Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Fintech Interviews and Podcasts
Fintech Investor Interview: Karim Gillani, General Partner, Luge Capital
Luge Capital | Karim Gillani | June 2019
Intro: NCFA Fintech Confidential spoke with some of Canada’s experienced fintech investors, on their background, how Canada has evolved, what we should be doing, advice to fintech founders and what keeps them awake at night. This is part 1 of a 4 part series.
What is your background, and how did you come to co-found Luge Capital?
Karim: My background is in fintech, mobile tech, engineering, finance and strategy. Prior to Luge, I was at PayPal, leading M&A activities in Canada. I joined PayPal through its $890M acquisition of Xoom, a renowned cross-border remittance company, where I started the Corporate Development practice. I have an Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo, a Master of Finance degree from the University of London and a Master of Laws from the University of Toronto.
Luge Capital was the byproduct of highly motivated LPs, and a recognition that fintech venture capital needed a kickstart at the early stages. David Nault and I co-founded Luge in early 2018 with a new model to seek out entrepreneurs in the US and Canada that not only had a drive to take over the world, but also built their product to reflect that inevitability. We spend a lot of time with our companies because we believe our experience as former operators can be valuable, and we've architected a fund that is collaborative with our LPs.
How have you seen the Canadian fintech ecosystem change in the past 5 years? How has the Canadian fintech ecosystem evolved?
Karim:
- In the last five years, we’ve seen the emergence of fintech companies expand. Since 2013, between 70 and 100 new fintech companies are founded in Canada every year. Prior to 2011, it was about 20 per year. Payments continues to lead all other categories, but we’ve seen meaningful emergence of crypto-focused companies in the last two years.
- We’ve also seen systematic maturing of entrepreneurs in financial services. There is a greater understanding for the nuances of specific industries, and bigger ambitions to tackle problems that are global in nature.
- The big banks have set up formal structures internally to talk to fintech companies, engage in pilots, become customers and invest directly.
- There is more capital available now than 5 years ago for talented founders at almost all stages. With the entrance of Luge as a fintech-focused investor, there is even more money for early stage companies that need support to see their products take off. We’ve also seen capital inflow from America VCs who are realizing the tremendous calibre of our Canadian founders.
How can we strengthen and grow the Canadian fintech ecosystem?
Karim: Financial services accounts for approximately 20% of the Canadian economy, if you include real estate. It’s the single biggest sector in our country. And most of it still relies on old, archaic infrastructure. When you open a new bank account, an RESP account, or buy life insurance, the process is still driven by pen and paper. We need motivated entrepreneurs who have a deep understanding of the inefficiencies within financial services to overhaul how we interact with money and data. And we need those entrepreneurs to not only solve for Canada, but also for other geographies that suffer from the same (or worse) inefficiencies.
See:
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2019 Annual Summer Kickoff Networking Social - July 11 Toronto (Registration now OPEN!)
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Early-stage Investing – The Public gets a Seat at the Table
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Fearless: How Technology Helps Conquer our Fear of the Unknown
What advice would you give to Canadian fintechs competing globally?
Karim: Solve the big problems and do it well. Strive to be the best in the world at what you do, otherwise someone else will push you out. Some founders don’t realize that with limited financial resources, you still have meaningful assets that can be leveraged to create value: passion, enthusiasm, time and industry experience. Never doubt that a small group of talented people can make a huge difference in the world.
What keeps you awake at night?
Karim: Three things:
- The huge amounts of debt (especially student debt) that exists across North America. The US alone has $1.56 trillion of student debt across 44.7 million people, and $1.03 trillion of credit card debt across 197 million people.
- Approximately 1.7 billion people still don’t have access to a bank account, which would not only keep them safe from storing value in cash but would connect them to the formal financial system.
- Millennials are entering (or have recently entered) adulthood and are not able to save enough to become financially independent. Millennials are only saving 5.3% of their income on average, and 53% of the population between 21 and 37 still rely on their parents for financial assistance.
Karim Gillani, General Partner, Luge Capital
Karim has an extensive background in fintech, mobile tech, engineering, finance and strategy. Prior to Luge, Karim led Corporate Development for Xoom, a leading cross-border remittance company that was acquired by PayPal in 2015 for USD $890 million. Before that, Karim managed M&A and investment activities for BlackBerry in Silicon Valley. He developed the company’s overall strategy for mobile payments and commerce, including NFC payments, P2P and App World. Karim spent several years working for Redknee Solutions in the UK where he designed network infrastructure, including mobile money solutions, for carriers in East Africa and Western Europe.
More Canadian Fintech Investor Interviews in this 4 part series:
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Part 2: Christian Lassonde, Founder & Managing Partner, Impression Ventures
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Part 3: Peggy Van De Plassche, Founding Partner, Roar VC
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Part 4: Rob Antoniades, General Partner, Information Venture Partners
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Fintech Fridays Ep33: Indexing Consumer Loans and Financial Literacy with Phillip Postrehovsky
NCFA Canada | May 31, 2019
JOIN US ON A STORYTELLING JOURNEY EVERY FRIDAY.
Ep33-May 31: Evolution of Consumer Lending and Financial Literacy
HOST: Manseeb Khan, Fintech Friday's show host
GUEST: PHILLIP POSTREHOVSKY, SVP Marketing, Progressa (Linkedin)
BIO: Philipp is a product visionary, brand builder and an award-winning marketer who has been involved in the Vancouver tech scene for over 15 years. In 2013 he co-founded RentMoola, which continues to be one of North America's leading fintech companies with the mission to eliminate the rent cheque and modernize rent collection for the enterprise. Before that, he was a brand leader for Mogo Technologies and Wonga Canada and began his career at Electronic Arts. He is the founder of Grind For Kids, a program that raised over $1 million for BC Children’s Hospital Foundation and sits on the Board of one of BC’s top independent schools.
About this episode:
On this week's episode of NCFA's Fintech Friday Podcast, our host Manseeb Khan sits down with Philipp Postrehovsky the SVP of Marketing at Progressa. They chat about the results of Progressa's Annual State of the Non-Prime Canadian Consumers Survey, incorporating behavioural characteristics into underwriting decisions, helping borrowers become more financially literate and improve their credit scores. Enjoy!
Subscribe and tune in each Friday to check out the latest movers and shakers in fintech.
Listen to more podcasts here: Season 1 | Season 2
Transcription of Interview
Intro: Welcome fintech Friday's a weekly podcast brought to you by the National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association of Canada and partners.Covering all things fintech block chain be AI and alternative finance.
Manseeb Khan: Hey everybody Manseeb Khan Thank you for tuning into another fantastical episode of The Fintech Friday podcast. Before we jump right into this week's episode huge shout out to the Toronto Raptors for winning the eastern championships as a kid that was born raised here in Toronto. This means the absolute world to me. And yeah having a Carter jersey from when I was a kid to now. This is this is incredible for the city; this is incredible Canada and hopefully we win the championships. If we do just a head up, I might take a break from the show so we might not even get an episode if we win which I think is understandable because it is going to be the first time in history that we've won. So that's just a heads up for everybody and a slight nod to my other Toronto raptor fans that are actually listening to the show. This week We're super excited to have Philipp Postrehovsky from Progressa. He's going to be the very first of many of reoccurring guests that we're going to be having. I'm not Phillip particularly but more so of the companies that we do have on the show. But hey maybe if maybe Phillip that would be really awesome. So, without any further ado Andrew episode 33 of the FinTech Friday podcast with Philipp Postrehovsky.
Manseeb Khan: Phillip thanks so much for sitting down with me today.
Philipp Postrehovsky: Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah. Oh, for sure. So, Phillip our audience knows a little bit what Progressa is and honestly you guys are coming out with something. I think it's very exciting. You guys are coming up with Progressa's Annual State of the non-prime consumer study. Could you tell us a little bit about that and how you guys came when the formation of the study why you guys are coming out with this and yes give us a little bit of run out of this amazing study.
Philipp Postrehovsky: Sure yes. So, we wanted to get a sense of how Canadians are paycheck to paycheck Canadians are feeling about their personal finances and about the state of the economy and Canada as a whole. We surveyed our user base, or a subset of our user base and we got over 15 are close to fifteen hundred responses and got some great insights which I can share with you. But one of the big ones that I really jumped out at us is 76 percent up paycheck to paycheck Canadians lack confidence in their banks supporting them during financial difficulty. And that's really why Progressa exists so great to see that we are filling a need. Unfortunately, there is that need at least for filling it. So that was kind of a big one that came out in this and others that we can get into a little bit later.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah, I know that's very exciting. I mean the fact that now we have actually given me to study a little bit ahead of time so thank you for that. So, let's look at looking at some of the stats it's actually. It's shocking but not really surprising of how when it comes to lending, when it comes to you know Canadians being in debt and you know and dealing with their expenses like how kind of they're not using the bank is one of the options and they don't really know much about alternative lending. But even though they are using the banks they're not happily using the banks. That's probably one of the insights that I found. Huh interesting. I wonder how we can kind of you know help shift that.
