Kraken-parent Payward Acquires Magic Labs’ Embedded Wallet Business

Payward, the parent company of digital asset exchange Kraken, has acquired Magic Labs’ embedded wallet business and its 60 million non-custodial wallets.

As financial services shift toward digital assets, wallets have become a primary gateway for retail and institutional products. They serve as the principal touchpoint where human users – and autonomous AI agents – store assets and execute transactions across both legacy banks and decentralised networks. For Payward, this acquisition could unlock a new ecosystem of financial services and enterprise users.

Circle Acquires IBM’s Blockchain Patents to Build the Internet Financial System

Best known for its USDC stablecoin, financial platform operator Circle has acquired IBM’s blockchain patent portfolio, comprising more than 680 patent families and nearly 1,000 issued patents worldwide. The patents relate to foundational blockchain technology, banking, financial services, insurance, enterprise infrastructure, supply chain verification and secure cloud operations.

Circle says the acquisition directly supports Circle’s foundation for building the internet financial system, including USDC, the Circle Payments Network, the Arc blockchain and a growing suite of on-chain products and agentic AI financial tools.

FinScan Completes LSEG Validation for World-Check On Demand Integration

FinScan has completed LSEG Risk Intelligence’s technical validation process for its integration with World-Check On Demand. LSEG has designated the integration as ready to go to market.

The integration gives financial institutions access to LSEG’s risk intelligence within FinScan’s anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions-screening workflows. It is designed to reduce the operational work involved in connecting screening technology with sanctions and watchlist data.

“Our process follows rigorous technical validation to confirm that partner integrations align with World-Check On Demand’s architecture, data delivery standards, and operational best practices,” said Priya Nallan, Head of Product, Screening at LSEG Risk Intelligence. “With this milestone achieved, FinScan is now recognized as a technology partner capable of delivering World-Check On Demand within its AML and sanctions screening workflows.”

FinScan said the integration can support sanctions and watchlist screening across multiple regulatory regimes. Users can access World-Check On Demand data directly within FinScan’s screening workflows.

“This confirms that FinScan is fully aligned with LSEG’s integration standards and ready to deliver World-Check On Demand within our screening platform,” said Deborah Overdeput, Chief Operating Officer at Innovative Systems.

FinScan is among the first screening technology providers to complete the full World-Check On Demand validation process. The designation provides a potential early-mover benefit as financial institutions seek closer integration between external risk intelligence and their screening systems.

“We’re seeing significant interest from our joint teams and customers in solutions that combine powerful screening technology with trusted risk data,” added Overdeput. “This achievement ensures FinScan customers can confidently deploy a validated integration that aligns with LSEG’s standards and delivers the intelligence compliance teams depend on.”

TS Imagine Expands Fixed Income Workflow Integration with Trumid

TS Imagine has expanded its electronic trading workflow integration with fixed income fintech provider Trumid. The update provides TS Imagine clients with broader access to Trumid’s trading ecosystem, including its list-based workflows, Trumid RFQ and Portfolio Trading (PT), alongside expanded automation and cross-protocol capabilities.

The integration introduces automated RFQ submission via Trumid AutoPilot, headless responder and initiator workflows, and API-driven execution. It also incorporates Trumid Full Self Trading (FST) to connect liquidity across protocols, with plans to add firm dealer streams via Trumid Attributed Trading in the second half of 2026. This builds upon the initial collaboration established between the two firms in 2020.

The expansion comes alongside strong growth for Trumid in Q2 2026. During the quarter, Trumid RFQ average daily volume surged 122% year-on-year, automated executions via AutoPilot more than doubled, and Portfolio Trading volume grew by approximately 40% to reach record levels in volume and buy-side participation.

FutureSports Launches Independent Index Administrator for Sports Performance Benchmarks

FutureSports has emerged from stealth to introduce independent, rules-based financial indexes that turn professional and college sports statistics into benchmark assets. Backed by prominent financial and sports institutions, the firm will soon roll out partnerships and products designed to provide new risk management and trading options across the sports ecosystem.

The company raised a seed investment round co-led by Marquee Ventures, alongside major backers including CME Ventures, Robinhood Markets, WEDBUSH, DRW Special Investments, Motivate VC, Phoenix Capital Ventures, and John and Linda Henry. Industry veterans have joined the board of directors, including Chairman Mark Wassersug (former ICE executive), Tim McCourt (CME Group), and Erik Hammer (Marquee Ventures).

FutureSports creates FutureSports Performance Indexes (FSPI) using official statistical outcomes to generate continuous values for tradable products, such as listed derivatives, ETFs, and OTC swaps. Upcoming league partnerships will allow institutional investors, corporate sponsors, broadcasters, insurers, and retail traders to hedge operational risks or trade regulated index futures based on athlete and team performances.

