What an FX licence buys after ASIC’s record A$830m year
ASIC's record A$830m penalty year exposes the gap between top-tier and offshore FX licences: capital, leverage, compensation and enforcement compared.
Rick Steves
Senior Reporter, Regulation and Fintech
Rick Steves has seen business and economics through many lenses. He joined the financial services industry in 2009, and has been a financial journalist since 2011. He holds a degree in Business Administration and has experience producing real-time news, from both buy-side and sell-side, as well as for retail traders, brokers and service providers. Steves' work has appeared in a variety of online publications including FX Street, NewsBTC, FinanceFeeds, and The Industry Spread. Rick has great interest in the dynamics of the trading industry. The never-ending clash between technology, economics, regulation, and more importantly, the people.
August 2026
July 2026
InvestiFi raises $20m from the credit unions it serves
InvestiFi's $20m round is led by Vibe Credit Union and seven peers - customers as investors. Inside the credit-union push to reclaim deposits from apps.
Law 1194918-8: Russia’s licensed crypto market opens September 1
Russia's crypto law takes effect September 1, 2026 with licensed exchanges, capital-tiered depositories and retail caps - while the payments ban stays intact.
Only 20% of EU crypto firms cleared MiCA before the deadline
MiCA's transition closed on 1 July 2026 with 244 authorised CASPs out of 1,200+ registered firms. What the 20% conversion rate means for wind-downs and enforcement.
Ominimo hits $1.6bn valuation on a $22.5m EBRD-led round
Ominimo raised $22.5m at a $1.6bn valuation, diluting barely 1.4%. The small cheque is the story: a profitable insurtech that does not need the money.
Payfinia taps MAP’s 100 credit unions for embedded payments
Payfinia's MAP deal puts its FedNow and RTP stack in front of 100+ credit unions. Embedded finance's growth edge is the cooperative sector, not platforms.
PSD3 uncaps APP fraud liability as the UK stops at £85,000
The EU's PSR reimburses PSP-impersonation fraud in full with no cap. The UK stops at £85,000. Singapore guarantees nothing. Cross-border firms need three engines.
Ramp opens stablecoin accounts to all customers on Stripe rails
Ramp made stablecoin accounts generally available on July 21, built on Stripe's Bridge and Privy - renting the rails from a direct competitor.
FCA moves MiFID equity transparency into its own Handbook
FCA 2026/30 rehouses MiFID RTS 1 equity transparency into MAR 11A.7 from September 28, 2026 - and hands the UK unilateral control as the EU builds its tapes.
Augustus raises $180m at $1bn to build a stablecoin clearing bank
Augustus raised $180m at a $1bn valuation led by Tiger Global to build an OCC-chartered stablecoin clearing bank - the third charter-backed raise in 90 days.
SEC marketing rule and FCA gateway converge on endorsements
The SEC, FCA and ESMA now police the compensated endorsement through three incompatible mechanisms.
ESMA says the EU binary-options ban already covers event contracts
ESMA told firms on July 3 that event contracts meeting the MiFID II test are binary options - already banned for EU retail since 2018.
Nubank buys Banco Porto Real to keep ‘bank’ in its name
Nubank is buying a 1992 wholesale lender to satisfy a Brazilian naming rule. The charter is no longer what challengers route around - it is the asset they buy.
Nine US agencies adopt one data standard, effective October 1
Nine US regulators fixed ISO 17442, 4914 and 10962 as joint data standards from October 1 — a rule that changes no reporting requirement on day one.
Klarna to power Apple Upgrade device leases from July 28
Apple Upgrade launches July 28 with Klarna behind it — a 36-month lease book that makes Klarna's US bank charter a funding necessity, not an optimisation.
Lloyds lends PremFina £400m as bank credit outpaces VC
Lloyds has lent PremFina £400m. In the week to July 17, credit facilities outraised equity two to one across fintech - much of it from bank balance sheets.
Why ESMA’s CFD conflicts sweep leaves prop trading untouched
ESMA's 2026 Common Supervisory Action puts CFD broker conflicts under EU-wide inspection while its own risk-committee chair says prop trading is no priority.
Also filing this week: Karthik Subramanian and Abdelaziz Fathi.