Philipp Postrehovsky: Hmm. Yeah. So. So really the banks cater towards a customer that fits a certain credit risk right. Assume that customer falls out of that credit risk profile. The bank can't really help them. And that's why we develop the Progressa score which is Canada's leading alternative credit score where we're looking at other factors besides just their credit. To see if we are able to help that individual out. And that's why you know one of the top things that we help customers with is actually credit card debt. And the banks although I'm sure they would maybe want to help their customers out just aren't able to again because they're looking at that traditional credit score. So that's again where we come in and that's really allowed us to help customers when they need it the most.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah. No. I absolutely agree with you. Could you just rehash a little bit more of how Progressa rates their credit scores and what other factors they look at. Aside from just aside from the traditional credit score model.
Philipp Postrehovsky: Yeah. So, through the progressive score model we've really been able to develop an industry leading score that is looking at other behavioral characteristics. And we have an in-depth chat with that customer many times and we have a saying at Progressa that your story matters and it really does. And we understand that life happens. So, we are looking at this and other things that are going to influence your ability to pay back the loan. And that's why we're able to approve a lot of individuals that would not be normally approved for a loan. And we really do specialize in that debt consolidation space so we work with Canada's biggest collection agencies and we can get into that in a second. But really, I feel that the collection process is broken, and our study reiterates that to us because for example twenty nine percent of Canadians could handle not getting paid for three weeks by 33 percent could handle getting paid for two weeks so people are really living paycheck to paycheck. And if you do fall into a collection situation. The collection agency is there to collect money and they aren't in a position to lend you the money they expect you to pay it right there and then. But the reality is that Canadians do not have funds to just pay. So that's where we come in and we provide a lot of stress relief for those customers and we actually also provide a lot of credit relief I guess as soon as you get into the collection’s world. Your credit scores your traditional credit score gets negatively affected. So if you get a Progressa loan we're able to pay off that collections item which instantly starts to rehabilitate your credit score and you pass back we report to the credit bureaus and then you're on your way to building better credit which will hopefully then put you in a much better spot. Once you're done paying that loan off to us and hopefully get you on your way to a better financial future.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah which is incredible right. Because it's I mean expenses, debt and just like reviving your terrible credit score. It's an it's a tough enough challenge as is. You did briefly mention on how broken the collections I guess system currently is. Could you just talk a little bit more about that? I mean I'm not too familiar about it. I'm pretty sure many of the audience members aren't really familiar about it could just talk about how broken it is how and also how alternative financing and alternative lending can hopefully help create a new system or create a hybrid system that can help repair a lot of the inefficiencies that are currently in place.
Philipp Postrehovsky: Yeah. So, the collections industry is looking for what is called a settlement offer right. So that's something where you have agreed to pay the collection agency the amount that you've negotiated with them right. But the reality is if you don't have that money, you're not going to be able to pay it back. In our study we found that 24 percent of paycheck to paycheck Canadians. Would have no way to pay for an unplanned emergency and another 25 percent would have to turn to the friends or family. So, half of our respondents really have no they're not financially prepared for a difficult financial situation. So that being if you are in collections, we would deem that you're in a difficult financial situation. So, you have these collection agencies calling you repeatedly asking for money that you owe them or to somebody else and you really have no way of paying it. So that's what we see it being broken and that's where we come in right. So, we will work, or the agencies will work with us to pass on that customer and we'll evaluate their situation, and in many cases, we can offer them a loan, so we'll get off that debt and the collection calls stop. And then you have that consumer now and really grateful and that's actually one reason we have some of the industry leading NPS score. If you're not following of NPS its net promoter score. So, we have kind of customer satisfaction. The big banks are kind of in like that sub 10 range. And our average NPS score is in the 50 range which is considered pretty much world class and one of the reasons it's so high is it is again because we are providing debt or stress relief at you know at a really difficult financial time where you've had a collection calls coming up left, right and central potentially. And now we've come in there giving you that loan, paid off that debt and now you're dealing with us and you're paying back that loan on a monthly basis which before we came into the picture you just weren't able to do. We're giving the collection agency a tool that they need that the that the customer needs. So, it's a win win for everyone right.
Manseeb Khan: I mean it just speaks on like how we even started off the show right. You guys look at. More aspects other than just like the traditional collections agency of like Hey these are the 50 people that owe us money. You owe money. So, when I keep hassling you and keep harassing you until you pass our back our money and not. Unfortunately being as empathetic towards a lot of the people that do go in debt and you know the circumstance that that much put them in debt in the first place right the fact that you guys are taking that under consideration and taking that under review when it comes to paying off everyone's debt. I mean that in and of itself is very incredible. Yeah thanks.
Philipp Postrehovsky: And you know that all kind of boils down to why we called you know a good financial literacy you know kind of like knowing good financial habits. So we make sure that when a customer comes into our eco system you know that we remind them and we educate them on the payment process and on the credit score and the good things that are going to happen when they're paying that loan back on time and that we are in their court and we want them to succeed and they really appreciate that. So that's a big pillar for us as well as driving financial literacy. And hopefully that customer doesn't find themselves in that situation again in the future.
Manseeb Khan: Just like based on like all the amazing people that you've helped out. Could you talk a little bit more on I guess like give us your top five financial literacy tips they can kind of share with the audience.
Philipp Postrehovsky: I think the top five. I mean you definitely working with a budget is key. Another one is you know paying yourself first. So really putting money aside for a financial emergency or you know an unknown expense that's going to come up will hopefully prevent you from getting into a collection situation. I think you know in general savings when we say pay yourself first you make sure that that money is going into another bank account, so you aren't even really tempted to ever touch that money. We have a blog, blog. progressa dot com where we share personal finance tips on a weekly basis. So those are just some of them but there's a lot of different strategies that you can do really. Another one is really your credit score right. Your credit score is going to enable you to do a lot of good things. It can actually even affect employment right the ability to get a job is affected by your credit score. So really monitoring your credit score and understanding how you can negatively impact and positively impact it is really important. But again, I really suggest I would encourage individuals that are looking for a simple but effective financial tip to go to our blog and check them out there.
Manseeb Khan: Awesome. Yeah. So, it's a blog dot progressa dot com, right? Yes, blog dot progressa dot com. Cool. How else can alternative lending help Canadians when it comes to their expenses and also debts. I mean like we briefly touched on it. So, I guess like could you just paint the picture of how alternative lending is, can become an alternative solution other than going to banks or going to like one of those fast cash fast loans places.
Philipp Postrehovsky: Yeah, I think for us you know we are also big proponents of open banking which really advocates for consumers owning their own financial information and not the banks. You know the bank's kind of hold your financial information close to heart. We use different secure technologies to leverage. And with permission an individual's banking data to you know assess their credit risk. But you know there is a movement towards open banking which really does support alternative lending in the end in FinTech in general is meant to be layered over top of in my opinion traditional banking and payment services. And really, it's immense to give the consumer more choices. Again, the banks provide a lot of individuals in Canada a product that works for them. But again because of the credit scoring I guess restrictions they operate in. They can't meet everyone's needs and that's where alternative lending can come in at. And other fintech solutions can come in to meet those needs that are simply not being met by large organizations that are meant to cater to a very specific consumer.
Manseeb Khan: No, I absolutely agree with you. I mean I've I share the same opinion when it comes to fintech and how fintech is actually there to kind of work together with the existing financial system that we currently have. And yeah no I definitely I definitely share the same rally call when it comes to that. So, I guess what you will be some of the key takeaways when it comes to the study and I guess. what is the next kind of studies that you guys are planning to hopefully roll out and that we can kind of be excited for? Yeah.
Philipp Postrehovsky: So, you mentioned that this our first annual study, so our plan is to actually ask the same set of questions a year from now. We may add some new ones in there but really, we want to start comparing our year to year how things are trending. So, we look forward to doing that and seeing you know how certain economic factors are influencing the average Canadian consumer. So, you can definitely expect that in the future seeing year to year comparisons. So that's the biggest one. And again, for us we're simply trying to we're simply there to provide a solution that Canadians really need, and they need it in a time that that you know they may feel helpless and we are there to help them. So, you can look forward to us continuing to help tens of thousands of Canadians from coast to coast.
