Top five stories of the week – 26 August 2022

Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.

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CSI sold to two private investment firms in $1.6bn deal

US fintech solutions provider Computer Services Inc (CSI) is to be acquired by private investment firms Centerbridge and Bridgeport in an all-cash deal worth $1.6 billion.

CSI offers core processing, digital banking, managed cybersecurity, payments processing and regulatory compliance solutions to financial institutions.

The firm’s shareholders are set to receive $58 per share in cash upon closing of the deal, which is expected to take place in Q4 2022, representing a 53% bump to CSI’s closing stock price on 19 August.

The transaction was unanimously approved by CSI’s board of directors and founder John Williams. Williams, who founded CSI 60 years ago, says the deal represents good value for shareholders.

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Reserve Bank of India lifts onboarding restrictions on American Express

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted the business restrictions it imposed on American Express last year, allowing the firm to resume card issuance to new customers in the country.

The RBI imposed the restrictions on the company in May 2021, denying it the ability to onboard new domestic customers onto its card network due to non-compliance with a payment system data storage order made in April 2018.

The RBI now says that thanks to the “satisfactory compliance demonstrated by American Express”, the restrictions have been lifted with immediate effect.

An American Express spokesperson says: “We welcome today’s decision by the Reserve Bank of India, which enables the American Express Network to onboard new customers effective immediately.”

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Alternative investment fintech iCapital to acquire UBS Fund Advisor

Alternative investment fintech iCapital is set to acquire UBS Fund Advisor for an undisclosed sum.

The deal includes UBS’s legacy proprietary alternative investment manager and the feeder fund platform it manages. The platform, known as AlphaKeys Funds, includes private equity, hedge fund and real estate feeder funds and represents more than $7 billion in client assets.

Following the acquisition, set to finalise in H2 2022, iCapital will assume the management and operation of the platform while UBS financial advisors will continue to serve its high and ultra-high-net-worth clients that hold feeder funds.

Lawrence Calcano, chair and CEO of iCapital, says the company “has a long-standing global relationship with UBS” through which it utilises its technology “to facilitate the management of their direct and feeder funds on a single platform and offer their advisors the tools they need to be successful”.

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Credit Suisse names new CFO and group COO

Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse Group has appointed Dixit Joshi as its new chief financial officer (CFO) and Francesca McDonagh as group chief operating officer (COO).

The bank has also appointed Michael J Rongetti as ad interim CEO of its asset management division.

Both Joshi and McDonagh will join Credit Suisse’s executive board and all three will report directly to newly appointed group CEO Ulrich Körner.

McDonagh was previously announced as CEO of the group’s EMEA region but Credit Suisse has now appointed Francesco De Ferrari, CEO of its wealth management division, in this role instead.

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Malaysia’s Kenanga partners Ant Group to develop financial services super-app

Malaysia’s largest independent investment bank, Kenanga, has tapped China’s Ant Group for its mobile development platform as the firm looks to launch a wealth management and financial services super-app.

The super-app, Malaysia’s first according to Kenanga, will be powered by Ant Group’s mobile platform-as-a-service (mPaaS) and will combine stock trading, digital investment management, an e-wallet, crypto trading and foreign currency exchange capabilities.

Kenanga Investment Bank group managing director Datuk Chay Wai Leong says the company plans to unify a broad spectrum of financial offerings under one roof while also making “wealth creation more accessible by democratising financial services for the millions of Malaysians around the country”.

After spending a year designing the app, the bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ant Group’s digital tech unit “to develop this platform and bring it to life”, Datuk Chay adds.

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