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Good Morning,

A US senator challenged a union boss to a fight in a senate hearing, the FDIC went overboard cosplaying toxic banking culture, China’s property slump is getting worse, Glencore is preparing to divest from coal, and Ken Griffin thinks Miami could usurp NYC as a finance hub.

If you work in finance, invest in finance, or have a bank account, you might be wondering how open finance can help companies improve our banking experience. Today’s sponsor, Plaid, published a white paper that has all the answers.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks jumped thanks to a positive October CPI report that raised hopes of the Fed finishing its rate-hike cycle

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 2.37% gain

• European stocks rallied due to a flat MoM US CPI report

Earnings

• Home Depot shares gained ~5% after beating Q3 analyst expectations for earnings and revenue; Home Depot indicated caution in the coming months and narrowed its full-year forecast (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Target, Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, JD.com, 

  • Thursday: Walmart, Alibaba, Applied Materials, Macy’s

  • Friday: BJ’s

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• GOP Senator Mullin challenges Teamsters boss to fight at Senate hearing (CNBC)

• Lawmakers grill FDIC chairman on toxic culture in the agency (WSJ)

• The elusive soft landing is coming into view (WSJ)

• China property slump deepens as Beijing mulls more stimulus (BBG)

• Japan’s economy contracts as recession risks grow (RT)

• Glencore, an empire built on coal, prepares to say goodbye (BBG)

• Ken Griffin says Fed’s credibility at risk if it cuts rates too soon (BBG)

• Michael Burry is betting against semiconductors (BBG)

• Ken Griffin sees Miami possibly replacing NYC as finance capital (BBG)

• EU agrees law to hit fossil fuel imports with methane emissions limit (RT)

• Rosenberg sees ‘terrifying mortgage math’ bringing Canada rates down quickly (BBG)

• The US has lost thousands of tech workers to Canada (CNBC)

• With interest rates above 9%, small businesses slam the brakes (WSJ)

• Toyota’s Camry, best-selling car in the US, goes all-hybrid (RT)

• Trump’s Truth Social has lost $73M since its launch, faces potential shutdown (CNBC)

• Fire-damaged freeway in Los Angeles set to reopen within five weeks (WSJ)

A Message From Plaid

Does Open Finance Equal Economic Freedom?

How can open finance help companies improve our banking experience? 

Perhaps most importantly… what even is open finance? 

These are the questions, and Plaid – like always – has the answers in the form of their newest whitepaper, produced in association with MIT Technology Review Insights:

Download “How Can Open Finance Reinvent Financial Services?” here. 

Inside, you’ll find everything you need to know about open finance, how fintech innovations may hold the key to increasing customer demands, and how changing U.S. regulations will affect the industry. 

If you work in finance, invest in finance, or, ya know… have a bank account, this is one piece of reading worth checking out.

Get the whitepaper for free right here while you still can. 

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Adobe’s $20B acquisition of cloud-based designer platform Figma is set to face an EU antitrust warning in the coming days (RT)

• A Glencore-led consortium agreed to buy Canadian miner Teck Resources' steelmaking coal unit for $9B (RT)

• Antin Infrastructure Partners is considering selling French district heating operator Idex, which could be worth over $3.2B (BBG) 

• Norges Bank Investment Management agreed to acquire a 45% interest in two Massachusetts-based life sciences development properties from REIT Boston Properties at a $1.7B gross valuation (RT) 

• German professional football is launching a third attempt to sell a stake in the league’s media rights worth as much as $1.1B to PE investors (BBG) 

• Nexi is in talks to sell ~$858M worth of Italian assets to infrastructure fund F2i SGR to focus on its core digital payment activities (BBG) 

• Private investor Aurelius Group will acquire Brazilian cosmetics maker Natura’s subsidiary The Body Shop in a $254M deal (RT)  

• Medical technology company Novanta has agreed to buy Motion Solutions for $189M (MW) 

• Online education provider Academic Partnerships will acquire John Wiley & Sons’ education-consulting arm Wiley University Services for $150M (BBG)

VC

• Blockchain.com, which operates a crypto exchange and wallet service, closed a $110M Series E funding round led by Kingsway Capital at a fraction of its prior valuation (BBG) 

• British-based provider of DLT-based wholesale payment systems Fnality International raised a $97.1M Series B led by Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas (FN)

• MBrace Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on antibody-drug conjugates, raised an $85M Series B led by TPG (BW)

• Nouscom, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, raised a $73.4M Series C led by Andera Partners, Bpifrance, and M Ventures (FN)