Manseeb Khan: I'm super excited about that. Before I let you go there are a couple of well I think are interesting stats where I kind of hopefully you can kind of expand a little bit more on it and hopefully share with the audience of like you know how alternative financing can be a possible solution. Right like you might like you know a couple of couple ones that you mentioned was you know planning for an emergency expense right to actually having a rainy day fund and making sure that you know you have a sufficient amount of money we can kind of keep you afloat for a little bit just in case of an emergency. Scrolling through here there was an interesting one where a lot of people so there's a majority of people that are actually not putting money into their RRSP or the TFSA which I find pretty funny. I mean I'm unfortunately am one those people. I mean I always forget it's actually put money aside for both those funds. Yeah.
Philipp Postrehovsky: Yeah I. And honestly from personal experience the easiest best way to do it is set it and forget it right up set up auto withdrawal from your account for either RRSP or TFSA or just a savings account. You're saving for a vacation or something and just set it and forget it. It'll come out again that's all about paying yourself first and then check back in a few months and you'll be pleasantly surprised that there's money in that account that you may have even forgotten that you were saving for. And that is the easiest way to do it. Yeah you can nowadays with your phone use it from your phone. You can set up multiple savings goals for example. And yeah, you're good to go set it and forget it.
Manseeb Khan: Awesome so I'm going to throw the question to you. What excites you the most of when it comes to alternative lending. You know we've talked about helping to pay off your expenses, helping pay off your debts, minimizing the amount of collection calls that you get throughout the hour. So, Philipp what about alternative lending excites you the most?
Philipp Postrehovsky: Yeah. So we just released our first customer testimonial video that's available on our social channels and it really that video highlights to me the work that we're doing and what gets me in them but what gets me the most excited is that we are making a real difference through alternatives lending in people's lives right. So, these individuals really can at times, feel so helpless or very stressed and we are there I guess their savior. In some cases. And we get a lot of really positive feedback through our NPS survey. And you know over and over again you'll hear that people really appreciated the fact that you know we gave them a chance and they're just really grateful. And when you hear how appreciative people you are understand how important alternative lending is and that the work that we're doing really is making a difference. And you know just reminds me again how important Fintech is for the greater good of Canada and the world.
Manseeb Khan: No, I absolutely agree with you. Thank you. Thank you so much for all the amazing work that you guys are doing a Progressa. And you know and the amazing work that you guys are going to be doing in the future. What will be the best way to either reach out to you personally if they have any questions or places that they can kind of get to study.
Philipp Postrehovsky: you can follow us on Twitter Progressa Canada, or you can follow me on Twitter Philpostro. You can connect LinkedIn and follow Progressa on LinkedIn. Although social channels we monitor, and we're engaged with on a regular basis. So, feel free to connect and reach out if you've any questions and I'll look forward to answering any questions that do come out.
Manseeb Khan: Perfect. Philip thank you so much for sitting down with me today and I'm super excited to talk to a year from now and see what changes we have in the study.
Philipp Postrehovsky: You're welcome and Go Raptors Go.
Manseeb Khan: Go Raptors go.
Outro : you've been listening to fintech Fridays brought to you by NCFA and partners. Tune in weekly for the latest fintech Friday podcast by subscribing to this channel. The National crowdfunding and FinTech Association of Canada is a non-profit actively engaged with social and investment fintech sectors around the globe and provide education research industry stewardship services and networking opportunities to thousands of members and subscribers. For more information please visit and see if a Canada dot org. Oh yea.
End of Podcast
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Join NCFA's weekly Podcast series 'FINTECH FRIDAYS' where we sit down with the incredible people in the Fintech community and talk about leading fintech products innovations developments and challenges!
Interested in getting involved as a partner or participant? info@ncfacanada.org
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Cross Border Payments And FX, Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Competition And Market Structure New Delhi Declaration Advances Payment Interoperability On September 12, 2026, BRICS leaders met in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit and backed further work connecting national payment and financial messaging systems. The New Delhi Declaration confirms that the BRICS Payment Task Force has been studying cross border interoperability and the use of local currencies for trade settlement and investment. BRICS hasn't yet created a common payment network or digital currency. However, payment interoperability has moved into an official technical workstream rather than remaining a series of proposals from individual members. The progression has been fairly quick. India proposed stronger payment and central bank digital currency connectivity in January. In August, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra confirmed that members were discussing links between fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies. The September declaration gives the Payment Task Force a formal basis to continue that work across the bloc. The commercial backdrop has also changed significantly since we last covered the 2023 BRICS summit. The group has expanded, supply chains have been ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Competition And Market Structure, Regulation And Policy, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding Routledge Speech Puts Growth and Competition Higher on OSFI Agenda On September 11, 2026, Superintendent Peter Routledge delivered a speech at the Economic Club of Canada, explaining how the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is refining its risk appetite. Financial resilience remains central, but OSFI is giving more weight to economic growth and competition when it decides whether a regulatory requirement is proportionate to the risk. For financial technology firms, smaller banks, federal credit unions and prospective entrants, the commercial question is whether those decisions make Canada's regulated financial market easier to enter and compete in. Some fintechs may eventually seek a federal bank, trust or loan company structure. Others need regulated partners that can support new lending, payments or financial products without the economics forcing every partnership toward Canada's largest institutions. OSFI is already changing parts of that equation. New entrants have a more structured approval process, selected capital requirements are being recalibrated and unnecessary supervisory material is being removed. The value to the market will depend on what happens to entry costs, operating economics and the ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Artificial Intelligence And Data Institutional Investors Back Tokenized Market Data On September 14, 2026, Paris-baesed digital asset firm Kaiko raised US$110 million in a Series B extension led by S&P Global. RBC joined BNP Paribas, Nasdaq Ventures, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Coinbase Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Canton Foundation, Stellar and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments. Existing shareholders Anthemis, Point Nine and Revaia also participated. Kaiko plans to invest the capital in its market data business and services for onchain capital markets. Its coverage spans more than 150 exchanges and protocols, with data used for pricing, trading, valuation, risk, surveillance and benchmarks. S&P Global, RBC, Nasdaq, BNP Paribas and Broadridge bring something beyond capital. They operate businesses that depend on reliable prices, benchmarks, market data and institutional distribution. Their investment gives Kaiko deeper relationships with firms that could also become customers, partners or distribution channels as tokenized securities and digital assets enter more institutional products. S&P Backs Kaiko After Launching 4,000+ Indices S&P Global was already working with Kaiko before leading the round. On September 1, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko launched the S&P Kaiko ...
Sep 14, 2026 Industrial machinery is essential in the manufacturing, construction, processing, agriculture, energy production, and other industries. Unexpected machine failures can have more than repair costs. Production can be halted, deadlines can be missed, workers can face safety hazards, and businesses can suffer financial losses. By knowing the common causes of machinery failure, operators and maintenance staff can identify problems early and take preventive action. Industrial machinery failure can have many causes. Why Industrial Machinery Fails By determining the root cause, businesses can avoid the same issue, minimize downtime, and extend the useful life of valuable industrial equipment. Here are 10 of the most common reasons for industrial machinery failure. Poor maintenance One of the biggest causes of equipment failure is poor maintenance. A machine has many moving parts and interdependent components that must be inspected, cleaned, adjusted, and serviced regularly. Small issues can turn into big ones if they aren't addressed during routine maintenance. A preventive maintenance schedule can help to detect worn components and other issues before they lead to unexpected failures. Inadequate lubrication Moving parts need proper lubrication to minimize friction and heat. Insufficient lubrication, improper lubricants, or not lubricating parts as recommended can cause faster ...
Sep 5, 2026 | Last Updated Sep 14, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Whisperer | Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Digital Identity And Trust, Cybersecurity Fraud And Financial Crime, Digital Banking And BaaS, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Cross Border Payments And FX, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Embedded Finance, Insurance And Insurtech, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing, Risk Compliance And Regtech, Treasury Liquidity And Cash Management, Regulation And Policy, Data Privacy And Governance This live weekly NCFA intelligence page tracks financial technology developments that significantly affect how fintechs build, sell, raise capital, and operate under scrutiny. Coverage prioritizes Canada and includes global events that directly influence competitive conditions, market access, and execution realities across fintech sectors. This page will be updated throughout the week with market movers in a live format and then each week we'll close the prior week's contents in prep for the upcoming week, and continue on a rolling basis. (Missed prior week's Fintech Whisperer? (December 6-12, 2025, December 13-19, 2025, January 1-9, 2026, January 10-16, 2026, January 17-23, 2026, January 24-30, 2026, January 31-February 6, 2026, February 7-13, 2026, February 14-20, 2026, ...
