Ramp Raises $500m For Automated Finance

The stuff CFOs do that can be called "busywork" is automated in the vision offered by Ramp. The product has gained traction with a number of Finance teams already. This latest financing round is a Series-E2, valuing the company at $22.5bn. ICONIQ led the round with other investors including Thiel's Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, 8VC, Definition Capital, General Catalyst and others.

Merger Speculation Engulfs Northern Trust

The Wall Street Journal reported in June that BNY (in full, the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, NYSE: BK, which has seen solid share price growth over the past year, Q2 2025 revenue of $5bn) had approached Northern Trust about a potential merger. 

Northern Trust's Chairman and CEO (Mike O'Grady) retorted saying it remains committed to being fully independent. Mike has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

There have been hopes of looser regulation under Trump which would give a boost to banking M&A, however Senator Elizabeth Warren warned a merger could violate federal banking laws.

A major part of Northern Trust's business is asset servicing, which consists of administrative and operational tasks performed by custodians of financial assets on behalf of clients.

Pushback from Citadel on Options Trading with Speed Bumps Proposal from IEX

Virtu (co-founded by Doug Cifu and Vincent Viola)  is declaring support for IEX launching a new US options exchange (planned for Q1 2026) which will introduce a 350ms delay on trades - a speed bump to level the playing field and prevent ultra-high-frequency players sweeping up all the profits.  Citadel, as well as the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, has hit back saying it could affect price discovery and market dynamics.

Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as Chief Exec of X

Linda Yaccarino steps down as CEO of X after a two year tenure which saw the coming together of Elon Musk's xAI with the messaging platform.

Linda has an Italian-American background and has worked substantially in the media industry, starting her career at Turner Entertainment (founded by Ted Turner in 1986 and purchased by Time Warner in 1996).

EU AI Act schedule stirs concern

Pundits say the Act which aims to regulate general-purpose AI (GPAI) has too many bits missing. This could "risk stalling innovation" states the CCIA (Computer and Communications Industry Association).