Weekly Global News Wrap: Ayala sells part of GCash stake; Some FIs halt trading with Nomura

And Jamie Dimon blasts several US regulatory initiatives.

From Reuters:
Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corp is selling half of its stake in Mynt, the fintech operator of e-wallet brand GCash, to Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp for $318.89m.

The Japanese conglomerate will acquire the stake by buying 50% of Ayala-owned AC Ventures, Ayala Corp said in a statement.

Ayala owns a 13% stake in Mynt via AC Ventures.

E-wallet GCash was valued at $5b after a funding round in August that included Mitsubishi UFJ Financial.

From Bloomberg:
Some of Japan’s largest financial institutions have reportedly halted trading securities with Nomura Holdings as the fallout from its market manipulation scandal spreads, reports Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.

At least 10 firms, which include major life insurers, trust banks and asset management firms, have temporarily suspended some business activities with Nomura because of the breach, the sources said.

From Reuters:
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon blasted several major U.S. financial regulatory initiatives on Monday and vowed to oppose those he said would not make banks safer.

The outspoken executive, 68, who runs the largest U.S. lender, criticized what he called overlapping or ill-conceived rules on capital requirements, card payments and open banking.

"It's time to fight back," Dimon said at a conference. Many banks are afraid to "fight with their regulators, because they would just come and punish you more," he added.

He was referring to a proposal by U.S. regulators in July 2023 to align their standards with those of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to help the industry better absorb economic shocks.

The Fed's regulatory chief Michael Barr last month outlined a plan to raise big bank capital by 9%, easing the previous proposal to hike capital 19%. It was a major concession to Wall Street banks that had lobbied to water down the drain.