September 11, 2026 | NCFA Regulatory Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Regulation And Policy, Risk Compliance And Regtech AI Literacy, Transparency and Agent Governance On September 9, 2026, the Government of Canada launched a National AI Literacy Initiative with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. The $13 million partnership is expected to reach up to 1 million post secondary students and more than 50,000 K to 12 educators, alongside free learning for workers and other Canadians. The program sits under Canada's AI for All strategy and focuses on helping people understand AI, use it responsibly and recognize risks such as bias, misinformation and privacy loss. Ottawa is working on the governance side at the same time. Its AI transparency consultation remains open until September 23 and asks whether Canada needs stronger ways to identify AI generated content, tell people when they are interacting with AI, explain system capabilities, track serious incidents and record what AI agents actually do. The consultation paper says 19.2% of Canadian companies used AI to produce goods or deliver services in the second quarter of 2026, up from 12.2% a year earlier and three times the 2024 level. The federal government has already been working through ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Embedded Finance, Artificial Intelligence And Data Zown Connects Rent Rewards, AI Search and Home Finance On September 15, 2026, Toronto-based Canadian proptech Zown updated its homebuying app with Rent Rewards alongside AI property search, affordability estimates, mortgage pre-approval and transaction services. Zown advertises up to 8% back on rent, giving it a reason to start working with consumers years before many will be ready to buy a home. The 8% combines two potential rewards. Zown Money says Zown currently provides up to 4% cashback directly on rent, while an eligible credit card can add up to another 4% depending on the card's terms. At C$2,500 in monthly rent, Zown's 4% portion would equal C$100 a month or C$1,200 a year. If a renter also earned the full additional 4% through their card, the total could reach C$200 a month or C$2,400 a year before any card or payment-related costs. The Canadian iPhone app, developed by Zown Realty Inc., also lets users upload a lease and proof of rent, search properties through an AI assistant called Zoro, view estimated affordability, request showings with licensed agents, seek mortgage pre-approval, ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Digital Banking And BaaS, Cross Border Payments And FX, Competition And Market Structure Wise Adds Everyday Canadian Payments Without Becoming a Bank On September 14, 2026, UK-based global payments company Wise launched a Chequing Account in Canada with no monthly fee, Interac e-Transfer support, Canadian account details, pre-authorized debits, debit-card access and multi-currency features. The launch takes Wise further into everyday Canadian financial activity while keeping the cross-border tools that built its original customer base. The account is available to personal and business customers in Canada. Customers can hold more than 40 currencies, receive money using account details available across 22 currencies and send money to more than 70 countries. Wise converts currencies at the mid-market rate and charges a separate conversion fee that currently starts from 0.19%, depending on the currency and transaction. Interac Makes Wise More Useful Day to Day Canadian customers can send up to C$25,000 to a supported Interac email address and receive up to C$25,000 per day through Interac Autodeposit. Wise doesn't charge its own fee to receive Autodeposit payments, and the September launch removed the Wise fee for sending CAD to an Interac alias and adding ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure, Competition And Market Structure, Public Sector Policy And Industrial Strategy Nearly $500B In Commitments And A Proposed 6.4% Investment Tax Rate Today, on September 15, 2026, Canada's first Canada Investment Summit 2026 commitments reached nearly $500 billion across Canadian pension funds, insurers, banks, investment funds and a major AI infrastructure project. The September 14–15 summit in Toronto also brought together investors from nearly 30 countries managing more than $100 trillion in assets. The $500 billion isn't one pool of foreign equity. It combines institutional investment, bank financing and capital mobilization, investment funds and corporate infrastructure spending. A large share comes from Canadian institutions putting more capital to work at home while Ottawa tries to attract additional global investment. Canadian Institutions Supply Much Of The Capital Canadian pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors committed nearly $100 billion CPP Investments and Brookfield Asset Management launched the $50 billion Maple Fund for Canadian critical infrastructure and strategic industries PSP Investments plans another $25 billion of Canadian investment Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan committed an additional $10 billion by the end of 2027 Sun Life Financial committed $5 billion over five years ...
Sep 15, 2026 Market volatility remains a persistent factor in wealth management, driving investors to seek strategies that balance capital stability with strategic diversification. While physical property has traditionally served as a tangible asset class, direct ownership often carries operational friction and localized concentration risk. Real estate funds present a structured alternative, pooling capital to access larger-scale assets under professional administration. However, evaluating these vehicles requires a realistic understanding of their risk profiles, liquidity terms, fee structures, and underlying statutory frameworks. Structural Trade-offs: Scale, Risk, and Liquidity Managed real estate portfolios offer distinct operational benefits while introducing clear structural constraints: Institutional Execution: Funds leverage pooled capital to negotiate institutional pricing, access commercial or multi-unit residential developments, and spread risk across multiple properties within the fund's mandate. Inflation Pass-Through and Fee Drag: Real estate often mitigates inflation through index-linked commercial leases or periodic residential rent adjustments. However, net investor returns are directly impacted by fund fee structures—typically including a 1–2% annual management fee and potential performance hurdles—which must be weighed against the ongoing maintenance and transaction costs of direct ownership. Operational Relief: Professional managers oversee tenant administration, maintenance, and legal compliance, removing the daily burdens associated with direct landlord responsibilities. Realistic ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Cross Border Payments And FX, Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Competition And Market Structure New Delhi Declaration Advances Payment Interoperability On September 12, 2026, BRICS leaders met in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit and backed further work connecting national payment and financial messaging systems. The New Delhi Declaration confirms that the BRICS Payment Task Force has been studying cross border interoperability and the use of local currencies for trade settlement and investment. BRICS hasn't yet created a common payment network or digital currency. However, payment interoperability has moved into an official technical workstream rather than remaining a series of proposals from individual members. The progression has been fairly quick. India proposed stronger payment and central bank digital currency connectivity in January. In August, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra confirmed that members were discussing links between fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies. The September declaration gives the Payment Task Force a formal basis to continue that work across the bloc. The commercial backdrop has also changed significantly since we last covered the 2023 BRICS summit. The group has expanded, supply chains have been ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Competition And Market Structure, Regulation And Policy, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding Routledge Speech Puts Growth and Competition Higher on OSFI Agenda On September 11, 2026, Superintendent Peter Routledge delivered a speech at the Economic Club of Canada, explaining how the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is refining its risk appetite. Financial resilience remains central, but OSFI is giving more weight to economic growth and competition when it decides whether a regulatory requirement is proportionate to the risk. For financial technology firms, smaller banks, federal credit unions and prospective entrants, the commercial question is whether those decisions make Canada's regulated financial market easier to enter and compete in. Some fintechs may eventually seek a federal bank, trust or loan company structure. Others need regulated partners that can support new lending, payments or financial products without the economics forcing every partnership toward Canada's largest institutions. OSFI is already changing parts of that equation. New entrants have a more structured approval process, selected capital requirements are being recalibrated and unnecessary supervisory material is being removed. The value to the market will depend on what happens to entry costs, operating economics and the ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Artificial Intelligence And Data Institutional Investors Back Tokenized Market Data On September 14, 2026, Paris-baesed digital asset firm Kaiko raised US$110 million in a Series B extension led by S&P Global. RBC joined BNP Paribas, Nasdaq Ventures, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Coinbase Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Canton Foundation, Stellar and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments. Existing shareholders Anthemis, Point Nine and Revaia also participated. Kaiko plans to invest the capital in its market data business and services for onchain capital markets. Its coverage spans more than 150 exchanges and protocols, with data used for pricing, trading, valuation, risk, surveillance and benchmarks. S&P Global, RBC, Nasdaq, BNP Paribas and Broadridge bring something beyond capital. They operate businesses that depend on reliable prices, benchmarks, market data and institutional distribution. Their investment gives Kaiko deeper relationships with firms that could also become customers, partners or distribution channels as tokenized securities and digital assets enter more institutional products. S&P Backs Kaiko After Launching 4,000+ Indices S&P Global was already working with Kaiko before leading the round. On September 1, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko launched the S&P Kaiko ...
Sep 14, 2026 Industrial machinery is essential in the manufacturing, construction, processing, agriculture, energy production, and other industries. Unexpected machine failures can have more than repair costs. Production can be halted, deadlines can be missed, workers can face safety hazards, and businesses can suffer financial losses. By knowing the common causes of machinery failure, operators and maintenance staff can identify problems early and take preventive action. Industrial machinery failure can have many causes. Why Industrial Machinery Fails By determining the root cause, businesses can avoid the same issue, minimize downtime, and extend the useful life of valuable industrial equipment. Here are 10 of the most common reasons for industrial machinery failure. Poor maintenance One of the biggest causes of equipment failure is poor maintenance. A machine has many moving parts and interdependent components that must be inspected, cleaned, adjusted, and serviced regularly. Small issues can turn into big ones if they aren't addressed during routine maintenance. A preventive maintenance schedule can help to detect worn components and other issues before they lead to unexpected failures. Inadequate lubrication Moving parts need proper lubrication to minimize friction and heat. Insufficient lubrication, improper lubricants, or not lubricating parts as recommended can cause faster ...