Connamara Technologies Introduces Bilateral Matching Support to EP3 Platform

Connamara Technologies has announced that its EP3 exchange, clearing, and surveillance platform now supports bilateral matching. This enhancement enables market operators to establish trading venues where transactions are governed by bilateral counterparty agreements rather than central clearing. The capability is designed to assist global customers in meeting regulatory requirements for bilateral trading while expanding the range of market structures supported by the platform.

Unlike centrally cleared venues, bilateral markets require order matching to account for specific contractual terms and notional limits between counterparties. EP3’s new matching algorithm validates these agreements in real time during the matching process to determine whether incoming orders are eligible for execution.

The update introduces API endpoints for managing bilateral terms, participant-specific market data displaying tailored executable quantities, and configurable matching algorithms on a per-instrument basis. It also features automatic bilateral limit adjustments tied to real-time trade clearing, further reinforcing EP3’s modular and extensible architecture.

Greenwich Dealing Selects eflow and xyt to Bolster Trade Surveillance and Execution Oversight

Geneva-based buy-side outsourced dealing provider Greenwich Dealing has selected regulatory solutions from eflow and xyt to enhance oversight across its execution activity and compliance processes. Managing relationships with over 150 brokers, investment banks, and alternative platforms globally, Greenwich Dealing delivers execution services alongside pre- and post-trade guidance to institutional investors.

The firm adopted the combined technology to strengthen control over execution quality, broker performance, and regulatory compliance. This decision follows increasing regulatory pressure for transparency around broker selection and trade surveillance rationale. Supported by shared alignment under the Finch Capital portfolio, eflow delivers trade surveillance across dealing operations, while xyt provides tick-level transaction cost analysis across more than 120 global venues.

Together, the platforms enable Greenwich Dealing to monitor execution quality with regulatory assurance and conduct data-driven broker performance analyses tailored to individual client reporting requirements under MiFID II.

Visa Launches Platform for Stablecoins; Predicts They Will Power Agentic Micro-Commerce

Visa has launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform, an enterprise initiative that will bring stablecoin services to more than 200 million Visa-affiliated merchants. The platform, which is currently available to select beta users, initially supports Circle’s USDC and Paxos’ USDG stablecoins. In the future it will also work with the planned Open USD stablecoin from the Open Standard consortia, of which Visa is a leading founding member.

Separately, in conjunction with analytics firm Artemis, Visa has released a report which predicts that stablecoins will power micro-commerce in the emerging agentic economy. Micro commerce relates to low-value transactions that take place autonomously between AI agents and software applications without any direct human instigation.

US and UK Governments Establish Shared Regulatory Principles for Stablecoins and Tokenised Assets

The US and UK Governments have issued a joint statement establishing shared regulatory principles for stablecoins and tokenized assets, aiming to align frameworks for cross-border access while retaining individual legal requirements.

According to the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future, the guidelines advocate for 1:1 backing of stablecoins with high-quality liquid assets, timely redemption rights, and enhanced protection for holders’ claims on reserves.

The alignment also extends to testing cross-border use cases for tokenised assets and developing common approaches to tokenised securities settlement and collateral usage.

FinregE Framework Links Early Regulatory Signals to Policy and Control Changes

FinregE has published a seven-step process for identifying emerging regulatory requirements and preparing operational changes before rules take effect.

The framework, detailed in Regulatory Horizon Scanning: Proactive Compliance in 2026, addresses the “implementation lag” between an early policy signal and the changes required across products, budgets, policies and controls.

FinregE argues that waiting until legislation is enacted can create a “compliance crunch,” forcing firms to implement requirements under tighter deadlines and at higher cost. It identifies artificial intelligence, climate finance and digital assets as areas where policy changes can outpace internal decision-making.

“Waiting for regulations to hit is no longer an option,” says Rohini Gupta, CEO of FinregE. She argues that firms have less scope to adapt products and strategies once a rule becomes law, while implementation costs can increase.

The process moves a potential regulatory change from initial detection through to implementation. Early inputs include draft legislation, committee debates and policy white papers. Firms can assess these “weak signals,” determine their likely business impact and prepare changes before a mandate takes effect.

“The Seven-Step Horizon Scanning Process is a continuous, circular methodology designed to transform raw regulatory ‘noise’ (early signals of change) into structured business action,” Gupta explains.

The guide also examines what FinregE calls the “AI Paradox.” Regulatory information can exceed the capacity of manual monitoring, but machine-led analysis carries the risk of misinterpreting legal or policy developments. FinregE recommends that artificial intelligence support scanning and summarisation while subject-matter experts retain authority over legal interpretation and risk assessment.

According to FinregE, case studies involving global systemic banks indicate that proactive scanning can shorten implementation timelines from months to weeks. The company also associates earlier preparation with lower last-minute consultancy costs and reduced exposure to enforcement penalties.

FinregE places horizon scanning within its wider Regulatory Operating System. The proposed workflow links an early warning to impact assessment, policy updates, control changes and evidence that implementation has been completed.

The guide includes Impact Assessment Worksheets and a Vendor Selection Matrix and is available through the FinregE Insights pages.