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The Swedish financial technology firm issued its first stablecoin and signed a gift card distribution deal with BlackRock. Also, EMVCo is examining AI's impact on processing and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.

U.S. commercial banks and savings banks have reduced employment by nearly 81,000 since the first quarter of 2023, including a net loss of 7,463 positions during the third quarter of this year, according to a new report from KRBA Financial Intelligence. Big banks, which have been embracing artificial intelligence, were big contributors to the decline.

Whitney Stewart Russell is president of digital solutions at Fiserv.

Dr. Jonathan Thorp is CEO of Quantum Connections, a leader in the science and practice of relational dynamics and human connection.

Carlos Marmolejo is CEO of Finsus.

The activist investor HoldCo Asset Management alleges that Comerica and Fifth Third used a "flawed" process to arrive at a $10.9 billion merger agreement. On Tuesday, a Delaware judge said she will hold a hearing to determine if the banks omitted material information in their public disclosures.

The New York Stock Exchange disclosed the news on Monday of the sudden passing of its head of International Capital Markets.

Bank of Marin Bancorp in Novato has sold a big chunk of low-yielding securities, replacing them with investments that should produce significantly more income.

Mark McDonald is president of Visual Lease and CoStar Real Estate Manager (formerly Virtual Premise), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CoStar Group. McDonald joined Virtual Premise as a member of the professional services team during the company's start-up phase. He also served as the leader of the field sales team during a multi-year period of hyper-growth, worked to establish implementation partnerships with the Big Four, and has guided numerous Fortune 500 companies through the digital transformation of their real estate portfolios and lease accounting compliance. He currently leads CoStar Real Estate Manager's overall strategy development and operations.

Csaba Farkas joined TMF Group in March 2021 as the head of accounting and tax consultancy services. He is an ACCA-qualified professional with several years of experience at professional services organizations in Budapest and London. He has a strong technical accounting background and, having worked as an interim financial controller in multiple engagements, has significant experience in implementing new enterprise resource planning systems in finance functions and in optimizing finance processes.