Today's Finance Pulse
Autodesk to acquire MaintainX for $3.6B, expanding into operations software
Autodesk announced a $3.6 billion purchase of MaintainX, a leader in operational‑phase software for the built environment. The deal extends Autodesk’s portfolio from design and manufacturing into ongoing building operation, creating an end‑to‑end data loop. CEO Andrew Anagnost said the acquisition unlocks a $40 billion total addressable market.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Pemberton Asset Management closes $3.7B fourth vintage fund
Gibson Dunn Discusses SEC Corporate-Finance Division’s Helpful Updates to Guidance
On January 23, 2026 the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance released a suite of updated Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations covering proxy filings, executive compensation in spin‑offs, tender‑offer mechanics, lock‑up agreements, and securities‑offering integration. The revisions eliminate voluntary PX14A6G filings for shareholders below the $5 million threshold and permit broker searches closer to the record date. They also clarify when historical executive‑pay data must be disclosed in spin‑offs and expand permissible outside purchases in Tier I cross‑border tender offers. Additional guidance relaxes lock‑up treatment in Form S‑4/F‑4 exchanges and refines integration rules for Rule 506 offerings.
Khazanah Review Reveals Massive Shift in Malaysia’s Capital Trajectory
Khazanah just dropped their 2026 Annual Review today, February 10, 2026. And the numbers signal a massive shift in Malaysia’s capital trajectory. If you’re tracking the Ekonomi MADANI agenda or the RM100 billion GEAR-uP initiative, this is the breakdown you need. ↓↓↓
FA at 30: How Dim Sum Bonds Unlocked Liquidity without Opening China’s Capital Account
Nearly two decades after China Development Bank issued its first RMB‑denominated bond in Hong Kong, dim sum bonds have become a cornerstone of offshore liquidity. The initial issuance was modest, but it demonstrated that Chinese sovereign and policy banks could...
The Cost of Fragmentation: A Comparison of State Affordable Housing Finance Governance Systems
The Terner Center released a new series of resources that examine how U.S. states govern affordable‑housing finance, highlighting the costly fragmentation of multiple agencies and programs. An interactive map and a landscape scan of all 50 states reveal which entities...
U.S. Treasury Rates Weekly Update for February 6, 2026
U.S. Treasury yields slipped across the board for the week ending February 6, 2026. The benchmark 30‑year rate fell 0.02 percentage points, while the 10‑year yield dropped 0.04 points to 4.22 %. The 3‑year Treasury rate settled at 3.57 %, reflecting a modest broad‑based decline. These...
SEC Upholds Fines vs NOW over Disclosure Violation
The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission affirmed PHP1 million fines for NOW Corp. and its chair Mel Velarde after finding their November 2021 market disclosure misleading. The regulator rejected NOW’s appeal, labeling the statement a "half‑truth" that misled investors about a alleged...
GCash Parent Mynt Keeps IPO Option Open
Mynt, the parent of GCash, is keeping an IPO on the table while accelerating its payments, lending and wealth‑management services. The fintech arm delivered P6.1 billion in attributable equity earnings in 2025, a 64% jump year‑on‑year, and its lending subsidiary Fuse...
The ASC Sale-Leaseback Opportunity
Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) owners are increasingly using sale‑leasebacks to unlock the equity tied up in their buildings. By selling the property to an investor and signing a 10‑15‑year triple‑net lease, physicians retain operational control while converting real‑estate assets into...
Capital Returns Outpace Growth, Driving Wealth Inequality
There’s a formula that explains wealth inequality, and it has nothing to do with how hard you work. French economist Thomas Piketty studied 200 years of data across 20 countries and found that returns on capital almost always exceed economic growth. We...
Foreign Stocks Surge 9.4% Early 2026, Outpacing US
Foreign stocks are off to a scorching start in 2026, continuing their outperformance from 2025: Foreign developed stocks: +9.4% US stocks: +2.2% Will it continue or is this a blip in the otherwise longer underperformance?
