Private Markets Sector

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.

BlossomHill Therapeutics raised $150 million in an upsized initial public offering, selling 9.375 million shares at $16 each on the Nasdaq under the ticker BLSM. The biotech expanded its offering from 7.8 million shares to meet oversubscribed demand. The raise finances a direct challenge to AstraZeneca's standard-of-care lung cancer drug Tagrisso, which brought in more than $7 billion last year. BlossomHill will deploy $70 million to push its lead molecule, BH-30643, through Phase 1/2 trials and into a registrational Phase 2 study. The molecule targets non-small cell lung cancer patients who developed C797S-mediated resistance to third-generation treatments. Competition is fierce. BlossomHill is betting a novel molecular structure can beat established rivals like Tagrisso and Johnson & Johnson’s Rybrevant. The company earmarked another $20 million for an acute myeloid leukemia drug and $5 million to move a pan-KRAS inhibitor into the clinic. Chief Executive Officer Jean Cui previously led Turning Point Therapeutics through a 2019 IPO before Bristol Myers Squibb acquired it for $4.1 billion in 2022. Underwriters can purchase another 1.4 million shares to add $22.5 million to the final proceeds.

AI Financial Corp has sold its Canadian unit, ALT5 Sigma Canada, to New York-based Prime Delta for a $12 million secured promissory note and 11.6 million shares of Prime Delta stock, according to SEC filings reported by channelnewsasia.com. Under the terms, AI Financial receives $1 million of the note next week, with the remainder paid over time. The divestment comes three weeks after a previous deal to sell the Canadian subsidiary to Perpetuals.com fell through. The transaction also reunites former legal foes: AI Financial, formerly known as ALT5 Sigma, sued Prime Delta last year over data misappropriation before settling in December without admissions of wrongdoing. AI Financial's stock has collapsed from over $9 in August 2025 to roughly 44 cents on Friday, leaving the company with a market capitalization of about $61 million. That collapse followed an August 2025 transaction where the firm raised $750 million by selling shares and deployed $717 million into World Liberty Financial tokens, a deal that funneled over $500 million to the Trump family.