Finance, Banking & Insurance

Hope, N.J. – October 06, 2026 -- First Hope Bank recognized 18 associates with a combined 245 years of service at a luau-themed gathering held at Perona Farms in Andover, New Jersey.

Eighteen employees mark milestones from five to 30 years at the community bank

Cecilia Metzgar was honored for 30 years of service, the longest tenure among this year's group. Jennifer Finer and Aimee Zschack reached 25-year milestones, while Thomas D'Urso, Deborah O'Brien, and Deena Smith each completed 20 years. Scott Barretta, Dawn Colombaris, Diane Lindner, and Daniel Pimentel were recognized for 15 years of service, and Timothy Smith marked a decade with the bank. Seven associates -- Angelica Chapman, Kacey Gallagher, Keri Marino, Jessica Morris, Christopher Motto, Katherine Perea, and Robert Knox -- celebrated five-year anniversaries.

Stockholm – October 06, 2026 -- Vermiculus has launched VeriAct, a cloud-native corporate action system already deployed by B3, one of the world's largest market infrastructure operators.

VeriAct automates the full corporate action lifecycle through configurable event types

The system features fully configurable event types, formulas, and tax rules, letting market infrastructures respond to new market demands without hard-coding projects. Explicit, auditable outcome logic provides transparency and traceability across the processing chain, while built-in notification capabilities keep market participants updated throughout each event.

Redmond, Wash. – October 06, 2026 -- Halfpricesoft.com has released ezAccounting 2026 with an IRS-authorized eFile add-on ahead of the Q3 Form 941 filing deadline on November 2, 2026, giving small businesses and accountants a direct electronic submission channel to the IRS.

New eFile service connects directly to IRS for Forms 941, 940 and 94x

The upgraded software allows users to securely eFile quarterly and annual payroll tax forms without leaving the ezAccounting interface. Optional eFile submissions are priced starting at $5.95 per form, with per-form costs scaling down at higher volumes.

"The latest ezAccounting 2026 software includes a highly anticipated eFile add-on service directly connected to the IRS," said Dr. Ge, Founder of Halfpricesoft.com. "Our goal is to make payroll and tax compliance as seamless and cost-effective as possible for small businesses."

Toronto – October 06, 2026 -- Prophix, a financial performance management provider, has entered a strategic collaboration with PwC Belgium to help enterprise clients automate budgeting, reporting, and financial close processes.

Prophix and PwC Belgium combine technology and advisory services for finance automation

The relationship pairs Prophix's Autonomous Finance Platform with PwC Belgium's advisory expertise to help organizations move beyond compliance-driven finance operations toward automated, insight-driven decision-making.

The collaboration targets four core finance functions

The partnership covers budgeting and planning, reporting and analysis, workflow automation, and consolidation and close. Stated goals include improving budget accuracy, accelerating close cycles, unifying data sources, and building dashboards with reduced manual effort.

Tallinn, Estonia – October 06, 2026 -- Bringin has opened an invite-only beta of euro business accounts that allow companies to hold, accept and pay in Bitcoin and stablecoins while retaining full owner control of their coins. The accounts run SEPA payments from a virtual IBAN issued in the company's own name, extending a consumer platform that has already processed more than €15 million.

Fifteen businesses already test cross-border Bitcoin payments in the beta

The beta includes 15 companies spanning Lightning payment tool providers, mining-rig sellers and Bitcoin conference organizers, all using the service for cross-border payments and instant Bitcoin-to-euro conversion. Bringin for Business is available to companies across 30 European countries.

Zurich – October 06, 2026 -- The number of companies linked to greenwashing reached 1,594 in the year to June 2026, a 28% year-on-year increase, according to RepRisk's fifth annual Greenwashing Report. Over the five-year period, greenwashing risk incidents rose 112%, with the latest increase marking a second consecutive annual rise following a 12% decline in 2024.

Financial Services sees greenwashing links surge 40% as scrutiny intensifies

Financial Services ranked as the most exposed sector in 2026, with 305 companies linked to greenwashing, up 40% year on year. Banks recorded 86 linkages, a 23% increase. Together, Financial Services and Banks accounted for one-fifth of all sector linkages among greenwashing-linked companies, with exposure arising both from institutions' own activities and from the companies and projects they finance, invest in, or underwrite.

DUBAI – October 06, 2026 -- Caladan's Dubai entity, CLDN Broker Dealer FZE, has secured In-Principle Approval (IPA) from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) for Broker-Dealer Services, under reference IPA/26/09/004, dated October 06, 2026.

VARA grants preliminary clearance, not a full license

The approval allows Caladan to proceed toward a full VARA license but does not yet authorize the firm to provide broker-dealer services in or from Dubai. Once licensed, CLDN Broker Dealer FZE will serve institutional clients exclusively, with no retail client access permitted.

New York – – October 06, 2026 -- Solana Foundation launched Solana DvP, an open-source delivery-versus-payment escrow program that compresses securities settlement from one to two days into a single atomic transaction settled in seconds.

Solana DvP replaces bespoke smart contracts with one standard settlement rail

Released under the MIT license, the API provides atomic settlement, isolated escrow, and enforced deadlines for institutional trades on Solana's public blockchain. Until now, institutional onchain trades relied on custom-built smart contracts rather than a shared standard.

New York – October 06, 2026 -- Rain, a stablecoin payments infrastructure provider, has filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish Rain National Trust Bank (RNTB), a proposed federally supervised trust bank headquartered in New York.

RNTB would consolidate custody, reserve management and stablecoin issuance under OCC oversight

If approved, the uninsured national trust bank will provide fiduciary custody of digital assets and US dollars, reserve management for permitted stablecoin issuers, and issuance and redemption of US dollar-backed stablecoins for institutional clients. The entity will not accept deposits, offer consumer accounts, or make commercial loans. Client assets would be segregated from the bank's own holdings and not treated as liabilities, with stablecoin reserves barred from being pledged, lent or reused.

Chicago – – October 06, 2026 -- Cboe Global Markets reported record third-quarter trading volumes across multiple flagship derivatives products, led by zero-days-to-expiry S&P 500 Index (SPX) options, which hit a quarterly average daily volume (ADV) of 3.2 million contracts.

Quarterly SPX 0DTE volume hits record 3.2 million contracts daily

Cboe's zero-days-to-expiry S&P 500 Index options reached a quarterly ADV record of 3.2 million contracts in the third quarter of 2026, with September alone setting a monthly record of 3.4 million contracts, the exchange operator disclosed in its Oct. 5 volume report.

Mini-SPX (XSP) contracts post record quarterly activity

XSP options also hit all-time highs, with quarterly ADV of 251,000 contracts and September volume reaching 274,000 contracts. XSP 0DTE trading set quarterly and monthly records of 146,000 and 165,000 contracts, respectively.