Latest news with #brokerage


Zawya
a day ago
- Business
- Zawya
RAKBANK becomes the first UAE conventional bank to facilitate crypto brokerage service
Dubai, UAE: RAKBANK has announced the launch of its crypto brokerage service via its mobile app for retail customers, becoming the first conventional bank in the UAE to enable crypto trading services for its customers. With this new offering, RAKBANK customers can buy, sell, and swap cryptocurrencies by accessing Bitpanda's crypto trading platform through RAKBANK's mobile banking app. The platform is owned and operated by Bitpanda, to which RAKBANK facilitates the access. All transactions will take place in AED, eliminating foreign currency transfer fees and forex losses altogether. What's more, transactions are executed directly from the customer's RAKBANK current or savings account, avoiding the need for lengthy and inefficient processes to move money in and out of crypto exchanges. The transaction is fulfilled through our partner Bitpanda's best-in-class platform. This milestone is powered by RAKBANK's partnership with Bitpanda, one of the world's most trusted and scalable digital asset infrastructure providers, via its group´s Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) regulated entity Bitpanda Broker MENA DMCC. Bitpanda is also regulated by multiple European regulators. Its institutional service, Bitpanda Technology Solutions, is already trusted by leading global financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, and N26. With this launch, RAKBANK will be providing its customers with seamless, fast, and efficient access to digital assets in a fully regulated way. Raheel Ahmed, Group CEO of RAKBANK, commented: 'RAKBANK has been a leader and pioneer in digital assets among UAE banks, and we are proud to be the first conventional bank in the UAE to enable simple, secure, and regulated access to a world class digital assets platform. We recognize the opportunity this solution will provide to customers in the UAE, as we believe they deserve a more efficient and seamless crypto buying, selling and swapping journey that is fully regulated and entirely in AED. With this service through our award winning digital app and collaboration with a leading crypto trading platform, we are staying true to our strategy of being the digital bank with a human touch.' Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, Deputy CEO of Bitpanda, commented: 'Collaborating with RAKBANK is a big moment for digital assets in the region. Together, we're showing how crypto can be offered in a safe, regulated, and simple way - directly from a major conventional bank that customers already trust. This is exactly how the future of finance should look: simple, compliant, and built to meet real user needs.' The service is currently by invitation only and will be rolled out to more customers over the coming months. About Bitpanda Bitpanda was founded in Vienna in 2014 and is the leading European crypto platform. With a selection of over 3,200 digital assets, including more than 600 crypto assets and numerous stocks*, ETFs*, precious metals and commodities, the Austrian fintech unicorn offers one of the most comprehensive ranges of digital assets available in Europe. Already trusted by over 6.5 million users, and dozens of institutional partners, Bitpanda holds licences in several countries, and has a proven track record of working with local regulators to keep assets safe and secure. This makes Bitpanda one of the safest and most strictly regulated trading platforms in the industry. In addition to its headquarters in Vienna, Bitpanda has offices in Barcelona, Berlin and Bucharest. About RAKBANK RAKBANK, also known as the National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (P.S.C), is one of the UAE's oldest yet most dynamic banks. Since 1976, RAKBANK has been a market leader, offering a wide range of banking services across the UAE. We're a public joint stock company based in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, with our head office located in the RAKBANK Building on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road. The Government of Ras Al Khaimah holds the majority of our shares, which are publicly traded on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). RAKBANK stands out for its innovation and unwavering commitment to delivering awesome customer experiences. Our transformative digital journey aims to be a 'digital bank with a human touch,' accompanying you during key moments. With 20 branches and advanced Digital Banking solutions, we offer a wide range of Personal, Wholesale, and Business Banking services. Through our Islamic Banking unit, RAKislamic, we provide Sharia-compliant services to make your banking experience seamless, whether you visit us in person or online. For more information, please visit or contact the Call Centre on +9714 213 0000. Alternatively, you can connect with us on our social media platforms:


Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Nomura Profit Exceeds Estimates on Stock Trading Boom
By and Ryo Horiuchi Updated on Save Nomura Holdings Inc. 's profit beat expectations last quarter, as the Japanese firm joined the equity trading boom that fueled earnings for Wall Street banks. Net income rose 52% from a year earlier to ¥104.6 billion ($706 million) in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, Japan's biggest brokerage said in a statement Tuesday.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Less than 2 years after Flexport bought Convoy's tech stack, it's being sold to DAT
