Private Markets Sector
Regulatory pressures and geopolitical tensions impacted financial services and energy markets, with the OCC denying Bunq's U.S. charter and scrutinizing United Texas Bank. Meanwhile, Fiserv and Global Payments cut their long-term earnings forecasts due to falling quarterly profits and Middle East conflict disrupting international spending. Oil prices faced upward pressure as Citi raised its Brent crude target to $80 per barrel.
Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren pressed federal regulators on Wednesday to revoke United Texas Bank's national banking charter, arguing the agency illegally allowed the bank to switch regulators while under an active anti-money-laundering consent order. The bank petitioned the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to convert its state charter to a national one in November 2025. That conversion went through in June despite a 2024 enforcement action by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and Texas regulators over significant anti-money-laundering and virtual currency compliance failures. Section 612 of the Dodd-Frank Act explicitly bans the OCC from approving charter conversions for banks under formal enforcement orders for significant supervisory issues, a rule designed to stop troubled institutions from regulatory shopping. The OCC bypassed this by approving the charter conversion on the condition that United Texas Bank sign a new, near-identical consent order four days after the switch completed. Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr issued a sole dissent against the move in May, citing unresolved terrorist-financing risks. Warren demanded that top Fed and OCC officials provide the legal justification for the approval and explain why corporate governance requirements present in the original 2024 order were dropped from the new OCC order by August 20.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency denied Dutch neobank Bunq's application for a U.S. de novo bank charter, according to reporting by americanbanker.com. The federal regulator rejected the Amsterdam-based digital lender's second push into the American market, citing a lack of U.S. credit and regulatory experience among its proposed directors, unconvincing capitalization plans, and vague profitability projections. Without a banking charter, Bunq cannot directly take U.S. deposits or issue loans, leaving its American strategy anchored strictly to its FINRA broker-dealer license. The decision follows the agency's rejection of money transfer service Wise over anti-money laundering concerns a month earlier. While the regulator approved multiple other fintech charters earlier this year, it is blocking cross-border apps that fail to prove governance and financial stability for local operations. Bunq has not declared whether it will submit a third application, though the agency's decision letter leaves the door open for future filings.
Fiserv cut its full-year 2026 earnings per share forecast to between $7.20 and $7.40 as second-quarter earnings dropped 21% year over year to $1.84 per share. According to americanbanker.com, the core banking software giant is now reviewing its entire product portfolio for potential sales or restructurings following persistent client dissatisfaction and executive turnover. Community banks pay core software providers like Fiserv long-term recurring fees to run their ledger systems and deposit processing. But small lenders are increasingly balking at rigid multi-year contracts for aging tech like Fiserv's DNA platform. That friction drove a 10% organic revenue decline in Fiserv's banking division this quarter. The company slashed its 2026 organic revenue guidance from 1% to 3% growth down to flat or a 1% contraction. In response, newly installed chief executive officer Takis Georgakopoulos is shedding non-core assets, including the firm's student loan servicing and managed ATM businesses. Bigger divestitures may follow. If core client attrition continues, Fiserv risks damaging the stable operating income stream that historically grounded its business model.