• Ophthalmology biotech company EyeBio raised a $65M Series A extension led by Bain Capital Life Sciences, Omega Funds, and Vertex Ventures HC (BW)

• Spark Car Wash, an express car wash operator in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, raised a $30M Series B led by GoPoint Ventures (PRN)

• OfferFit, a marketing tech startup, raised a $25M Series B led by Menlo Ventures (FN)

• CPG manufacturing platform Keychain raised an $18M seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners (TC)

• E-commerce enablement platform etaily raised a $17.8M Series A led by SKS Capital (TC)

• Radiant Security, a startup offering AI-enhanced security operations solutions, raised a $15M Series A led by Next47 (BW)

• Refine Intelligence, a financial crime greenflagging startup, raised a $13M seed round led by Glilot Capital Partners and Fin Capital (PRN)

• Entrio, a startup providing a tech adoption platform for financial institutions, extended its recent funding to $11M, with participation from new investors American Family Ventures, Fin Capital, and Selah Ventures (FN)

• Paris-based fintech Defacto raised a $10.9M Series A extension led by Citi Ventures (EU)

• Bloom, a startup combining AI, psychometrics, and behavioral science to provide daily personal growth opportunities for professionals, raised a $10M seed round led by Octopus Ventures and MMC Ventures (FN)

• Apiture, a provider of digital banking solutions, raised $10M in funding led by T. Rowe Price Investment Management (FN)

• AppMap, a startup providing code visualization and runtime code review analysis technology, raised a $10M round from Work Bench Ventures, Forgepoint Capital, Venture Guides, and more (FN)

• BlastPoint, an AI-based customer analytics platform, raised an $8M seed round led by Curql (BW)

• Zip Security, a startup building software to secure US businesses from cyber threats, raised a $7.7M round led by General Catalyst and Human Capital (BW)

• Cybersecurity startup Cyble raised a $6.2M Series B led by Summit Peak Ventures and King River Capital (FN)

• No-code robotics software startup Augmentus raised a $5M Series A led by Sierra Ventures (FN)

• Baton, a music collaboration platform for unreleased material, raised a $4.2M round led by BITKRAFT Ventures (TC)

• CoverSelf, a provider of a platform for healthcare claims and payment integrity, raised an additional $3.4M in seed funding from BEENEXT, 3One4 Capital, and Z21 Ventures (FN)

• Fractl, a generative AI-powered programming platform, raised a $1M pre-seed round led by WestWave Capital (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Battery firm Hebei Gellec New Energy Science & Technology is considering a Hong Kong IPO as early as next year (BBG) 

Debt

• Siemens Energy secured a $16.2B deal with the German government to shore up its finances due to massive losses from its wind-turbine unit; Private banks will provide Siemens Energy with $13.1B in loan guarantees, which are backed by $8.2B worth of counter-guarantees from the government (BBG) 

• EV maker Rivian Automotive plans to raise as much as $15B through the issuance of taxable bonds for a manufacturing plant in Georgia (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

•  Drugmaker Mallinckrodt emerged from bankruptcy and reduced its total funded debt by ~$1.9B (RT) 

• French nursing home operator Clariane outlined a $1.6B plan to reinforce finances to avoid a liquidity issue and debt restructuring; its shares fell as much as 18% (BBG) 

Fundraising

• Collective Global, a VC investment firm co-owned by California pensions, is debuting with over $1B of committed assets (BBG) 

• Asset manager Brinley Partners is seeking to raise at least $1B for its second private credit fund, Brinley Private Debt Fund II (BBG) 

• Investment manager Barings is planning to raise an Australian private credit fund and hopes to raise $893M in the next 12-18 months (BBG) 

• Bahrain-based alternative asset manager Investcorp is aiming to raise up to $548M for its first PE fund denominated in the Chinese yuan (RT) 

• Avra, which was launched by the former leader of YC’s Continuity Fund, is looking to raise $350M to invest in post-Series A startups (TC)

Crypto Corner

• The SEC filed 784 total enforcement actions in 2023, which a staunch focus on threats involving crypto (TBC)

• A 5% decline in crypto prices led to $300M worth of liquidations for crypto bulls (CD)

Exec’s Picks

• Rebecca Ballhaus published a wild investigative piece on the rampant sexual harassment and partying culture prevalent in one of the country’s most unexpected organizations… the FDIC.

• If luxury watches are a leading inflation indicator, the worst may actually be behind us as Rolex and Patek prices hit fresh two-year lows.

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