Australia

The U.S. bank was unable to fully sell a block of shares in Australia's Goodman Group it had underwritten for China's sovereign wealth fund.

The $29 billion deal would enable Square to better compete with PayPal and Apple, and provide an opportunity to cross-sell other services to the Australian lender's global audience.

The Australian bank's stakes in technology firms Little Birdie and Amber add price shopping for point of sale credit and bill pay.

The country's banks and fintechs are still new to working together, giving Railsbank a chance to become a key player in open banking.

The decision comes after a decade in which several U.S.-based institutions elected to drop the words "credit union" from their branding.

Openpay, the latest firm to enter the U.S.’s booming buy now, pay later instant-credit market, has hired a team clearly braced for heavier competition and regulation ahead.

Two large deals happened this week in Australia to build scale against international financial services encroachment from card schemes and cross-border financial services — a concern that's cropping up in several nations.

Afterpay has entered into an agreement with NBQ Corporate SLU to acquire Pagantis SAU and PMT Technology SLU for €50 million (about $59 million) to expand into France, Italy and Spain — a direct challenge to Klarna, one of the dominant European buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers.

Brisbane, Australia-based EML has partnered with the New Zealand buy now, pay later fintech Laybuy to leverage digital cards for in-store and online retail purchases.

Afterpay has launched a version of its online installment payment method for in-store use in the U.S. by leveraging Apple Pay and Google Pay.