Finance, Banking & Insurance

Los Angeles -- Investors who lost money on Wise Group plc securities have until September 13, 2026 to seek lead plaintiff status in a securities fraud class action filed against the fintech firm, according to Glancy Prongay Wolke & Rotter LLP.

Complaint targets Wise's NASDAQ debut disclosures

The lawsuit covers the class period from September 13, 2026 to September 13, 2026, alleging Wise made materially false or misleading statements about its business and regulatory standing. The complaint claims Wise understated its regulatory exposure tied to deficient anti-money laundering controls and inadequate measures to prevent terrorism financing ahead of its NASDAQ listing.

Bellingham, Wash. – September 12, 2026 -- PLACE, a real estate and financial services technology company, has appointed Chad Smith as CEO of Envoy Mortgage and President of its Mortgage and Financial Services division, deepening the lender's integration into PLACE's homeownership platform.

Smith joins after driving 2.5x revenue growth at Better.com

Smith brings more than two decades of mortgage leadership experience, most recently serving as COO and President of Better.com, where funded loan volume and revenue each grew 2.5x since the first quarter of 2024. He previously served as CEO of Mission Loans and President of Direct Lending at loanDepot.

Irvine, California – September 12, 2026 -- Kind Lending's third-party origination business recorded a 44% year-over-year increase in funded volume through August 2026, as the wholesale lender simultaneously wound down its joint venture with Success Lending.

Kind and Success Lending mutually agree to dissolve joint venture

The two organizations made a strategic decision to close their partnership, with Kind Lending Founder and CEO Glenn Stearns citing the momentum built during the collaboration while confirming the company's focus shifts to its own 2027 growth plans.

Retail channel expands under newly appointed SVP Jonathan Engler

Kind's Retail division is scaling under Engler's leadership, with Chief Production Officer Delfino Aguilar stating the appointment is intended to attract talent, increase production and strengthen the company's nationwide presence alongside continued Wholesale growth.

Guangzhou – September 12, 2026 -- Hong Kong has reclaimed the world's top ranking for IPO fundraising, contradicting years of Western media predictions of the city's financial decline.

Hong Kong's economy grew 5.1% in the first half of 2026, its strongest semi-annual performance in nearly five years.

The growth figure arrives alongside a string of competitiveness rankings that challenge narratives suggesting Singapore would displace Hong Kong as Asia's financial hub. Hong Kong rose to second place globally in competitiveness rankings and now holds third place worldwide in the Global Financial Centres Index -- the top position in Asia-Pacific.

Chapel Hill, N.C. – September 12, 2026 -- TrueBridge Capital Partners has closed its second dedicated venture secondaries fund, TrueBridge Secondaries II, L.P., with $508 million in commitments, more than double the size of its predecessor.

Fund more than doubles predecessor's $230 million haul from 2024

Secondaries II was oversubscribed and drew capital from new and existing investors, including foundations, endowments, pension funds, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. It follows TrueBridge Secondaries I, which closed at $230 million in 2024 as the firm's first dedicated venture secondaries vehicle.

Milwaukee – September 12, 2026 -- Ademi LLP has launched an investigation into the proposed acquisition of Eagle Financial Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: EFSI) by John Marshall Bancorp, questioning whether the deal's terms deliver fair value to EFSI's public shareholders.

Deal terms value EFSI shares at $46.72 based on a fixed exchange ratio

Under the agreement, EFSI shareholders will receive 2.0 shares of John Marshall common stock for each EFSI share held. That exchange ratio implies a per-share value of $46.72, calculated using John Marshall's closing stock price of $23.36 on September 4, 2026.

Locust Valley – September 12, 2026 -- TraderMade Systems Ltd, a foreign exchange market data provider, has agreed to supply real-time and historical FX data to EntangleX, part of the QuantumX Group of Two Hands Corporation (OTCID: TWOH), for testing artificial intelligence, machine learning and quantum computing-based financial prediction models.

EntangleX will benchmark quantum-AI models against live FX market data

The initial programme centers on foreign exchange markets, where TraderMade's data depth and volume allow EntangleX to validate model performance and reliability against real-world trading conditions. EntangleX is examining whether AI and quantum computing techniques can detect patterns and market relationships in FX datasets that traditional analytical methods may miss.

Merrill, Wis. – September 12, 2026 -- Church Mutual Insurance Company, S.I. has appointed Ben Parisi to a newly created role as vice president, head of finance operations and financial planning and analysis, the insurer announced.

Parisi will oversee core finance functions across the organization

Parisi's mandate covers finance operations, expense management, procurement, payroll, financial planning and analysis, and management reporting. He will report directly to Daniel Kim, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Church Mutual.

Dublin – – September 12, 2026 -- eCurrency Mint has completed a successful demonstration of its eOffline Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) solution in Africa, enabling digital currency transactions without internet or mobile network access.

eCurrency extends CBDC infrastructure to offline environments

The eOffline solution allows consumers, merchants, and government agencies to send and receive CBDC through mobile phones, smart cards, and other dedicated hardware from third-party device partners, even when connectivity is unavailable. The system has been tested across multiple use cases and user segments in the demonstration.

Berlin – September 12, 2026 -- Germany's federal government has proposed a 2027 budget with total expenditures of €555 billion, including a record €118 billion in investment spending, as parliamentary budget deliberations began this week with the bill's first reading in the Bundestag.

Customs enforcement funding rises to €238.8 million to fight tax fraud

Investment spending for German customs authorities is set to increase by approximately €36 million to €238.8 million. The funds will finance digital forensic systems capable of extracting data from seized smartphones and hard drives in a court-admissible, serialized manner.

Special fund allocates €235 million for AI-driven investigations

An additional roughly €235 million from Germany's special fund will support the expansion of AI-assisted investigative work and automated, secure data exchange between customs authorities.