Fintel pays £38.4 million for the rest of Mortgage Brain
Fintel has bought the rest of Mortgage Brain for £38.4 million, with £28.9 million in cash at completion and £9.5 million deferred, after a 2024 stake.
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.
October 2026
FundPark secures up to $250m in Bain Capital financing
FundPark agreed up to $250 million from Bain Capital, with $100 million committed and $150 million conditional. Its facility total prints over $1.25 billion.
Why the HKMA ART Framework names an owner for each AI use
The HKMA ART Framework names an owner for every bank AI use case, requires a live inventory, and sets a kill switch on material cases beside an FSB toolkit.
Vegafin lines up Rs 1,000 crore for a Bizloan stake
Vegafin lined up to Rs 1,000 crore from Premji Invest, Norwest and Lok Capital for a majority of Bizloan. The NBFC stake still awaits Reserve Bank approval.
Slingshot Insurance raises a $27 million seed round
Slingshot Insurance raised $27 million in an oversubscribed seed round on October 22, 2026, to fund infrastructure for embedded insurance at checkout.
GC26/7 says DeFi use does not rewrite SYSC 15A rules
Guidance consultation GC26/7 tells in-scope FCA firms that DeFi use does not rewrite SYSC 15A, SYSC 6 or the MLRs. Comments close on November 18, 2026.
Octus agrees a $3.535 billion all-cash sale to LSEG
Octus has agreed a $3.535 billion cash sale to LSEG. Nine days earlier the talks were still unsigned, and the price barely moved. Close is aimed at 2027.
Hyperlayer raises £19.5m Series A2 led by Flintlock
Hyperlayer raised £19.5 million in a Flintlock-led Series A2 at a £195 million valuation, backing software that lets banks launch products above the core.
CapitalOS raises $21.9 million Series A led by LGVP
CapitalOS raised $21.9 million in a Series A led by LGVP so B2B platforms can ship cards, bill pay and wallets. The round tests who owns small-firm spend.
SEC 4-927: when should a tokenised stock venue check who can trade?
Letters on SEC File 4-927 ask that tokenised stock venues check wallet eligibility at the trade, not only at onboarding, and keep a signed record of each check.
CP26/36 sets the tests for new cryptoasset exclusions
CP26/36 sets the FCA's draft tests for new cryptoasset exclusions before the UK regime begins on October 25, 2027. Comments close on November 18, 2026.
Salmon Group adds $140 million for Philippine lending
Salmon Group added $140 million for Philippine lending: $90 million committed by existing backers and $50 million of bond proceeds. No valuation was disclosed.
Plinto raises €2.9 million pre-seed for finance controls
Plinto raises €2.9 million pre-seed from People Ventures and Emblem. No valuation is stated, and the firm puts no euros on around 430 monthly deviations.
OCC finds debanking policies at nine largest national banks
The OCC's October 14, 2026 report, NR-OCC-2026-90, says all nine largest national banks kept debanking policies through 2025, but it names no civil fine.
CFTC carves casino wagers out of the swap definition
Licensed casino wagers fall outside the CFTC swap definition from 19 October 2026. Comments close 18 November 2026. Event contracts remain a separate proposal.
Jack Henry plans tokenised deposits on Google Cloud
Jack Henry plans tokenised deposits for banks and credit unions on Google Cloud's ledger. The October 16 release names no client and no go-live date yet.
Skyfire widens Forter fraud checks for AI-agent checkout
Skyfire has widened its Forter partnership so Know Your Agent tokens feed fraud checks on AI-agent checkout. The Jomashop pilot is the first named test.
Basware completes Trustpair deal, terms not disclosed
Basware completed its acquisition of Trustpair on October 5 and left the fraud firm independent. Terms were not disclosed, and rival stacks can still deploy it.
Personio acquires Circula and keeps spend standalone
Personio has acquired Circula and will run it as Circula by Personio. No purchase price was disclosed, and customers outside Personio keep a standalone product.
Why client allocation messages must be machine-readable
ESMA74-2119945926-3749 requires machine-readable allocation messages between investment firms and professional clients from December 7, 2026, ahead of EU T+1.
Also filing this week: Karthik Subramanian and Abdelaziz Fathi.