Protos Security CFO on the Convergence of Finance and Operations
Anthony Escamilla, CFO of Protos Security, says the modern CFO has morphed from a budget keeper into a strategic leader who oversees finance, data analytics, technology, risk and even operational functions. He highlights the accelerating pace of decision‑making, with stakeholders demanding real‑time, insight‑driven recommendations. Escamilla notes a growing convergence between CFO and COO roles, especially in private‑equity‑backed firms, where finance and operations are inseparable. He also outlines Protos' disciplined M&A approach—focusing on customer value, cultural fit, and long‑term resilience—while stressing an ownership mindset when working with PE sponsors and managing compliance risks in the security sector.
Solinex Reviews: Who Can Track Down and Recover Stolen Funds in the Era of Digital Risks?
Solinex, a specialist law firm, offers a full‑service model that merges legal counsel, cryptocurrency analytics, and international coordination to track and recover stolen digital assets. The firm reports a 97% case completion rate and has served over 4,800 clients in...
New Report From Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority Details Economic Benefits for Claremount Extension of Metro A Line Light-Rail System
The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority released a report quantifying the economic impact of the 2.3‑mile Claremont Extension of the Metro A Line light‑rail system. The study projects more than $1.1 billion in construction‑phase economic output, over 4,700 jobs, and $154 million...
How a ‘Great View’ From Your Home Can Boost Its Value by 35%
Yopa’s analysis of English homes on sale finds that properties with sea, countryside or cityscape views command an average asking price 28.1% higher than comparable homes without such vistas, translating to roughly £156,000 extra value. The premium peaks in the...
The Link Between Interest Rates and Exchange Rates : The Uncovered Interest Parity
The post examines how the 10‑year US‑German bond yield spread correlates with the USD/EUR exchange rate, showing that higher US yields usually coincide with dollar appreciation. A notable exception occurred after April 2 2025, when a sharp US yield rise was followed...
How AI Upgrades Enterprise Treasury Management
Enterprises are shifting treasury management from error‑prone spreadsheets to AI‑driven automated pipelines. Infosys’ Ashish Kumar and IBS FinTech CEO CM Grover highlight that real‑time data integration with ERP, trading platforms, and banks is essential for AI to add value....
What Are the Greeks in Options Trading? (Delta, Theta, Vega Explained)
Lawrence G. McMillan’s February 19, 2026 webinar dives deep into the option Greeks—delta, gamma, theta, and vega—explaining their mathematical roots in the Black‑Scholes model and how they interact in real‑time risk management. The session moves beyond textbook definitions to demonstrate practical techniques...
The Increasing Visibility of Stress
The latest editorial highlights that Business Development Companies (BDCs) are increasingly mirroring broader credit stress in the market. Deteriorating loan performance and tighter financing conditions are evident across BDC portfolios. At the same time, a looming maturity wall—large volumes of...
UCITS Strategies Regaining Traction with Europe’s Wealthy
European high‑net‑worth investors are gravitating back to alternative UCITS funds, a liquid hedge‑fund‑style vehicle, as assets under management rose 22% to $287 billion in 2025. The sector logged four consecutive quarters of inflows, the longest streak in four years, driven by...
JM Financial Launches ₹1,500 Crore Pre-IPO Fund Under SEBI-Approved AIF Category
JM Financial Asset Management has launched a ₹1,500 crore pre‑IPO Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) under SEBI’s Category II, marking its entry into the pre‑IPO investment space. The fund will invest in companies slated to go public within the next 18 months, leveraging...
UK Government Reveals Expanded Finance Package to Help Creative Businesses Scale
The UK government announced a £4 billion Industrial Strategy allocation targeting creative industries, with the British Business Bank taking a leading role. A £45 million cornerstone investment was made in Redrice Ventures, a seed‑stage investor for creative firms. The Bank is also...
JLL Forecasts Robust Global Hotel Investment
JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group projects a strong rebound in global hotel investment, with 2025 transaction volumes rising 22% from the 2023 trough. The Americas posted the steepest growth at 27%, while Asia‑Pacific fell 20% but is slated for recovery...