Sep 5, 2026 | Last Updated Sep 14, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Whisperer | Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Digital Identity And Trust, Cybersecurity Fraud And Financial Crime, Digital Banking And BaaS, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Cross Border Payments And FX, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Embedded Finance, Insurance And Insurtech, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing, Risk Compliance And Regtech, Treasury Liquidity And Cash Management, Regulation And Policy, Data Privacy And Governance This live weekly NCFA intelligence page tracks financial technology developments that significantly affect how fintechs build, sell, raise capital, and operate under scrutiny. Coverage prioritizes Canada and includes global events that directly influence competitive conditions, market access, and execution realities across fintech sectors. This page will be updated throughout the week with market movers in a live format and then each week we'll close the prior week's contents in prep for the upcoming week, and continue on a rolling basis. (Missed prior week's Fintech Whisperer? (December 6-12, 2025, December 13-19, 2025, January 1-9, 2026, January 10-16, 2026, January 17-23, 2026, January 24-30, 2026, January 31-February 6, 2026, February 7-13, 2026, February 14-20, 2026, ...
September 11, 2026 | NCFA Regulatory Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Regulation And Policy, Risk Compliance And Regtech AI Literacy, Transparency and Agent Governance On September 9, 2026, the Government of Canada launched a National AI Literacy Initiative with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. The $13 million partnership is expected to reach up to 1 million post secondary students and more than 50,000 K to 12 educators, alongside free learning for workers and other Canadians. The program sits under Canada's AI for All strategy and focuses on helping people understand AI, use it responsibly and recognize risks such as bias, misinformation and privacy loss. Ottawa is working on the governance side at the same time. Its AI transparency consultation remains open until September 23 and asks whether Canada needs stronger ways to identify AI generated content, tell people when they are interacting with AI, explain system capabilities, track serious incidents and record what AI agents actually do. The consultation paper says 19.2% of Canadian companies used AI to produce goods or deliver services in the second quarter of 2026, up from 12.2% a year earlier and three times the 2024 level. The federal government has already been working through ...
Collision 2019: TD calls for banks to collaborate more with fintech startups on AI solutions
IT Business | Buckley Smith | May 29, 2019
AI and machine learning have become a large part of the financial industry, and some within the industry are calling for banks to be more open to collaboration with AI startups to accelerate the implementation of AI in banking.
TD Bank Group’s group head of innovation, technology, and shared services, Michael Rhodes, who spoke on a panel related to these issues at Collision in Toronto, says TD’s willingness to work with AI startups has greatly accelerated its own use of the emerging technology.
“As banks have evolved over the years, we found that our data was quite distributed. And what artificial intelligence and machine learning bring to the table is the ability to aggregate that information so we can understand the context we are dealing with the customer,”
See: The Roadblocks to European Fintech Expansion
indicated Rhodes in an exclusive interview with ITBusiness.ca. “So we can give them the right service, the right advice, the right content… in ways we couldn’t have five years ago.”
It was a need to be able to provide that type of service that led TD to acquire Toronto-based startup Layer 6 January 2018.
Layer 6 was founded in 2016 as a firm specializing in using machine learning models to analyze data to improve how individual customers are served.
Rhodes said that this acquisition greatly accelerated TD’s roadmap of implementing AI and machine learning in its practises.
“When we acquired Layer 6 we jump-started our ability to actually start deploying real use cases in a very significant way. And then also, it kind of forced an increase in the metabolic rate of how we took data, applied machine learning to it, and deployed it throughout the enterprise,” said Rhodes. “The models that Tomi and the Layer 6 team build are part of the story. And so the whole ecosystem is put together quite nicely.”
Co-founder of Layer 6 and now chief AI officer for TD, Tomi Poutanen, says the acquisition has not only sped up TD’s machine learning deployment but also allowed his company to take bigger risks in its innovative efforts; risks it would not have been able to take as an independent startup.
“For us, it was a decision on being able to do more strategic and more broad AI models and more ambitious AI work than we could have accomplished as an independent fintech service.
See: Technology is the ‘most profound force bearing down’ on big banks, ex-Barclays boss says
If you’re outside knocking on the door, you may have success deploying one particular AI system. And as a startup, you look to then monetize that capability by selling it over and over and over again. The organization starts looking very much like a sales organization that’s good at sales and good at integration and good at security, but at the expense of investing in an AI challenge,” said Poutanen. “So as a set of data geeks, we really want to focus on building our AI expertise and our capability. And being inside of the bank, we’re able to do just that.”
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Embedded Finance, Artificial Intelligence And Data Zown Connects Rent Rewards, AI Search and Home Finance On September 15, 2026, Toronto-based Canadian proptech Zown updated its homebuying app with Rent Rewards alongside AI property search, affordability estimates, mortgage pre-approval and transaction services. Zown advertises up to 8% back on rent, giving it a reason to start working with consumers years before many will be ready to buy a home. The 8% combines two potential rewards. Zown Money says Zown currently provides up to 4% cashback directly on rent, while an eligible credit card can add up to another 4% depending on the card's terms. At C$2,500 in monthly rent, Zown's 4% portion would equal C$100 a month or C$1,200 a year. If a renter also earned the full additional 4% through their card, the total could reach C$200 a month or C$2,400 a year before any card or payment-related costs. The Canadian iPhone app, developed by Zown Realty Inc., also lets users upload a lease and proof of rent, search properties through an AI assistant called Zoro, view estimated affordability, request showings with licensed agents, seek mortgage pre-approval, ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Digital Banking And BaaS, Cross Border Payments And FX, Competition And Market Structure Wise Adds Everyday Canadian Payments Without Becoming a Bank On September 14, 2026, UK-based global payments company Wise launched a Chequing Account in Canada with no monthly fee, Interac e-Transfer support, Canadian account details, pre-authorized debits, debit-card access and multi-currency features. The launch takes Wise further into everyday Canadian financial activity while keeping the cross-border tools that built its original customer base. The account is available to personal and business customers in Canada. Customers can hold more than 40 currencies, receive money using account details available across 22 currencies and send money to more than 70 countries. Wise converts currencies at the mid-market rate and charges a separate conversion fee that currently starts from 0.19%, depending on the currency and transaction. Interac Makes Wise More Useful Day to Day Canadian customers can send up to C$25,000 to a supported Interac email address and receive up to C$25,000 per day through Interac Autodeposit. Wise doesn't charge its own fee to receive Autodeposit payments, and the September launch removed the Wise fee for sending CAD to an Interac alias and adding ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure, Competition And Market Structure, Public Sector Policy And Industrial Strategy Nearly $500B In Commitments And A Proposed 6.4% Investment Tax Rate Today, on September 15, 2026, Canada's first Canada Investment Summit 2026 commitments reached nearly $500 billion across Canadian pension funds, insurers, banks, investment funds and a major AI infrastructure project. The September 14–15 summit in Toronto also brought together investors from nearly 30 countries managing more than $100 trillion in assets. The $500 billion isn't one pool of foreign equity. It combines institutional investment, bank financing and capital mobilization, investment funds and corporate infrastructure spending. A large share comes from Canadian institutions putting more capital to work at home while Ottawa tries to attract additional global investment. Canadian Institutions Supply Much Of The Capital Canadian pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors committed nearly $100 billion CPP Investments and Brookfield Asset Management launched the $50 billion Maple Fund for Canadian critical infrastructure and strategic industries PSP Investments plans another $25 billion of Canadian investment Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan committed an additional $10 billion by the end of 2027 Sun Life Financial committed $5 billion over five years ...
