Financial Services

Bangkok – September 12, 2026 -- Webull Securities (Thailand) Co., Ltd. has completed its acquisition of approximately 99.36% of Pi Securities Public Company Limited for an aggregate consideration of roughly $100 million, following regulatory approval from Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission on August 31, 2026.

Webull structures the deal through two separate share purchases

Webull Holdings (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., together with parent Webull Corporation (NASDAQ: BULL), acquired approximately 90.98% of Pi Securities from Country Group Holdings Public Company Limited, the broker's controlling shareholder, for roughly $90 million. A separate agreement with another shareholder added approximately 8.38% for $10 million, bringing Webull's total stake to 99.36%.

New York – September 12, 2026 -- Jencap Group LLC has acquired Concorde General Agency, a North Dakota-based wholesaler specializing in personal lines, commercial lines, and farm and ranch insurance, expanding Jencap's footprint in the upper Midwest.

Concorde retains its brand under Jencap's insurance services division

Concorde will continue operating under its established name as part of the Jencap Insurance Services Inc (JCIS) division. The deal pairs Concorde's regional expertise and carrier relationships with Jencap's national resources and broader product access.

Deal strengthens Jencap's specialty offerings for agency partners

Mark Maher, President of Jencap, said the acquisition strengthens the company's geographic presence in the upper Midwest and expands the specialty products it can deliver through its network. Jencap serves more than 20,000 independent agency partners nationwide as one of the largest wholesalers in the U.S.

New York – September 12, 2026 -- Ares Capital Corporation (Nasdaq: ARCC) has priced an underwritten public offering of $750 million in aggregate principal amount of 6.250% notes due 2033, with the deal expected to close on September 15, 2026.

Notes carry a 2033 maturity with make-whole redemption terms

The notes will mature on September 15, 2033. Ares Capital may redeem the securities in whole or in part at any time at par plus a make-whole premium, if applicable, giving the company flexibility to retire the debt early.

Chicago – September 12, 2026 -- Corgi, an AI-driven financial infrastructure company, has appointed retail-investing media personality Erin Gambrel as VP, Financial Services, tasking her with expanding retail investor reach across its ETF lineup of nearly 200 funds.

Corgi taps a media figure with a 20-million-strong retail audience

Gambrel joins from Investing Authority, an investor relations firm where she served as Vice President overseeing retail trading campaigns for a network reaching more than 20 million retail investors. Known publicly as "The Blonde Broker," she has spent a decade building financial media brands, contributes regularly to The New York Times and Forbes, and hosts The Market Runup, a financial podcast and newsletter produced under StrataMedia.

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.

Merrill, Wis. – September 11, 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.

Berlin – September 11, 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.

Tampa, Fla. – September 11, 2026 -- Orange Insurance Exchange has gone live on EquinoxTM, the AI-native policy administration platform from Solstice Innovations, launching HO-3, HO-6, and DP-3 homeowners, condo, and dwelling fire products simultaneously for new business across its Florida portfolio effective September 1, 2026.

Orange launches three products at once instead of staggering releases

Rating, issuance, endorsements, renewals, claims, billing, and forms for all three lines now run on a single system, with AI embedded directly into underwriting, servicing, and claims workflows rather than added afterward. Orange CEO Don Matz said the platform's configurability lets the underwriting team respond to book performance rather than wait on a development calendar, and gives agents a faster submission process and members quicker decisions.