Open Banking’s Paywall Era – and What It Means for Banks, Fintechs, and Policy in 2026
J.P. Morgan now handles nearly two billion API requests each month, but only about 13% stem from direct customer‑initiated actions. Historically, open‑banking data flowed freely, enabling budgeting apps, lending tools and countless fintech services. In 2025 the bank began negotiating paid...
‘Thrilling’ SEC Rule Changes Coming, Says Corp Fin Director
The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, led by James Moloney, announced a sweeping set of rule revisions that will affect disclosure, crypto assets, and reporting frequency. CFOs should anticipate changes to Regulation S‑K aimed at trimming immaterial disclosures, new interpretive guidance...
Macquarie Flags ESOP Costs, Revenue Concentration Concerns over PhonePe IPO
Macquarie has highlighted two key risks in PhonePe’s upcoming IPO: elevated Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) expenses that compress EBITDA margins, and a heavy reliance on a few revenue streams that could be hit by regulatory shifts. The broker estimates...
Agility in the Face of Compliance and Risk
In an interview, Mohan Paranthaman and Karthik Iyengar of We Build Products argue that compliance agility, not sheer technology scale, is the true differentiator for banks and fintechs. They cite their experience at Citi, Shopify and other institutions to show how small,...
Loan Note: Carlyle’s Sidhu on the European Opportunity; Configure Highlights Mixed M&A Picture
Carlyle’s Taj Sidhu expressed optimism about Europe’s private‑debt market, citing strong borrower resilience and attractive financing conditions. He highlighted low‑interest‑rate environments and a growing pipeline of mid‑market deals as catalysts for continued asset growth. Meanwhile, Configure’s latest M&A snapshot described...
Markets Signalling a Broader Base for Upside; Positive on Financials, Says Devarsh Vakil of HDFC Securities
Devarsh Vakil, head of prime research at HDFC Securities, says Indian equities are showing a broader base for upside after rebounding from the February 2, 2026 lows. He highlights resilient corporate earnings and a particularly positive outlook for financial stocks....
IHG Profits Jump 13% to $1.3bn Amid ‘Record’ Hotel Openings
IHG Hotels & Resorts posted a 13% jump in operating profit to $1.3 bn for 2025, driven by a record 443 hotel openings that added 65,100 rooms. Group RevPAR rose 1.5% overall, with Europe‑EMEAA up 4.6% while Greater China fell 1.6%....
US ETF Launches From 12th to 19th February, 2026
Between February 12 and 19, 2026, U.S. exchanges saw a flurry of 25 new exchange‑traded funds covering a wide range of sectors and strategies. Highlights include the first share‑class offering from F/m Investments, Simplify’s DBi CTA Managed Futures Index ETF,...
China’s Economy Is Robust for Year of the Horse Despite Headwinds: FTSE Russell
FTSE Russell reports that China’s economy remained robust in 2025, achieving its 5% GDP growth target despite a deceleration in the final quarter. Industrial activity continued to be a bright spot, offsetting persistent deflationary pressures. The slowdown to 4.5% growth...
Banks that Won on Deposit Growth in 2025 Got Boost From M&A
Regional banks with $10‑$100 billion in assets leveraged mergers and acquisitions to outpace the broader market in 2025, boosting core deposits by more than 8% versus the industry’s 4% average. The 27 midsize lenders that completed deals saw a collective 29%...
Brookfield Builds up Team Dedicated to 401(k) Opportunities
Brookfield Asset Management announced the formation of a dedicated team to pursue 401(k) investment opportunities. The move follows a 40% increase in the firm’s private‑wealth capital‑raising last year, underscoring strong fundraising momentum. By targeting retirement‑plan assets, Brookfield aims to broaden...
Starbreeze Revenue Rises 19% to $24.5m in 2025
Starbreeze Entertainment reported a 18.8% rise in 2025 revenue to SEK 221 million ($24.5 million), yet the company posted a larger net loss of SEK 402.7 million ($44.6 million). Quarterly sales slipped 10.7% in Q4, driven by a decline in third‑party publishing and mixed performance of...
