Fintech · Industry brief

The White House is reportedly planning a gathering of crypto and prediction market executives for August 19, ahead of the CFTC's new Innovation Advisory Committee's first meeting. The SEC postponed its August 14 vote on proposed Regulation Crypto, which would create a tailored offering regime for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets, citing a scheduling issue. SEC staff issued a no-action letter on August 12 permitting registered funds to custody shares of an affiliated tokenized government money market fund through an affiliated transfer agent, extending 1992 book-entry precedent to blockchain-based recordkeeping. The CFTC invoked emergency authority on August 11 to order a prediction market exchange to continue operating under the Commodity Exchange Act's core principles following New York's enforcement action against it. CFTC staff issued guidance on August 12 regarding self-certification obligations for incentive programs at designated contract markets and warned on August 7 against displaying event contract prices in bookmaker-style odds rather than nominal or percentage terms. Connecticut and New York federal judges denied preliminary relief to prediction market and crypto exchanges challenging state gambling law enforcement actions, and the New York City Council opened an investigation into advertising practices at four prediction market platforms on August 12.

VP Fintech Group has completed its acquisition of GlblNexus Inc., consolidating cross-border payment infrastructure capabilities. The deal integrates GlblNexus's specialized technology for handling international transactions into VP Fintech Group's platform, enabling the combined entity to offer more comprehensive end-to-end solutions for complex multi-currency operations. Financial terms were not disclosed. Industry observers note this marks a consolidation phase in cross-border payment processing, with the combined entity now positioned to compete for large enterprise contracts requiring high-volume international payment capabilities, potentially pressuring mid-tier processors lacking proprietary infrastructure.

On August 14, the CFPB published its regulatory agenda indicating plans to reconsider aspects of its May 2023 final rule on small business lending data collection under § 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act and its November 2024 personal financial data rights rule under § 1033, while also pursuing a rulemaking to clarify obligations under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The SEC published its Regulatory Flexibility Agenda reflecting Chairman's rulemaking priorities across three divisions, with the Division of Corporation Finance pursuing items including crypto assets disclosure, amendments to accredited investor definitions, and rescission of climate-related disclosure rules (NPRM issued June 3, 2026, comment period closed August 3, 2026); the Division of Investment Management advancing amendments to Form N-PORT and custody rules; and the Division of Trading and Markets modernizing the transfer agent regulatory regime including crypto asset considerations. On August 12, the OCC and FDIC jointly issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (comments due October 13, 2026) to amend Community Reinvestment Act regulations, proposing targeted changes including narrowing services considered under CRA evaluations, establishing simplified asset-size thresholds for banks (below $1 billion for small, $1 billion to $10 billion for intermediate, above $10 billion for large), and modernizing public file requirements to allow website-based disclosures. On August 10, the FDIC announced a new two-phase process for reviewing deposit insurance applications designed to expedite de novo bank formation, providing contingent authorization within 120 days followed by full approval within 12 months, aligning with the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.