The Weekly Wrap: all you need to know by Friday COB | March 17th

By Puja Sharma

The Weekly Wrap is published every Friday and recaps the week’s main stories and deals, as well as upcoming events and announcements. For Prime subscribers only.

The Big Story

Credit Suisse Group AG shareholders sued the Swiss bank on Thursday, claiming that it defrauded them by concealing financial problems.

Credit Suisse is accused of deceiving investors by failing to disclose it was experiencing “significant” customer outflows and that its internal controls were materially weak.

Shareholders led by Braden Turner said that as the truth became known, and Credit Suisse’s largest shareholder said it would not put more money into the bank, investors fled, causing losses as Credit Suisse’s stock price sank to a record low. The lawsuit appears to be the first by U.S. investors over recent problems at Credit Suisse, which regained some market confidence on Thursday after securing a lifeline to borrow up to $54 billion from Switzerland’s central bank.

Earlier this week, the Swiss bank indicated “material weaknesses” in its financial reporting, leaving investors unclear about whether the lender would be able to get any financial rescue. The troubles turned into a full-blown crisis after reports said its largest investor, Saudi National Bank or SNB, ruled out more financial assistance to the bank, citing regulatory issues.

Deals of the week

• CheQ partners with Axis Bank to provide rewards on credit card bill payments
• Flutterwave acquires EMI and remittance licenses in Rwanda
• Worldline launches VABOX to enable payment voice alerts for merchants
• GoCardless partners Zapier to automate payment processes across apps
• Payit launches digital card for local and international payments
• Flat6labs launches $95m Venture Capital Fund for tech start-ups in Africa
• Tilia announces raising $22m, strengthens leadership team
• Payhawk launches zero-interest credit cards for US and UK businesses
• Chennai-based FinTech Finsire raises $1.3m in seed funding
• APEXX Global raises $25m to expand presence in North America
• Lloyds Banking Group invests £10m in FinTech Yoti
• Finastra, Uni Systems further partnership on Treasury & Risk Management

Be on the lookout for

FinTech start-ups were traditionally built by the start-ups taking on different pieces of a traditional bank. However, the pieces seem to be coming together with several mergers in the past year and also with more neo-banks rolling out comprehensive offerings. This panel discusses the fintech and neo-banking trends in Southeast Asia and what to expect in 2023. Register yourself for the Big FinTech Convergence happening on Mar 29, 2023, in Singapore.