Tesla Exec Raj Jegannathan Leaves Automaker After 13 Years
Tesla Vice President Raj Jegannathan announced his departure after a 13‑year tenure, most recently overseeing IT, AI infrastructure, business applications, and information security. He previously led North American sales following the dismissal of Troy Jones, a period marked by declining...
Pension Credit: Should the Mixed-Age Couples Rule Be Scrapped?
The mixed‑age couples rule, introduced in May 2019, bars pension‑age partners from claiming Pension Credit if their spouse is under 66. The policy affects hundreds of thousands of low‑income couples, stripping them of up to £7,000 a year in benefits....
IRS Rolls Out New Enhancements to Tax Pro Account
The IRS announced new enhancements to its Tax Pro Account, extending digital capabilities to tax‑professional businesses. The upgrade lets designated representatives manage business CAF access, link CAF numbers to EINs, and view or withdraw active authorizations. These tools aim to...
Former US Officials Warn of Impending 'Widespread Collapse of American Agriculture': 'Our Farmers and Ranchers … Can't Compete with the...
The agricultural sector faces a perfect storm of policy and market pressures, according to a bipartisan letter signed by former heads of the National Corn, Barley, and Soybean Growers associations. The signatories contend that recent tariffs on farm inputs and...
Anaplan Names Laurent Martini Managing Director for EMEA
Anaplan announced Laurent Martini as its new Managing Director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, effective February 16. Martini, who previously led EMEA sales at Splunk and held senior roles at Pure Storage and Symantec, will report to President...
Volatility Laundering in Private Credit
Private credit has trailed public credit since 2022, offering lower liquidity, weaker credit quality, higher industry concentration and higher borrower costs. By avoiding daily mark‑to‑market, private credit managers can "volatility launder" returns, presenting artificially low volatility and inflated Sharpe ratios....
Income Investing Beyond Dividends: Incorporating Options Into Your 2026 Yield Plan
The episode explores how income investing has shifted from relying solely on dividends to incorporating options strategies like covered calls and cash‑secured puts to generate cash flow, especially from non‑dividend‑paying growth stocks. It explains the mechanics of these strategies, their...
‘The New Normal’: Nursing Home M&A Is Being Shaped by Regional Operators, REITs, and Private Capital
The skilled‑nursing sector entered 2026 with strong occupancy and higher state reimbursements, restoring profitability for many facilities. Financing remains robust, but activity has shifted toward acquiring and refurbishing existing homes rather than new construction. Regional operators are snapping up underperforming...
Japan Logs Record Current Account Surplus for 2nd Straight Year in 2025
Japan recorded a historic 31.88 trillion yen current‑account surplus in 2025, the second year of record balances and an 11.1 percent rise from the prior year. The surplus was driven by a 4.7 percent jump in primary income from overseas investments and a...
AICPA Urges Treasury, IRS to Simplify Sec. 951 Documentation Rules
The AICPA sent a letter to the Treasury and IRS urging simplification of the “determine and document” requirement in Notice 2025‑75 related to Section 951 dividend inclusions. The notice obliges U.S. shareholders of controlled foreign corporations to attach a statement to...
Figure’s CFO Supports Treating Stablecoin as Cash
Figure Technology’s CFO Macrina KgIl is urging the Financial Accounting Standards Board to reclassify stablecoins as cash or cash equivalents, rather than intangible assets. The current GAAP treatment creates ambiguity and extra compliance work for firms holding tokens like Tether....
Pagaya Technologies (PGY): Q4 2025 Earnings Review
The episode dissects Pagaya Technologies' Q4 2025 earnings, highlighting revenue of $335M (slightly below estimates) and a record GAAP net income of $34M boosted by one‑off tax benefits. Management explained a deliberate slowdown in growth to protect profitability, cutting exposure...
Kyndryl CFO Steps Down Ahead of Accounting Review
Kyndryl announced the immediate resignations of CFO David Wyshner and General Counsel Edward Sebold, appointing Harsh Chugh, Bhavna Doega, and Mark Ringe as interim finance chief, corporate controller, and general counsel respectively. The company delayed its Q3 fiscal 2026 10‑Q...
