Capital markets

Flow Traders and Hudson River Trading have backed Sei Labs, a crypto startup founded by Goldman Sachs and Robinhood Markets veterans that is developing a blockchain aimed at speeding up decentralized finance transactions.

Net income at the Toronto-based bank dipped by double digits during the fiscal third quarter. But the company's U.S. operations, including City National Bank in Los Angeles, fared better.

The Canadian banking giant reported a 22% increase in loan balances, with the largest contribution coming from the United States. The surge in lending helped to compensate for weakness in debt and equity issuances.

BankTech Ventures, which is the product of five firms including two community banks, finds fintechs that its bank partners could work with and invest in.

Goldman Sachs Group has extended a $150 million credit line to the Mexican startup Clara, which lends to corporations and helps manage their spending, the latest Latin American fintech to receive support from the New York-based banking giant.

Toronto-Dominion Bank is looking to bolster its stateside capital markets business with the acquisition of Cowen. The deal comes even as the Canadian banking giant awaits approval of another merger that would make it a top-six U.S. bank.

The digital commercial bank has been fleshing out its business lines and technology over the past year. Its new capital raise will help further those efforts.

The payments giant Visa is in talks to join an extension of the fintech startup Airwallex’s latest funding round, according to people familiar with the matter.

Crypto startups finally felt the effects of an economic storm that has been cooling digital currencies, public stocks and venture capital all year. Funding to private crypto companies in the second quarter fell to its lowest level in a year, according to data from PitchBook.

Klarna Bank is in talks to raise new equity at a valuation as low as $6 billion, a fraction of the $45.6 billion it commanded last summer as it became Europe’s most valuable startup, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The buy now/pay later startup Zilch has raised a further $50 million, upping the total raise for its Series C fundraising to $160 million as it plans bolster U.S. expansion plans. 

The move builds on the government-sponsored enterprise’s previous program that facilitated the collection of more rent payment records from tenants who work with its multifamily borrowers.

Rakefet Russak-Aminoach, who led the Israeli bank for seven years, now funds and helps build fintechs that work with other fintechs and banks.

Codat, a software startup that connects small businesses with financial institutions, raised $100 million in an equity funding round led by JPMorgan Chase’s growth-equity arm.

The government-sponsored enterprises will start releasing information similar to what large banks already do, starting in the first quarter of 2023.

The banks have reportedly facilitated trades of Russian sovereign and corporate debt. Two Democrats in Congress want more information, saying that the dealings, though legal, may undermine efforts to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for the invasion of Ukraine.

Deserve, a credit card technology startup, said it secured a $250 million credit facility from banks led by Goldman Sachs Group. 

Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures Management is leading a $185 million funding round for Canada’s Neo Financial Technologies, propelling it to a valuation of more than $1 billion as it plans expansion into mortgages.

The Pittsburgh bank had warned that business activity in its capital markets unit was slowing because of economic uncertainty stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But its fee income declined by more than the company anticipated in the first quarter, and looming rate hikes from the Fed will no doubt cut into mortgage income further.

Celebrities on the investor roster include Ashton Kutcher, Justin Bieber, Steve Aoki and Gwyneth Paltrow.