Sep 15, 2026 Market volatility remains a persistent factor in wealth management, driving investors to seek strategies that balance capital stability with strategic diversification. While physical property has traditionally served as a tangible asset class, direct ownership often carries operational friction and localized concentration risk. Real estate funds present a structured alternative, pooling capital to access larger-scale assets under professional administration. However, evaluating these vehicles requires a realistic understanding of their risk profiles, liquidity terms, fee structures, and underlying statutory frameworks. Structural Trade-offs: Scale, Risk, and Liquidity Managed real estate portfolios offer distinct operational benefits while introducing clear structural constraints: Institutional Execution: Funds leverage pooled capital to negotiate institutional pricing, access commercial or multi-unit residential developments, and spread risk across multiple properties within the fund's mandate. Inflation Pass-Through and Fee Drag: Real estate often mitigates inflation through index-linked commercial leases or periodic residential rent adjustments. However, net investor returns are directly impacted by fund fee structures—typically including a 1–2% annual management fee and potential performance hurdles—which must be weighed against the ongoing maintenance and transaction costs of direct ownership. Operational Relief: Professional managers oversee tenant administration, maintenance, and legal compliance, removing the daily burdens associated with direct landlord responsibilities. Realistic ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Cross Border Payments And FX, Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Competition And Market Structure New Delhi Declaration Advances Payment Interoperability On September 12, 2026, BRICS leaders met in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit and backed further work connecting national payment and financial messaging systems. The New Delhi Declaration confirms that the BRICS Payment Task Force has been studying cross border interoperability and the use of local currencies for trade settlement and investment. BRICS hasn't yet created a common payment network or digital currency. However, payment interoperability has moved into an official technical workstream rather than remaining a series of proposals from individual members. The progression has been fairly quick. India proposed stronger payment and central bank digital currency connectivity in January. In August, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra confirmed that members were discussing links between fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies. The September declaration gives the Payment Task Force a formal basis to continue that work across the bloc. The commercial backdrop has also changed significantly since we last covered the 2023 BRICS summit. The group has expanded, supply chains have been ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Competition And Market Structure, Regulation And Policy, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding Routledge Speech Puts Growth and Competition Higher on OSFI Agenda On September 11, 2026, Superintendent Peter Routledge delivered a speech at the Economic Club of Canada, explaining how the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is refining its risk appetite. Financial resilience remains central, but OSFI is giving more weight to economic growth and competition when it decides whether a regulatory requirement is proportionate to the risk. For financial technology firms, smaller banks, federal credit unions and prospective entrants, the commercial question is whether those decisions make Canada's regulated financial market easier to enter and compete in. Some fintechs may eventually seek a federal bank, trust or loan company structure. Others need regulated partners that can support new lending, payments or financial products without the economics forcing every partnership toward Canada's largest institutions. OSFI is already changing parts of that equation. New entrants have a more structured approval process, selected capital requirements are being recalibrated and unnecessary supervisory material is being removed. The value to the market will depend on what happens to entry costs, operating economics and the ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Artificial Intelligence And Data Institutional Investors Back Tokenized Market Data On September 14, 2026, Paris-baesed digital asset firm Kaiko raised US$110 million in a Series B extension led by S&P Global. RBC joined BNP Paribas, Nasdaq Ventures, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Coinbase Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Canton Foundation, Stellar and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments. Existing shareholders Anthemis, Point Nine and Revaia also participated. Kaiko plans to invest the capital in its market data business and services for onchain capital markets. Its coverage spans more than 150 exchanges and protocols, with data used for pricing, trading, valuation, risk, surveillance and benchmarks. S&P Global, RBC, Nasdaq, BNP Paribas and Broadridge bring something beyond capital. They operate businesses that depend on reliable prices, benchmarks, market data and institutional distribution. Their investment gives Kaiko deeper relationships with firms that could also become customers, partners or distribution channels as tokenized securities and digital assets enter more institutional products. S&P Backs Kaiko After Launching 4,000+ Indices S&P Global was already working with Kaiko before leading the round. On September 1, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko launched the S&P Kaiko ...
Sep 14, 2026 Industrial machinery is essential in the manufacturing, construction, processing, agriculture, energy production, and other industries. Unexpected machine failures can have more than repair costs. Production can be halted, deadlines can be missed, workers can face safety hazards, and businesses can suffer financial losses. By knowing the common causes of machinery failure, operators and maintenance staff can identify problems early and take preventive action. Industrial machinery failure can have many causes. Why Industrial Machinery Fails By determining the root cause, businesses can avoid the same issue, minimize downtime, and extend the useful life of valuable industrial equipment. Here are 10 of the most common reasons for industrial machinery failure. Poor maintenance One of the biggest causes of equipment failure is poor maintenance. A machine has many moving parts and interdependent components that must be inspected, cleaned, adjusted, and serviced regularly. Small issues can turn into big ones if they aren't addressed during routine maintenance. A preventive maintenance schedule can help to detect worn components and other issues before they lead to unexpected failures. Inadequate lubrication Moving parts need proper lubrication to minimize friction and heat. Insufficient lubrication, improper lubricants, or not lubricating parts as recommended can cause faster ...
Sep 5, 2026 | Last Updated Sep 14, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Whisperer | Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Digital Identity And Trust, Cybersecurity Fraud And Financial Crime, Digital Banking And BaaS, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Cross Border Payments And FX, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Embedded Finance, Insurance And Insurtech, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing, Risk Compliance And Regtech, Treasury Liquidity And Cash Management, Regulation And Policy, Data Privacy And Governance This live weekly NCFA intelligence page tracks financial technology developments that significantly affect how fintechs build, sell, raise capital, and operate under scrutiny. Coverage prioritizes Canada and includes global events that directly influence competitive conditions, market access, and execution realities across fintech sectors. This page will be updated throughout the week with market movers in a live format and then each week we'll close the prior week's contents in prep for the upcoming week, and continue on a rolling basis. (Missed prior week's Fintech Whisperer? (December 6-12, 2025, December 13-19, 2025, January 1-9, 2026, January 10-16, 2026, January 17-23, 2026, January 24-30, 2026, January 31-February 6, 2026, February 7-13, 2026, February 14-20, 2026, ...
September 11, 2026 | NCFA Regulatory Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Regulation And Policy, Risk Compliance And Regtech AI Literacy, Transparency and Agent Governance On September 9, 2026, the Government of Canada launched a National AI Literacy Initiative with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. The $13 million partnership is expected to reach up to 1 million post secondary students and more than 50,000 K to 12 educators, alongside free learning for workers and other Canadians. The program sits under Canada's AI for All strategy and focuses on helping people understand AI, use it responsibly and recognize risks such as bias, misinformation and privacy loss. Ottawa is working on the governance side at the same time. Its AI transparency consultation remains open until September 23 and asks whether Canada needs stronger ways to identify AI generated content, tell people when they are interacting with AI, explain system capabilities, track serious incidents and record what AI agents actually do. The consultation paper says 19.2% of Canadian companies used AI to produce goods or deliver services in the second quarter of 2026, up from 12.2% a year earlier and three times the 2024 level. The federal government has already been working through ...
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Sep 15, 2026 Market volatility remains a persistent factor in wealth management, driving investors to seek strategies that balance capital stability with strategic diversification. While physical property has traditionally served as a tangible asset class, direct ownership often carries operational friction and localized concentration risk. Real estate funds present a structured alternative, pooling capital to access larger-scale assets under professional administration. However, evaluating these vehicles requires a realistic understanding of their risk profiles, liquidity terms, fee structures, and underlying statutory frameworks. Structural Trade-offs: Scale, Risk, and Liquidity Managed real estate portfolios offer distinct operational benefits while introducing clear structural constraints: Institutional Execution: Funds leverage pooled capital to negotiate institutional pricing, access commercial or multi-unit residential developments, and spread risk across multiple properties within the fund's mandate. Inflation Pass-Through and Fee Drag: Real estate often mitigates inflation through index-linked commercial leases or periodic residential rent adjustments. However, net investor returns are directly impacted by fund fee structures—typically including a 1–2% annual management fee and potential performance hurdles—which must be weighed against the ongoing maintenance and transaction costs of direct ownership. Operational Relief: Professional managers oversee tenant administration, maintenance, and legal compliance, removing the daily burdens associated with direct landlord responsibilities. Realistic ...
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September 14, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Artificial Intelligence And Data Institutional Investors Back Tokenized Market Data On September 14, 2026, Paris-baesed digital asset firm Kaiko raised US$110 million in a Series B extension led by S&P Global. RBC joined BNP Paribas, Nasdaq Ventures, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Coinbase Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Canton Foundation, Stellar and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments. Existing shareholders Anthemis, Point Nine and Revaia also participated. Kaiko plans to invest the capital in its market data business and services for onchain capital markets. Its coverage spans more than 150 exchanges and protocols, with data used for pricing, trading, valuation, risk, surveillance and benchmarks. S&P Global, RBC, Nasdaq, BNP Paribas and Broadridge bring something beyond capital. They operate businesses that depend on reliable prices, benchmarks, market data and institutional distribution. Their investment gives Kaiko deeper relationships with firms that could also become customers, partners or distribution channels as tokenized securities and digital assets enter more institutional products. S&P Backs Kaiko After Launching 4,000+ Indices S&P Global was already working with Kaiko before leading the round. On September 1, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko launched the S&P Kaiko ...
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Sep 5, 2026 | Last Updated Sep 14, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Whisperer | Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Digital Identity And Trust, Cybersecurity Fraud And Financial Crime, Digital Banking And BaaS, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Cross Border Payments And FX, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Embedded Finance, Insurance And Insurtech, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing, Risk Compliance And Regtech, Treasury Liquidity And Cash Management, Regulation And Policy, Data Privacy And Governance This live weekly NCFA intelligence page tracks financial technology developments that significantly affect how fintechs build, sell, raise capital, and operate under scrutiny. Coverage prioritizes Canada and includes global events that directly influence competitive conditions, market access, and execution realities across fintech sectors. This page will be updated throughout the week with market movers in a live format and then each week we'll close the prior week's contents in prep for the upcoming week, and continue on a rolling basis. (Missed prior week's Fintech Whisperer? (December 6-12, 2025, December 13-19, 2025, January 1-9, 2026, January 10-16, 2026, January 17-23, 2026, January 24-30, 2026, January 31-February 6, 2026, February 7-13, 2026, February 14-20, 2026, ...
