Private Markets Sector

Bluefin partnered with Visa to launch a unified card-present payment acceptance offering that merges point-to-point encryption with Visa Acceptance Solutions [1]. The integration combines Bluefin's PCI-validated P2PE technology, decryption services, and terminal integration with Visa's global payment processing and tokenisation capabilities into a single deployment [1]. The offering goes live on selected Ingenico Lane series devices to target sectors including retail, hospitality, petroleum, healthcare, and higher education [1, 2]. By bundling these capabilities, merchants and software providers avoid managing independent payment security and device infrastructure vendors [2]. The service distributes through Visa Acceptance Solutions and its global sales and partner channels [1].

SoftBank Group is in talks with investment banks to issue between $10 billion and $20 billion in offshore bonds to refinance debt tied to its OpenAI stake. The proposed offering could launch as early as September in dollars and euros, marking the conglomerate's second international bond sale of 2026. Proceeds will partially repay a $40 billion bridge loan secured earlier this year to finance its multi-billion-dollar commitments to OpenAI. The Japanese investor is also preparing a record ¥1 trillion domestic retail bond sale carrying an indicative coupon of 4.3% to 4.9% to price on September 4. Alongside these debt sales, SoftBank recently secured a $10 billion margin loan backed by its OpenAI-related assets. If the offshore bond sale hits the top of its range, it will rank as the largest deal from any Asian company this year.

Commercial real estate investor competition surged this summer as liquidity returned to credit markets, driving investment sales activity to its highest point in over a year. JLL reported that July transaction bidding reached the second-highest level of unique bidders in five years, propelled by lender confidence that has spilled over into the equity market. The firm's Global Bid Intensity and Global Credit Intensity indexes both climbed above 100, a threshold indicating heightened market activity where winning bids frequently surpass asking prices. Credit availability is now flowing more freely from commercial mortgage-backed securities, insurance companies, government agencies, and debt funds as lenders seek higher yields following a lack of systemic distress. Meanwhile, retail and industrial sectors are seeing the strongest investor demand, while multifamily housing lags due to a historic supply of new construction. Despite rising bond yields widening the gap between buyer bids and seller expectations, JLL expects strong capital depth to sustain transaction momentum.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission sent an overhauled crypto asset custody rule to the White House for review on Aug. 25, according to cointelegraph.com. The proposed amendments to the Custody Rules were submitted to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for evaluation under the Investment Advisers Act and Investment Company Act. The revisions aim to establish clearer guidelines for investment advisers and funds holding client digital assets while complying with federal securities regulations. Paul Atkins became chair in 2025, shifting the agency's focus from enforcement actions toward formal rulemaking and dismissing several cases against major crypto firms, including Coinbase.

Vanguard Group agreed to acquire wealth-management technology platform Altruist for roughly $4 billion. The transaction gives the asset manager, which managed about $12 trillion in assets as of March 31, deeper access to independent financial advisers and expands its capabilities against custody competitors like Charles Schwab and Fidelity. Founded in 2018, Altruist will continue to operate as a separate business under Vanguard's ownership once the deal closes later this year. The acquisition aligns with CEO Salim Ramji's strategy to scale Vanguard's advice and wealth-management operations as traditional asset managers target affluent clients.

americanbanker.com reports that Vanguard Group is buying Altruist in a deal valued by the Wall Street Journal at more than $4 billion, marking the largest acquisition in Vanguard's history. The transaction gives Vanguard a direct link to Altruist's 6,500 financial advisors and its tech-first custodial platform. Traditional custodians like Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing, and Goldman Sachs currently dominate the RIA custody market, but Altruist's integration with Vanguard's scale threatens competitors' lucrative cash-management profits. Many traditional brokerages rely on cash sweeps to route uninvested client money to banks, generating significant net interest revenue. Schwab pulled in nearly $3.4 billion in net interest revenue in its latest quarter on nearly $485.7 billion in sweeps accounts, while LPL Financial generated $443.5 million on $57 billion in client cash. Altruist offers higher average yields on client cash, positioning Vanguard to compete away those margins. Vanguard plans to leave Altruist operating as a standalone business to preserve its product speed and technology development.

Non-QM securitizations reached $78 billion as lenders eased underwriting guidelines to capture unserved borrower demand, even as total impairments rose for the 10th time in 13 months to 6.27%, according to data from dv01 cited by American Banker. Carrington Mortgage Services recently announced guideline changes including accepting FICO scores as low as 550 for certain alternative documentation non-QM borrowers, reflecting a broader push into bank statement loans and asset depletion products. This volume accounts for $78 billion of the $182 billion of non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities issued so far this year. Meanwhile, underlying distress metrics showed mixed movement, with loans 90 days or more behind rising 21 basis points to 3.6% and newly impaired loans increasing 6 basis points to 1.19%. Total delinquencies fell by 2 basis points to 5.39% as a 9 basis point drop in the 30-to-59-day bucket offset a 7 basis point rise in seriously delinquent loans. Bank of America Securities noted that non-agency RMBS continues to grow across non-QM, jumbo, and home equity line sectors, expecting further demand increases through the rest of the year.

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