic money from Circle, QRT, Ripple and SC Ventures at a $25 billion pre-money valuation. • The price matches the March round, when ICE put in around $200 million according to Decrypt. • OKX did not disclose how much it raised, and the shares were sold privately. • Each investor already serves OKX as a stablecoin issuer, liquidity provider or custodian.
Outmarket Raises $34.5M Four Months After Its Series A. The $335M Valuation Rests on One Source
• Outmarket raised a $34.5 million Series B led by SignalFire, four months after a $17 million Series A. • One unnamed person told TechCrunch the round valued the company at $335 million; the company has not confirmed it. • Outmarket says more than 300 insurance agencies use its AI tools, including a quarter of the top 100. • Revenue is not disclosed, so the valuation cannot be checked against sales from the outside.
Sovereign Wealth Funds Help Bridge MENA Growth-Capital Gap, Paymob Says
• Monitor sovereign wealth fund activity as international capital supports scaling fintechs across MENA. • Assess growth-stage funding availability when evaluating expansion plans for regional fintech companies. • Track backing from Mubadala Investment Company and EBRD as Paymob’s international investor base develops.
Baselayer Raises $35 Million To Verify AI Agents
• Baselayer will use its Series A funding to expand identity verification from businesses to AI agents. • Its Agentic Identity Suite aims to establish whether an agent is authorized to act for a person or business. • Credentials could help merchants, banks and platforms distinguish legitimate agents from fraudulent bots. • Baselayer is working with developers, payment processors and fraud providers as it competes to establish a standard.
Can Synthetic Securitisation Support Economic Growth?
• Synthetic securitisation marginally increases corporate lending, but its estimated economic impact remains limited. • Banks issued almost three times more synthetic securitisations in 2025 than in 2021. • Banks used a larger share of released capital for dividends than for additional corporate lending. • Policymakers should support genuine risk transfer while monitoring leverage, rollover and counterparty risks.
Over $1.3bn Raised Across 12 FinTech Deals In A Powerful Week
• FinTech funding reached $1.36bn across 12 deals as activity strengthened after the summer holiday season. • FNZ secured $450m to support its wealth-management technology transformation and strategic focus. • Ajaib, Félix and TabaPay announced major raises to expand investment, financial services and payments infrastructure. • AI security, insurance and fraud-prevention companies attracted new capital amid growing enterprise and consumer risks. • US companies accounted for seven deals, while firms across five other countries completed the remaining transactions.
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JPMorgan Tops the 2026 Evident AI Index Again: UBS Is the Only European Bank in the Top 10
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