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Fintech Fridays Episode 32: Rallying behind Bitcoin with Frederick T. Pye
NCFA Canada | May 24, 2019
JOIN US ON A STORYTELLING JOURNEY EVERY FRIDAY.
Ep32-May 24: Rallying behind Bitcoin with Frederick T. Pye
HOST: Manseeb Khan, Fintech Friday's show host
GUEST: FREDERICK T. PYE, President & CEO, 3iQ Corp (Linkedin)
BIO: Fred kick-started his career as a precious metal and foreign exchange trader at Guardian Trust. In 1986, they were the first to list gold, silver, and platinum certificates on the Montreal Stock Exchange. Fred later joined Fidelity Investments, where he was part of a team that saw its assets rise from 85 million to over 7.5 billion. Through the launch of creative and exotic investment products, Fred started his own firm, which worked diligently with Canadian regulatory bodies to establish the first mutual fund in Canada that was allowed to take short positions. Finally, as founder and CEO of 3iQ, he and his team have worked cooperatively with the OSC for the last 2 and a half years to launch the first regulated Bitcoin fund in Canada. This fund will be the first major exchange-traded cryptocurrency fund in North America.
About this episode: On this week's episode of NCFA's Fintech Friday Podcast, our host sits down with Frederick T. Pye from 3iQ. The chat about bitcoin trusts, ETF's and rallying behind bitcoin. Enjoy!
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Transcription of Interview
Intro: Welcome fintech Friday's a weekly podcast brought to you by the National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association of Canada and partners.Covering all things fintech block chain be AI and alternative finance.
Manseeb Khan: Thank you so much for sitting down today.
Frederick T. Pye: Great. Thanks for having me Manseeb.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah for sure. So, Fred for I guess the five or six audience members that may not know essentially who you are and the amazing work that you do at three IQ. Could you just give us a real quick rundown?
Frederick T. Pye: Yeah well first of all I think I'm probably one of the oldest guys in crypto so that's why most people would know me from that and I guess my claim to fame was I was part of a team back in the late 80s that took Fidelity Investments from 80 million to 7.5 billion and really put them on the map in Canada with a lot of people don't know is before that I was actually the first one to list gold silver and platinum certificates on the Montreal Stock Exchange for a way to give investment advisors to buy gold and silver and platinum for their client portfolios. And it was really funny because back in the early 80s when we're trying to do that the Securities Commission as the regulator said well hang on a second gold is speculative it's volatile. It's used for illegal purposes. And you know why it’s would not in the public interest to have gold listed on an exchange. And funny enough flash forward 30 some odd years later I'm trying to do the same by listing Bitcoin ether in somebody other digital assets on the exchanges.
Manseeb Khan: Right. That's. It's funny how times have changed. Right now, it's gold and silver are probably the most secure investment that you probably are getting to. Exactly. For a lot of the audience members that may not know 3iQ actually works with the Ontario security regulation. Fred could you just talk about your dealings with that you guys also work with not only the Ontario securities commission, but you guys are also partnered up with the Canadian securities exchange. Could you just talk about just the relationship between that, how that happened and pretty much what can the audience expect when it comes to a timeline with both partnerships?|
Frederick T. Pye: Yeah well, I would say that we've been we have been working with the Ontario Securities Commission for a few years now to get this fund to the market and it's kind of come to a head and I'll explain that in just a bit. But to give 3iQ or a bit of a background we actually started in 2012. I was working with Landry investment management we were running a global multi asset portfolio. And when you're running these global multi asset portfolios you've noticed that everything just was becoming completely correlated. So as a hedge fund manager I was always looking for perfect non correlated asset class and sure enough I fell down the rabbit hole and stumbled on it on bitcoin at the beginning of 2015 and it was shortly after then that Chris Bronski and Adam White wrote a white paper saying ringing the bell on a new asset class. And Chris I knew from Arc invest quite well and I read this white paper and I said hey now we can create a product out of it. So, we were going to just do acquire a fund that was already listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and de facto do an RTO and end up with a Bitcoin Fund on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2016 circa three-hundred-and-fifty-dollar price of Bitcoin. We went to those securities regulators in November of 2016 and said you know we can go in the backdoor or we can go in the front door and we'll go in the front door if you want to be first then if you love the asset class and you should move ahead and the guy by the name of John Mountain said absolutely we want to be first. We can do this we can get through all the hurdles that we have to do. So, we filed in in April of 2017 the first Bitcoin Fund to be listed on a major exchange like the Toronto Stock Exchange. All of a sudden we went back and forth two or three times just getting the custodian right getting the insurance right getting the clearing right getting all of the pieces right and then all of a sudden it hit a brick wall the fund got to hit a brick wall because Ontario created something called the launch pad. The launch pad if you read their website it says they're there to facilitate and reduce the regulatory burden to get crypto funds to the market around exactly the opposite happened. And we got thrown into regulatory hell from April 2016. We then launched a hedge fund called a Global crypto Asset Fund which is an exempt market fund. They asked us to pull back. We said Well it's an exempt market and it's not under the regulatory purview of the OSC. They said no but we as money managers are. So, Canada went the route to try and regulate money managers instead of regulating the funds which is what they should have done. And unfortunately, when you take a look at the Price Waterhouse study that comes out there's 250 asset managers running 10 billion dollars in the United States of crypto assets. In Canada you have to know you know it's absolutely silly. There were three. There were four. ROSS SMITH From Calgary a close shop. And the third one. First block capital with their bitcoin trust. We just recently purchased the bitcoin trust from first block capital, and we bought their ETF from them and First Block made an investment in 3iQ. So, we're just kind of teaming up together. But having said that after two and a half years we finally got a firm rejection and we have applied to go to a public hearing on June 3rd. So, we encourage all your listeners to look that up and come and join us at the Ontario Securities Commission and see our center to get the first bitcoin fund listed in Canada.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah. No, I think many of the audience members would be very excited to join you. And it was June 3rd. You said right. `
Frederick T. Pye: June 3rd Yeah.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah. Okay cool. We'll definitely. Well we circle back when the date comes closer just to give everybody a little bit more of a rally call. So, I want to touch a little bit. So, I'm going to put a pin in the First Block and just essentially what a bitcoin trust is. Could you guys talk a little bit more of your current initiatives right now that you have now with the dealings of the Ontario Securities Commission with First Block. So, I guess could you talk a little bit of what the current initiatives at 3iQ are.
Frederick T. Pye: So, when one First Block launched the bitcoin trust it isn't again exempt market when we say exempt market it means it's for accredited investors and that's an absolutely ridiculous component because the people that understand bitcoin are 35 or 40 years and under. And you know they don't necessarily make two hundred and fifty thousand a year for the last three years. They don't necessarily have amassed five million dollars in assets. So, you know a completely misses the audience on crypto funds. However, it's the only option we have at this time. Clients are investors such as yourself can open up an account. It's a discretionary account at 3iQ and our company is portfolio managers can buy a free RSP or your TFSA. But because First Block had the bitcoin trust we didn't launch an exempt market Bitcoin trust because we're going for a public Bitcoin Fund. Yeah. So right now, in the exempt market in meaning in the accredited investor market we have the bitcoin trust. And we also have something called the 3iQ global crypto asset fund. The Global crypto asset is 50 percent Bitcoin, 35 percent ether and 10 percent lite coin. And this fund obviously is absolutely on fire. Now I think its up 100 percent year to date. So, we're hoping that the whole crypto market settles down for a bit because 100 percent good for a 12-month return. I don't need any more this year.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah you exceeded your targets and then some.
Frederick T. Pye: So, we've exceeded our targets at 100 percent this year. But you know it gives us a bit more of a broader post. It's very low for me. I'll turn it over on how Canadians can actually purchase that and just get that off our website it says. Click on the button buy here as accredited investor or they send us a note we'll walk them through the whole process. So that's really the two products we have. We do have an ETF which is the distributed ledger technology adopter’s ETF. They weren't allowed to use block chain in their ETF. So, they use distributed ledger technology adopters. This is more of a US large cap. So, this is this will hold the people such as IBM, Apple and the rest of Amazon the people that have blockchain initiative announced public block chain initiative that fund also does very very well. So, you know we're encouraged about that can be bought under the symbol f b c n on the Toronto Stock Exchange or sorry on the neo exchange from your advisors. Mm hmm.
Manseeb Khan: Awesome. So, you guys are coming out with a stable coin with Mavennet. Could you talk about the I guess how the partnership started. Why you guys considered creating a stable coin and what can we expect from the stable coin partners?
