FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 5 May 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
Apple’s new savings account sees $1bn in deposits within one week of launch
Apple’s savings account attracts an influx of deposits
Apple’s newly launched high-yield savings account has reportedly attracted around $1 billion in deposits within its first week.
The Apple Card savings account, launched in April in partnership with Goldman Sachs, offers US consumers a high-yield annual return of 4.15% – a rate it claims is more than 10 times the national average.
Users can set up and manage their savings account directly from the Apple Card app with no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements.
According to Forbes, the savings account attracted $400 million in deposits on launch day alone, with approximately 240,000 accounts being opened by the end of the first week.
Deutsche Bank acquires Numis in £410m deal to build out UK investment banking arm
German multinational Deutsche Bank is set to acquire independent investment bank Numis in an all-cash deal as it looks to strengthen its UK investment banking arm.
Numis shareholders are set to receive a total of 350p per share, valuing the company at approximately £410 million.
Deutsche Bank will fold its UK and Ireland corporate finance business into Numis to establish a combined unit offering corporate broking, strategic advisory services (including M&A and growth capital), access to equity and debt capital markets and equity research, sales and execution services.
Numis is a UK corporate broking and advisory house providing strategic advice and capital market connectivity to 166 corporate broking clients.
Morgan Stanley reportedly set to cut 3,000 jobs by end of Q2
Morgan Stanley to cut 3,000 jobs
Morgan Stanley is reportedly set to cut 3,000 jobs across its global workforce by the end of this quarter, with around 5% of staff on the chopping block.
According to Bloomberg, a dearth of deal making is to blame for the cuts, with a 32% decline in its merger advisory arm and 22% drop in its equity underwriting business causing Morgan Stanley’s Q1 2023 profit to fall compared to last year.
The banking and trading arm of the firm is expected to bear the brunt of the cuts, Bloomberg reports, with fewer M&As, a reduction in capital raises, interest rate hikes and regional banking instability also cited as reasons behind the decision.
JP Morgan Chase snaps up troubled First Republic from FDIC in $10.6bn deal
US multinational JP Morgan Chase has taken over beleaguered First Republic Bank from the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
JP Morgan Chase has assumed all deposits – insured and uninsured – worth approximately $92 billion, including $30 billion of large bank deposits. Branches reopened and normal services resumed on Monday, 1 May.
The bank will pay $10.6 billion to the FDIC, BBC News reports.
“In carrying out this transaction, JP Morgan Chase is supporting the US financial system through its significant strength and execution capabilities,” the firm says, minimising the cost to the FDIC through a competitive bid process.
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be about $13 billion.
JP Morgan Chase CEO and chair Jamie Dimon says: “This acquisition modestly benefits our company overall, it is accretive to shareholders, it helps further advance our wealth strategy, and it is complementary to our existing franchise.”
Deutsche Börse to acquire Denmark’s SimCorp in €3.9bn deal
Deutsche Börse set to acquire SimCorp
German exchange operator Deutsche Börse is set to acquire Denmark’s SimCorp in a deal valuing the company at €3.9 billion.
Deutsche Börse will finance the SimCorp offer with cash and debt and pay DKK 735 ($109) per share.
SimCorp’s board of directors has unanimously decided to recommend to shareholders to accept the offer.
SimCorp offers scalable investment management SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) and BPaaS (Business-Process-as-a-Service) solutions.
Deutsche Börse intends to merge its existing data and analytics subsidiaries Qontigo and ISS and group the two firms with SimCorp under a newly created investment management solutions unit.