Let’s Review the IIA’s Guidance on Communicating Audit Results
The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) released a new Global Practice Guide on communicating audit results, updating the 2009 guide. The author praises the emphasis on stakeholder needs but criticizes the guide’s requirement to conclude on governance, risk management, and...
What AI Builders Can Learn From Fraud Models that Run in 300 Milliseconds
Mastercard’s Decision Intelligence Pro (DI Pro) uses a sub‑300 ms recurrent neural network to assign risk scores to each payment transaction in real time. The platform treats fraud detection as an "inverse recommender" problem, comparing current merchant behavior to historical patterns. By...
Hapag-Lloyd Dodges Red Ink in Q4
Hapag‑Lloyd posted a Q4 2025 EBIT of $200 million, a 75% drop from the same quarter a year earlier, yet still managed a full‑year profit of $1.1 billion despite plunging spot rates. Container volumes rose modestly, adding 200,000 TEU in Q4 and...
ERP Today Interview: Achyut Jajoo
Salesforce unveiled Agentforce Manufacturing, a suite of pre‑built AI agent templates designed for manufacturers. The solution promises to scale operations without adding headcount by automating routine ERP tasks. Achyut Jajoo, Salesforce’s SVP and GM, highlighted the necessity for ERP systems...
GPs Add Fund ABS Into the Mix for Evergreens
General Partners are increasingly packaging tranches of perpetual, or evergreen, vehicles into fund‑backed asset‑backed securities (ABS). This hybrid structure blends the long‑term capital base of evergreen funds with the liquidity and tradability of securitisation. Early issuances show strong investor appetite,...
Amazon: 2026 Update
The author has refreshed his proprietary Amazon valuation model using the company’s latest 10‑K filing, projecting financial performance through 2026. The update incorporates recent trends in e‑commerce, cloud services, and advertising revenue streams. Detailed assumptions and calculations are hosted behind...
Efeso Acquires a Majority Stake in Tsetinis Consulting
EFESO Management Consultants completed a majority‑stake acquisition of Austria‑based Tsetinis Consulting in January 2026, with a phased path to full ownership. The cross‑border deal covered Austria, Germany, France and the United States and was executed under a compressed timetable against competing...
Average Income Tax by Area: The Parts of the UK Paying the Most Tax Mapped
Analysis of HMRC data by UHY Hacker Young shows that London and the South East generated 45 % of the UK’s £240.7 billion income‑tax bill in 2022/23. The London borough of Wandsworth paid £4.26 billion, eclipsing the combined £4.23 billion paid by Leeds and...
Hims & Hers Stock Crashes After FDA Announces Plans to Take 'Decisive Steps' Against GLP-1 Compounds
Hims & Hers shares plunged up to 27% after the FDA announced it will take decisive steps to restrict non‑FDA‑approved compounded GLP‑1 active pharmaceutical ingredients. The regulator’s move coincides with a lawsuit from Novo Nordisk seeking to block Hims &...
The EBA Launches Consultation on Simplifying the Credit Risk Framework
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has opened a public consultation on its Discussion Paper proposing simplification of the EU credit‑risk framework. The paper, stemming from the 2025 Report on regulatory efficiency, outlines concrete steps to consolidate EBA products, align definitions,...
IBM Spin-Off CFO Departs Amid Cash Management Review: Trial Balance
Kyndryl, the IBM IT‑infrastructure spin‑off, announced the immediate departure of CFO David Wyshner as it launches a review of its cash‑management practices. The review follows voluntary document requests from the SEC's Division of Enforcement and includes scrutiny of internal controls...
IRRBB Management in Emerging Market and Developing Economies: The Role of Derivatives in Supporting Financial Stability and Economic Development
Interest rate risk in the banking book (IRRBB) is emerging as a top priority for banks and regulators across emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). Monetary tightening and persistent macro‑volatility are making balance‑sheet exposures more fragile, exposing the limits of...
Three Simple Tricks to Instantly Raise Your Prices
3 dumbfoundingly simple ways to raise your prices: (no hostage negotiation skills required) 1. Switch to giving 3 higher price options Make your new entry level option → your current premium option :) 2. Switch to outcomes instead of quantities Increase site conversion 10% is better...