Nestlé Bets on Four Key Categories as It Separates Ice Cream
Nestlé reported 3.5% organic growth for 2025, with real internal growth rising 0.8% and free cash flow reaching CHF 9.2 bn. CEO Philipp Navratil outlined a sharpened portfolio strategy centered on coffee, petcare, nutrition and food‑&‑snacks, while preparing to spin off the remaining...
Walmart’s Ad Business Grew 46% in 2025, Hitting Nearly $6.4B
Walmart’s advertising arm surged 46% in 2025, generating nearly $6.4 billion, while the broader company posted $713.2 billion in revenue. Walmart Connect alone grew 41% in Q4, and the Vizio acquisition added high‑minimum‑price inventory. AI chatbot Sparky, now tested with ads, drives...
Bloomberg Indices Expands Futures-Based Index Offering
Bloomberg announced the Bloomberg Eris SOFR Swap Futures Tracker Indices, a suite of 11 new rules‑based indices that track the performance of Eris SOFR swap futures across the U.S. dollar interest‑rate curve. The indices span tenors from one‑year to 30‑year...
Florida Investor’s Guide to Premium Financing Risks 2026
Florida’s insurance market is stabilizing, but high‑net‑worth investors face a new danger from premium‑financed life insurance. The strategy, once attractive because cheap borrowing let the ultra‑wealthy keep assets liquid, now collides with sharply higher interest rates. Federal Reserve hikes pushed...
How Do You Fund Your Own LLC?
Launching an LLC begins with a clear picture of how much capital is required, often starting with personal savings or bootstrapping. Entrepreneurs then evaluate external sources such as SBA‑backed loans, grants, and alternative platforms like crowdfunding or credit cards. Adding...
TRADE Talks: Prescient Investment Management’s Cheree Dyers
Prescient Investment Management’s Cheree Dyers argues that digital assets and tokenised instruments can boost capital efficiency and settlement speed, but only if they dovetail with existing custody, clearing and regulatory frameworks. She highlights that faster, near‑real‑time settlement reduces counter‑party exposure,...
A Public-Private Partnership: Central Banks as a Funding Backstop
The authors analyze the Bank of England’s 2012 Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) and find that central‑bank liquidity acts as a backstop that improves private wholesale funding conditions rather than merely substituting for them. By lowering banks’ wholesale funding costs,...
Bank of Ireland UK Fined for Late Security System Implementation
The UK arm of Bank of Ireland was fined £3.78 million by the Payments Systems Regulator for a 14‑month delay in deploying the Confirmation of Payee (CoP) system. The lapse left 1.14 million new payees and roughly £7 million in payments without fraud‑prevention...
Denis Beau: The Regulatory Framework for Securitisation
Denis Beau, representing Banque de France and ACPR, highlighted the strategic role of asset‑backed securities (ABS) in the euro‑area monetary‑policy framework, noting they account for roughly 30% of collateral despite representing less than 5% of eligible securities. He stressed that...
Swaminathan J: Values in Action - the Making of a Strong Institution
Axis Bank honored 100 employees as "Champions" for embodying five core values—customer centricity, ethics, teamwork, transparency, and ownership—highlighting culture as a strategic asset. The speech stressed that success hinges on how results are achieved, not just the results themselves. By...
ARK Invest Europe's Rahul Bhushan: Defence Edges Into Core Portfolio Allocation Status
ARK Invest Europe’s Rahul Bhushan announced that the defence sector has been elevated to a core‑allocation status within the firm’s European thematic funds. The upgrade follows a surge in investor interest, with total European thematic ETF net inflows reaching $15.8 bn...
ISDA’s Amy Hong: ‘North Star’ Is Safe and Efficient Markets
ISDA’s new board chair Amy Hong reaffirmed the association’s 40‑year mission to keep derivatives markets safe and efficient, while charting a 2026 agenda focused on technology and regulatory alignment. She highlighted the continued push to finalize Basel III trading‑book rules and...
Gold Fields Delivers on New Power Dividend
Gold Fields announced a final dividend of R18.5 per share, a 164% increase year‑over‑year, and added a special dividend of R4.5 per share. Including the interim payout, the total regular dividend of R25.5 represents 35% of free cash flow, aligning...