The tech stack that was at the heart of now-defunct digital brokerage Convoy is on the move again, being sold to DAT in a move seen as significantly broadening that company's value proposition in the freight market. Freight forwarder Flexport, which acquired the tech stack from the remnants of Convoy less than two years ago, said Monday it is selling the product to DAT. When a company retreats from something it bought quickly, it is often a sign of defeat. (An old reference certainly, but the deal by Quaker Oats (NYSE: PEP) in the 90's to buy beverage maker Snapple for $1.4 billion, only to sell it back to its original owners three years later for $300 million, is considered the ultimate example of that sort of humbling failure). There is no sign that is the case with the quick flip of the Convoy tech stack. Ryan Petersen, the CEO of Flexport, said the return on the sale of the Convoy tech 'puts Flexport in an awesome place financially.' When Flexport purchased the Convoy tech stack in late 2023, the price on the transaction was reportedly $16 million, though neither company confirmed that price. The sale to DAT reportedly was made at a price near $250 million, though the companies declined to disclose the sales price. Besides the strong return on investment, Petersen, in a joint interview with DAT's CEO Jeff Clementz, said the presence of a powerful technology tool serving brokers that is supposed to be neutral could often complicate Flexport's primary business of freight forwarding. Neutral might not be neutral 'What we realized is that a neutral platform is not neutral,' Petersen said. 'We have a brokerage. We're a massive freight forwarding company.' The combination, he said, raised questions in the industry whether the Convoy platform truly could be seen as neutral. It's not the first time a company in the freight tech world has wrestled with the issue. When what is now Triumph Financial (NASDAQ: TFIN) bought HubTran to serve as an open loop auditing system for brokers and factoring companies, Triumph's management took great pains, repeatedly, to stress that its traditional factoring business could not get an inside look at what its factoring competitors who were using the legacy HubTran platform were doing. Petersen noted that the digital brokerage business that came with its 2023 acquisition of the Convoy tech stack will remain with Flexport. It processes about 100,000 loads per year, he said, 98% of which are completed with no human involvement. It will also continue to use the Convoy system even though it will now be owned by DAT, according to Petersen. 'On day one, we will be their biggest customer and we hope to continue to be their biggest customer,' he said. A widening range of offerings from DAT For DAT, the purchase is possibly transformative. In the past several months, besides promoting Clementz to CEO, it has purchased visibility provider Trucker Tools and payments platform Outgo. (Clementz said DAT did not pursue an acquisition of the Convoy tech stack when it was first offered for sale as part of the Convoy bankruptcy). With the purchase of the Convoy tech stack, it has now vastly increased its range of offerings to the freight sector with capabilities that have moved well beyond its traditional load board. Clementz, in his interview with FreightWaves, laid out what might be considered the three segments of how loads are offered into the market. About 50% of broker loads, he said, get moved through a broker's private network. But after that, he said, 'you might go to other load boards,' adding that DAT is the 'backstop you need to go to, ultimately, especially in the last 24 to 48 hours.' If brokers choose to use their private network, Clementz said, that also may come with a decision to put the load on what will now be DAT's Convoy platform, 'because I don't have to touch it. And if it all works, fantastic. If not, then I'll intervene and I'll work it through the load board.' Ultimately, he said, DAT believes the Convoy platform, with its power of automation to get shipper and carrier together, will be the first place that loads will be placed. But from there, Clementz said, if a match isn't made it can 'waterfall' down to the DAT platform. 'We think we can go directly from the shipper to the TMS (transportation management system) and into the Convoy platform directly and then move to the load board,' Clementz said. The Convoy tech team–which is coming over to DAT in the deal–already has been working with TMS providers to have loads in a TMS populate into the Convoy platform automatically. Load board will continue to be dominant for awhile But change isn't overnight. 'We actually think the load board will be the primary use case for quite a long time,' Clementz said. Fraud prevention is expected to be a major selling point of the broader DAT product offering, Clementz said. DAT already was set to launch a fraud management solution before the deal with Flexport. But the Convoy system long had been admired for its own fraud prevention tools, Clementz said. Building it into the DAT platform on top of its own capabilities 'will really make DAT the safest platform,' he added. There will be no upfront fees for DAT users to sign up to use the Convoy platform, Clementz said. Fees will be transactional, so a DAT user can access the Convoy system with no payments unless a transaction is completed. But that fact also is a driver to the deal, according to Clementz. Bringing in new users on to the system has an extremely low customer acquisition cost, which often goes by the acronym CAC, and that may slow some early adoption, he added. 'I think we will have more demand than we can handle for onboarding, so we'll probably have to create a wait list because there's no cost to sign up for this,' Clementz said. 'It will take time for us to integrate accounts, set them up and get them going.' DAT is a unit of publicly-traded Roper Technologies. (NASDAQ: ROP) In the company's latest conference call with analysts, president and CEO Laurence Hunn said DAT's financial performance in the second quarter 'was solid…and had strong (average revenue per unit improvements).' DAT data is not broken out separately in the Roper earnings. Hunn also said DAT had made 'significant progress' integrating Trucker Tools into its system. More articles by John Kingston Yet another broker liability case, this time in the Fifth Circuit, adds to the growing mix Ryder's used vehicle numbers show a bullish corner: tractor sales Five takeaways from the State of Freight for July: What earnings and the indices are saying about the market The post Less than 2 years after Flexport bought Convoy's tech stack, it's being sold to DAT appeared first on FreightWaves.

Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Coinbase valuation stretches ahead of fundamentals, says Monness as it cuts rating
-- Monness, Crespi, Hardt downgraded Coinbase to Neutral on Monday, saying the stock has run ahead of underlying trading activity and lacks near-term catalysts to support its current valuation. The brokerage said recent gains in crypto asset prices and regulatory milestones have already been priced in, while trading volumes remain subdued and signs of real-world usage are still limited. It said it would look to revisit the stock at a lower valuation or once usage outside of trading gains traction. Shares of Coinbase have surged this year alongside the broader crypto market. But Monness noted that second-quarter crypto exchange volumes declined 2% year-over-year, with Coinbase's own trading volumes up just 6%, well below consensus expectations for 19% growth. While July trends appear stronger, the firm said these are largely reflected in current third-quarter estimates, which assume a 60% year-over-year jump in trading volume. The firm also flagged risks to revenue tied to stablecoin activity, pointing out that the market value of USDC, the dollar-pegged token that supports much of Coinbase's non-trading income, grew only modestly. Any rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve without a corresponding rise in USDC volume could pressure that income stream, it said. Monness maintained a positive long-term view on Coinbase's role in the crypto ecosystem but said the near-term outlook offers limited room for upside. It estimated the stock fairly values future earnings based on optimistic assumptions and argued that better entry points may emerge as the crypto cycle matures. Related articles Coinbase valuation stretches ahead of fundamentals, says Monness as it cuts rating These Under-the-Radar Stocks Offer Better Risk-Reward Ratio Than Nvidia Surge of 50% since our AI selection, this chip giant still has great potential

Emirates 24/7
2 days ago
- Business
- Emirates 24/7
Brokers cement their role in Dubai's real estate market, contributing to over 42,000 transactions
Dubai's real estate brokerage sector recorded a remarkable performance in the first half of this year, reaffirming the pivotal role of brokers in driving market dynamism and supporting sustainable growth in property transactions. Real estate brokers contributed to the execution of 42,181 transactions, generating commission values exceeding AED3.23 billion in H1 2025, compared to AED1.62 billion in the same period in 2024, achieving a growth of 99%. This increase in transaction volume is closely tied to the growing number of real estate brokers registered with the Dubai Land Department, which now stands at 29,577 brokers, including 6,714 new brokers who entered the sector in the first half of 2025. This momentum reflects the growing confidence in the profession and its rising role as a key partner in enhancing the attractiveness of real estate investment and guiding investors towards high-potential opportunities. Growing role for women Female participation in the real estate brokerage sector has increased significantly, with 10,100 women now actively working as brokers in the field. They contributed to the execution of 13,424 transactions, generating commission values of nearly AED1.43 billion. This reflects the growing influence of women in leading real estate deals, their ability to build strong professional relationships, and their impact on the market's overall dynamism. Beyond transactions The role of real estate brokers extended beyond facilitating transactions; they served as a vital link between investors, developers, and buyers, contributing to enhanced transparency and enabling more informed decision-making. Brokerage and property valuation firms also played a key role in supporting market demand by providing integrated services. As of the first half of 2025, there were 1,223 registered brokerage offices and 78 property valuation offices employing 118 licensed valuers. Contribution of Real Estate Registrations and Services Trustees Offices On their part, the 2,426 registered real estate services offices continued to play a pivotal role in the sector. During the first half of the year, Real Estate Registrations and Services Trustees Offices facilitated 114,848 transactions, serving 86,398 customers, marking a 15% increase in the number of customers compared to the same period last year. The outstanding performance of the brokerage and valuation sector is one of the key pillars of Dubai's real estate market, reflecting the emirate's vision of fostering an investment environment built on public-private partnerships. By facilitating transactions and deals, professional brokers continue to reinforce investor confidence and contribute to enhancing Dubai's position as a leading global real estate investment destination.