Alphabet Launches 100‑year GBP Bond, Eyes Currency Debasement
#Alphabet to issue 100-year GBPSterling bond after having issued 50-year $17.5 bn USD bond in November. Also plns to issue CHF bond. They're betting further currency debasement #forex
ICE at the Facility: How Healthcare Compliance Officers Should Respond
The episode explains how healthcare compliance officers should respond when ICE agents appear on site, emphasizing that unannounced enforcement can occur amid patient care and requires a deliberate, coordinated response. It highlights a leaked ICE memo suggesting agents may enter...
Stripe's Tender Offer Valuation Jumps to $140B
This was an auspiciously-timed quote. @stripe is in talks for a tender offer valuing the company at $140B. That's up from $107B in the fall. https://t.co/3EHL07KS8p
Seven Firms Command 35% of SPX Investment Dollars
Employment in S&P 500 companies is 18% of total US employment, but 35 cents of every dollar that goes into the SPX goes to 7 companies. This is a market structure problem and a major issue with our 401k system.
Guest Post: Low-Float IPOs and Pump-And-Dump Risk
Recent securities class actions against Charming Medical, PomDoctor, China Liberal Education Holdings, and Picard Medical illustrate a growing litigation focus on low‑float IPOs and social‑media‑driven pump‑and‑dump schemes. Plaintiffs allege that thin public floats, concentrated insider ownership, and inadequate IPO disclosures...
NatWest to Close 32 More Bank Branches – See the Full List
NatWest announced it will shut another 32 high‑street branches across England between May 2026 and February 2027. The closures follow a £115 million investment in its existing network and a strategic pivot toward digital channels as online banking now serves roughly 90 % of...
DOL Poised to Move Faster than Congress on Retirement Reform
The U.S. Department of Labor is poised to issue regulations expanding 401(k) access to alternative investments, meeting a February 3 deadline set by a Trump‑era executive order. A final rule could be adopted by year‑end with implementation slated for 2027,...
M&A Earnouts for VC-Backed Companies
In this 30‑minute episode, the hosts break down how earnouts can bridge the valuation gap for VC‑backed companies during M&A transactions, emphasizing the need for solid legal structures rather than verbal promises. They walk listeners through the key clauses that...
Financial Crises: New Insights
Professor Eric Hilt’s 2026 paper traces the evolution of financial crises over two centuries, highlighting how regulatory regimes and banking structures shaped their frequency and character. Early crises were often sparked by banking panics, while the post‑World War II regulatory era...
Delaware Supreme Court’s Earnout Decision Reinforces Primacy of Contract and Illustrates the Limits of the Implied Covenant
The Delaware Supreme Court issued an en banc opinion in Johnson & Johnson v. Fortis Advisors, affirming and partially reversing a Chancery ruling that awarded former Auris Health shareholders over $1 billion in an earnout dispute. The decision is the first...
How ETFs, Open End Mutual Funds, and Closed End Funds Actually Trade
Fundrise announced that its Innovation Fund will list on the NYSE as a closed‑end fund, shifting from an open‑end structure that trades at NAV to a fixed‑float vehicle. The article explains how ETFs, open‑end mutual funds, and closed‑end funds differ...
Downing Street Resignations Trigger Bond Market Jitters
UK bond markets reacted sharply on Monday after a series of high‑profile Downing Street resignations, with the 10‑year gilt yield climbing to 4.62% – a ten‑basis‑point surge that set a three‑month high. The departures, including communications chief Tim Allan and...
Repriced Risk in a Rebuilt Regional Bank Subordinated Floater
The episode examines a regional bank that has rebuilt its balance sheet, achieving profitability, capital ratios above 12%, and improved liquidity after addressing over $12 billion of higher‑risk loans. It highlights that despite these fundamentals, the bank’s subordinated floating‑rate notes are...
Is It Time to Open Your First Checking Account?
Opening a first checking account marks a practical step toward financial independence, especially when regular income, bill payments, or a desire for bank relationship emerge. The article highlights benefits such as direct‑deposit convenience, no‑fee options for students, and the security...