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
10x Banking raises £40m in debt and equity after turning profitable
10x Banking took £40m from AshGrove in debt and equity after its first profitable year. The structure, not the size, is the core banking reset.
Ambrook raises $30m with half its users new to software
Ambrook's $30m Series B is read as a QuickBooks challenge. Half its 8,000 customers never used accounting software at all — a market-expansion story.
The EU’s Retail Investment Strategy traded a ban for benchmarks
The EU dropped its inducements ban in the December 2025 RIS deal and replaced it with a value-for-money product gate that gives supervisors more leverage.
FNZ sells €155bn-custody German bank to Advent consortium
FNZ agrees to sell FNZ Bank and its €155bn of assets under custody to an Advent-led consortium, framing as focus what the balance sheet calls capital relief.
Dubai’s two-regulator problem: VARA vs DFSA licensing in 2026
VARA covers Dubai outside the DIFC, the DFSA covers the DIFC, and the CMA replaced the SCA federally. A decision framework for crypto and FX firms.
Deluxe Acquires Celero for $625 Million in B2B Payments Consolidation Push
Deluxe closed its $625m Celero Commerce deal at roughly 11x EBITDA, richer than Worldpay's 8.5x. What that says about B2B payments consolidation in 2026.
Visa to buy BioCatch for $2.4bn to stop fraud before payment
Visa is buying behavioural biometrics firm BioCatch for $2.4bn in cash, moving fraud detection upstream of the payment as AI scams cost banks $1trn a year.
Finfluencer regulation hardens: licences, charges, takedowns
From the FCA's criminal charges to the UAE's mandatory licence, finfluencer rules hardened fast - five rulebooks now split the UK, Australia, France, UAE and US.
Natural rolls out agentic payments rails after $30m round
Natural begins rolling out payments infrastructure built for AI agents after a $30m Series A led by Forerunner - a direct bet against retrofitted card rails.
New York’s Kalshi suit tests the Third Circuit’s shield
New York sued Kalshi on July 31 seeking treble fines, defying the Third Circuit's preemption ruling.
Stripe’s first employee turns Increase into an FDIC bank
Increase launches an FDIC-member bank from a $75m Washington lender — the clearest post-Synapse verdict on banking-as-a-service: own the charter.
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.
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.
Also filing this week: Karthik Subramanian and Abdelaziz Fathi.