NRW's Diversification Drive Pays Off
NRW Holdings announced that its acquisition of Fredon Industries for $200 million is driving a significant upgrade to its FY2025‑26 outlook. The diversified service capabilities are expected to boost revenue guidance by roughly 12% and lift earnings per share by about...
Paytently Strengthens Regulatory Compliance and Fraud Defence with SEON Partnership
Paytently, a Malta‑licensed payment institution, announced a partnership with fraud‑prevention specialist SEON to embed the latter’s command‑centre technology into its orchestration platform. The integration brings real‑time AML screening, risk scoring, device intelligence and centralized case management to the core of...
Phoenix Tailings Completes $40.2M Series B-3
Phoenix Tailings closed an oversubscribed $40.2 million B‑3 amplification round, lifting total Series B capital to $116.6 million. The financing comprised $30.2 million in equity and $10 million of venture debt supplied by Nomura. New strategic partners such as Traxys, Eni Next and Geodesic Alliance Fund...
Shahbandr and Tabby Partner to Bring BNPL to 20,000 Online Stores
Shahbandr, a Saudi e‑commerce enablement platform, has teamed up with fintech app Tabby to embed its Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later solution across the network. The integration will cover more than 20,000 online stores in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, allowing shoppers to split purchases...
True Market-Cap Exposure to Communication Services>
VanEck launched the Communication Services TruSector ETF (TRUC) to give investors true market‑cap exposure to the Communication Services sector. Traditional sector ETFs are constrained by diversification rules that cap single‑stock holdings at 25% and limit the total weight of stocks...
Sport, Trade and Visa
Visa Consulting & Analytics reports that the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan boosted overseas Visa cardholder visits by more than 60%, with U.S. travelers up 160% year‑on‑year. European visitors, especially from Germany, also surged, driving average spends of €297, €267...
‘What We Don’t Want Are Bad Apples,’ DCALTA Founder Says
Jonathan Epstein, founder of DCALTA, has spent over a decade lobbying for retirement savers to gain access to private‑fund investments. He argues that broader participation can boost portfolio diversification and returns for workers. On the brink of a major regulatory...
Trade Information Warehouse Successor Event Processing for Civitas Resources, Inc. - Revised
DTCC’s Trade Information Warehouse (TIW) announced a successor event for Civitas Resources, Inc., transitioning its reference entity to SM Energy Company. The auto‑auto adherence will rename all related transactions effective February 13 2026, with processing occurring February 25‑27 2026. Market participants must un‑adhere any...
‘We Have some Work to Do’: Nasdaq Stockholm’s President on Losing Klarna to New York
Nasdaq Stockholm’s president warned that the exchange must act after Klarna chose a New York listing, a move that underscores growing competition from U.S. markets. Last year Nasdaq Stockholm and its Nordic peers captured 60% of Europe’s equity capital‑market activity,...
SIC Code Lookup | Check Codes for Vendors & KYB
The article highlights how a Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code lookup strengthens vendor onboarding and Know‑Your‑Business (KYB) processes. It contrasts SIC with the newer NAICS system, noting that SIC offers a fast cross‑check while NAICS provides richer detail. By embedding...
CFC Owners Said to Tap Banks for Sale, IPO of £5 Billion Insurer
Private equity firms EQT AB and Vitruvian Partners have engaged Evercore and Goldman Sachs to explore a sale or initial public offering of cyber insurer CFC, targeting a valuation around £5 billion. The advisers are assessing both London and New York as...
On Its 15th Anniversary, Foresite Capital Looks Ahead
Foresite Capital marked its 15th anniversary by projecting a resurgence in biopharma venture capital, anticipating a year‑over‑year rise in financings and IPOs starting in 2026. The firm highlighted a surge to $149 billion in biopharma VC dollars in 2025 and a...
Bloomberg: Leveraged Lending Insights – 2/16/2026
The US leveraged loan market opened 2026 with extraordinary vigor, posting $168.2 billion in new issuances during January—the strongest monthly total in over a decade. By mid‑February, activity slowed dramatically, with only $25.9 billion of new deals launched through February 18, the lowest...