The Canadian investment giant Brookfield is closing in on a $2 billion deal to buy Actimize, a financial crime and compliance specialist, through its financial infrastructure arm set up three years ago with the aid of City grandee Sir Ron Kalifa. Sources cautioned that a deal had yet to be finalized and could yet fall apart.
If completed, the transaction would deepen Brookfield's push into financial infrastructure housed within its private equity business, following its acquisition of a stake in Barclays' merchant acquiring arm last year.
For Nice, the reported deal would bring a lengthy sale process closer to conclusion; in November 2025, Nice had put Actimize up for sale with Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan advising, with a reported asking price of $1.5 billion to $2 billion.
Nice acquired Actimize in 2007 for $280 million; the unit develops financial-risk management products including anti-money laundering tools, fraud-detection systems, and regulatory-compliance solutions.
U.S. equities fell Wednesday as Treasury yields marched higher amid concerns that more Fed rate hikes may be coming, with the S&P 500 dropping 0.75% to 7,706.03 and the Dow down 0.68%. 30-year mortgage rates hit 7.12%, the highest since May 2024, following the Fed's September 16 decision to raise rates to 3.75%-4%. Mortgage applications fell 1.5% from the previous week, with refinance applications down 3% week-over-week and down 62% compared with a year ago, as higher rates tack on hundreds of dollars to monthly payments.
Crude oil rose to 92.71 USD/Bbl on September 23, as Iran's president said Tehran remained open to diplomacy at the UN but would not negotiate under pressure, while Trump described talks with Iranian envoys as productive. Stronger-than-expected US economic data and oil rally fueled inflation concerns and bets on further interest-rate hikes. The EIA forecasts oil production in the Middle East will rise gradually through the Strait of Hormuz, but assumes some constraints will persist through year-end, keeping crude production below pre-conflict averages until Q2 2027.
Priority Technology is set to go private in a $1.6 billion CEO-led deal announced September 22. The transaction marks one of several mid-market privatization and consolidation moves underway.
IonQ jumped 12% after the quantum computing company said it tested the industry's first real-time quantum error decoder, allowing quantum error correction across operations without slowing down execution time. The advancement addresses a critical bottleneck in quantum computing scalability.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are meeting at the White House, with both leaders seeking to maintain stability between the world's two biggest economies, though little concrete resolution is likely over trade, Taiwan, AI and more. U.S. concerns about artificial intelligence have gained prominence in the days ahead of the meeting, and the best businesses are hoping for is an extension of the trade truce reached last fall.
Labor shortages remain a challenge for many small businesses, with 33% reporting no impact on operations, 34% reporting slight impacts, 24% reporting moderate impacts with noticeable effects, and the remaining reporting major or severe impacts. Still, 90% of small business owners state that financial position will improve or remain steady over the next six months, and 81% express confidence that 2026 will be a positive financial year.
The Fed's 25-basis-point rate hike to 3.75%-4% marks a pivot: the first increase since 2023, signaling policymakers' determination to fight inflation. For small and mid-sized businesses, the move means credit costs are rising across lines of credit, equipment financing, and refinancing; operators planning major capital investments or expansions should expect higher borrowing expenses. Commercial lending follows consumer lending trends closely, and the 62% drop in mortgage refinance applications year-over-year signals that rate-sensitive transactions are pulling back. Owners in capital-intensive sectors should reassess expansion timelines and review fixed-rate financing options before rates climb further.
The Trump-Xi summit today carries trade implications; while little resolution is expected, businesses hope for an extension of the trade truce reached last fall. U.S.-China trade tensions remain active, with surging demand for AI-related parts sending the U.S. trade deficit higher again despite earlier tariff efforts. For operators reliant on supply chains, inventory procurement, or component sourcing from Asia, tariff uncertainty persists as a material planning risk heading into Q4 2026.