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.

Stories filed: 2,005
First filing: 2017
Desks: Industry NewsFintechRegulationFeature ArticlesDigital AssetsPeople NewsIndustry InsightsMarket News
Latest: CFTC carves casino wagers out of the swap definition Jack Henry plans tokenised deposits on Google Cloud Skyfire widens Forter fraud checks for AI-agent checkout

September 2026

FIS puts embedded banking deposits on the bank’s balance sheet

FIS launched an embedded banking platform that keeps deposits on the bank's balance sheet, not a third-party ledger. Cogent, CBC and M&T Bank are pilots.

Rick StevesFintech8 Sep

Spotware launches cFinancial, its own broker liquidity provider

Spotware has launched cFinancial, a Seychelles-licensed liquidity provider bundled with cTrader and cBridge, putting the vendor inside its own bridge.

Rick StevesFintech8 Sep

SEC proposal would let a distributed ledger be the share register

The SEC's first substantial transfer agent rewrite in 40 years would let a blockchain hold the master securityholder file, but not make it the legal record.

Rick StevesRegulation8 Sep

OpenReserve wins a US bank charter priced at $210m and 12%

The OCC priced OpenReserve Bank's charter at $210m and a 12% leverage floor - below its own 2026 capital median. The balance sheet, not the brand, set it.

Rick StevesFintech7 Sep

SEC subpoena on ISS tests proxy adviser oversight limits

The SEC asked a Philadelphia federal court to force ISS, its own registered investment adviser, to produce ProxyExchange voting data. ISS invokes the First Amendment.

Rick StevesRegulation7 Sep

Annex 1 registration is now an FCA gate, not a formality

The FCA is scrutinising Annex 1 registrations under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017: refusal, cancellation, and how the UK, Ireland, EU and US compare.

Rick StevesRegulation5 Sep

ECB and Brazil study a TIPS-Pix link, pilot targeted for 2028

The ECB and Banco Central do Brasil are exploring a TIPS-Pix link for instant cross-border payments, with a 2028 pilot. Why the FX leg is the hard part.

Rick StevesFintech5 Sep

SEC pay-to-play rescission would end rule 206(4)-5 timeout

The SEC's September 3 proposal (IA-6994, File S7-2026-31) would rescind rule 206(4)-5, ending the two-year compensation timeout on adviser contributions.

Rick StevesRegulation4 Sep

Revolut wins US bank charter with retail forex fenced off

OCC Corporate Decision #1390 gives Revolut preliminary conditional approval for a US national bank charter, but fences off its retail foreign exchange business.

Rick StevesFintech4 Sep

Rule 611 bound the venues, best execution binds only brokers

FINRA Notice 26-15 asks how best execution survives the repeal of Rule 611, but Rule 611 binds trading centers and Rule 5310 binds only FINRA members.

Rick StevesRegulation3 Sep

TabaPay raises $155m to buy a bank with $1.1m of equity

TabaPay's $155m FTV Capital round funds a Denver bank with $1.07m of equity and $11,000 of half-year profit. The primary-secondary split is not disclosed.

Rick StevesFintech3 Sep

Dolfin’s £25.2m visa scheme drew £446,800 in FCA fines

The FCA fined two former Dolfin executives £446,800 and banned them over a £25.2m visa scheme. A third co-founder contests his ban at the Upper Tribunal.

Rick StevesRegulation2 Sep

Monetae’s 70 tokenised US stocks sit in one Alpaca omnibus account

Monetae Markets launched 70 tokenised US equities in El Salvador on Alpaca's Broker API. CNAD's registry shows 70 separate issuances and a second entity.

Rick StevesFintech2 Sep

MAS commits S$220m to fintech, 12% below its 2020 pledge

MAS commits S$220m over three years to FSTI 4.0 - 46.7% above FSTI 3.0 but 12% below the S$250m it pledged over an identical three-year window in 2020.

Rick StevesFintech1 Sep

Bolt raises $27m at $300m, 97.3% below its $11bn mark

Bolt is raising up to $27m in a pay-to-play convertible note at about $300m, 97.3% below its $11bn peak. The clause, not the cheque, is the real story.

Rick StevesFintech1 Sep

Australia’s scam liability regime stops at the banking charter

Australia's Scams Prevention Framework entered phase two on September 1, 2026, but its banking perimeter follows prudential charter, not scam exposure.

Rick StevesRegulation1 Sep