Frederick T. Pye: Well the stable coin is called QCAD and everything 3iQ. Well we'll produce we'll have a Q on the front of it right for the for the just audio listeners. He's actually wearing the QCAD shirt . He just stood up and showed up. Yeah. So.
Frederick T. Pye: About six months ago I noticed Tether and a few of the other stable coins started to proliferate and I started pontificating and I said you know what. The forex markets about a five trillion dollar a day trading market the single largest business and trading market in the world. But you know there's a couple of thousand crypto traders. How do we get the tens of thousands of forex traders to trade crypto and all of a sudden people needed the US dollar stable coin? So, when they were on exchanges when Bitcoin starts to fall, they were somewhere they could hide, you know they could put their accounts into a stable coin, and they could hide and wait for the next rally. Yeah. And I was looking at this and I said Well if you've now got a digital US dollar meaning a digital US stable coin if you have now a digital Canadian Dollar or digital Hong Kong dollar or a digital Japanese Yen all of a sudden the forex traders know how to trade Canadian dollars and US dollars or Japanese Yen or Hong Kong dollars trading them digitally will be very, very easy. And the distance from trading Fiat forex into digital forex or paper forex and to digital forex is not that big a jump. And therefore, once these thousands of people are trading digital forex all of a sudden, the jump from QCAD to QBTC is not very big. They can now start trading Bitcoin or any of the other digital assets right. Kesam Frank and myself wrote a white paper that's on Medium that actually shows that if you take a look at the pyramid of this unstable crypto platform on top of a very stable on top of a very stable forex base it's missing two triangles to stabilize the pyramid to take care of the rest of crypto to the moon. So, though we think that the movement you know stable coins are three and a half billion today I expect them to be 30 billion in the next three years North of 300 billion in the next five years as well. We want to play in that space. So, we're under full development right now Mavennet out of Toronto is easily one of the best blockchain developers that we've had a chance to interview and talk with. And. having said that they're also part of the Eon network and are well versed on Aon is a or an interoperable platform for all block chains to make block chains talk together so it doesn't matter where people place their stable coin at some point in time that they'll be all. Portable between different block teams.
Manseeb Khan: Right. That's really exciting we're actually Mavennet is actually going to be on the show in the next coming up episodes so definitely stay tuned for that. I guess I'll throw it now to you. I mean now that we have not now that we can now, we talked about the Ontario security commission you guys initially starting your partnership with the Canadian securities exchange. Is there anything else that you'd like to at least I guess share with the audience is there's something that we should kind of keep in mind when it comes to crypto investment funds.
Frederick T. Pye: Well you know Canada has a bunch of big challenges in Canada right now. You know you hear that the Ontario government says oh the door is wide open for fintech you know you're pushing on an open door. you know where you want to encourage fintech to Toronto. And if your regulators can't even approve a closed end bitcoin fund it's really tough for us to take them seriously that they're trying to encourage if the Ontario Securities Commission is waiting for the S.E.C. to approve an ETF in the United States they will have lost another opportunity to be a leader and to attract business to Toronto. Yeah, the S.E.C. says it's not about bitcoin it has to do with more the mechanics of how an ETF works a closed end fund with our partners. Gemini and Coinbase and Xapo and Silver Gate Banks and you know we have by far we believe the safest opportunity for Canadian investors to invest in Bitcoin. And when we take a look at something like Quadriga CSX you know where they can trace 26 million of the two hundred some odd million that disappeared how they can say with a straight face that Canada doesn't need a regulated fund is beyond me. Yes, Canada needs a regulated fund. Their job is to protect investors and understand. Now it doesn't matter in the price of bitcoin goes up or down as long as the structure is safe. And isn't going to get hacked and isn't going to get stolen and isn't going to you know be perpetrated by fraud or anything along those lines. And that's why we have these regulated managers and these rules, and you know if you can put gold in a closed end fund you certainly can put Bitcoin in the closed end fund.
Manseeb Khan: I absolutely agree with you And it goes by the circles back to what we talked about a little bit before of This is one of the many things that's going to help kind of close the gap of having all those amazing day traders kind of switch over and also switch to crypto and then that's just going to help with the mainstream adoption that we've been pretty much foaming at the mouth for years now.
Frederick T. Pye: Well if you take a look at all the great development being done out of Toronto or Montreal or for that matter and Vancouver, I wouldn't want to leave them out and Calgary. Yeah you know there's you know there's great exchanges, there great wallet systems, there are great custody platforms these people are developing. They're developing an infrastructure which is an OTC trading desk. But where's the billion dollar an asset manager behind everything that's the customer. We haven't got one. Right now, we want to be the customer. We want to be running institutional money here in Canada. And you know those top 10 hedge funds in the US have gone through Canada to all our institutions they do roadshows and take all the money south of the border. It's absolutely absurd that we can't manage that money here in Canada. Yeah. You know if we had institutional support through an asset manager or Canadian custody solutions you know we'd be running three or four billion dollars of crypto in Canada and have assets to be able to move through the ecosystem in Canada. So, it all starts off in a very simple. you know a very simple place. You just start off with one fund it goes into two funds it goes into three managers all of a sudden will have an AGF and Templeton or Mackenzie or any of these great companies you know managing crypto. But let somebody like us our chairman is Howard Atkinson who was you know former head of Horizon ETF you know he was really one of the pioneers of ETF's in Canada. And you know him, and I work very closely with these regulators to say look you allowed us to list gold you allowed us to do ETF is actually created the first long short mutual fund in Canada back in 2000. 2000. You know it's people like us and try to do something and move they move the line they you know we're now going past our third year almost our fourth year and four and half million dollars to try and make this thing work. And so, it's an absolute killer for our small cap companies or for startup companies to try and do this. There is no reduction a regulatory burden by any stretch of the imagination.
Manseeb Khan: I mean unfortunately this has been a pretty big theme of the podcast. Canada has been very traditionally conservative and Canada is just kind of waiting like you said they're just waiting for our brethren in the States just saying what are they going to do? what are the regulations kind of doing and not really giving an actual shot because there's such amazing talent here in Canada. I like you fired off quite a few names and quite a few amazing companies that are doing great work here the fact that they if we kind of keep them if we keep going the way that we're going now they're not going to feel secure in their own country to create a company. They're just going to go off to god knows where they can go to Malta and just kind of create the whole thing, they just start scratch from that right. So, it's starting to get pretty concerning when it comes in the shoes of these companies.
Frederick T. Pye: Yeah, we would have more success if we had set up even in New York Obviously there's bitcoin products available over the counter in the United States with GBTC, so Canadians are already buying it in their brokerage accounts. You know there's a bunch of RTO's from Ether capital to the others that that are all out there but you know the reality is people want something that's come in the front door that's regulated that is plain and simple English you know what you're buying when you when you buy it and you know that the there is a trusted party behind it and it doesn't matter whether you're a you know a to the moon Bitcoin Bull it is completely an uncorrelated asset class the movement you know with the trade problems in the United States right now with China I believe it's definitely the Chinese that are you know if you're a 30 year old in China you're moving your R and B into bitcoin because you're down 10 percent and you're you know you don't want to hold the US dollars so you're definitely buying Bitcoin and what does that do. Puts 50 percent premium on Bitcoin right off the bat.
Manseeb Khan: So yeah exactly you did touch a little on the fact that you guys are right now you guys can only operate with accredited investors the entire pull when it comes to crypto is the. Anybody and everybody you can invest into it and hopefully when it comes later down the line that and that principle still stays the same. That pretty much accredited investors and just regular investors are on the same playing field. How do you see that happening? How do you how do you see that coming into fruition.
Frederick T. Pye: Well you know there's a lot of things that have to happen a closed end Bitcoin Fund is a proxy. Or like we would own let's say we do a 10 million dollar offering there's 10 million dollars a Bitcoin we buy it and then we list that pool on the Toronto Stock Exchange so we can now buy that pool as a security. So from your discount brokerage account you can buy it in your RSP and your TFSA and it will reflect Bitcoin one for one and basically you know if bitcoin trading at seven thousand dollars the price of our fund is going to be seventy dollars so it will be a one for one out of one hundred. So, people will know what they're buying. They're buying it for thirty-two hundred dollars with their money at ten thousand So yeah. It'll be quite clear for them what they're paying for their Bitcoin. We hope to do the same with ether or any of the top 10 assets. But one thing I didn't mention is Vaneck of New York a 50-billion-dollar asset management. They own a set of series of indexes called the MVIs index is MVIS Gabor Gurbacs runs a bunch of that operation. Vaneck owns 10 percent of 3iQ. They're so convinced that we're going to win here that they've put their money behind us to help us support us and help us fight this this battle. But certainly, the minute that ETF and indexes are crypto indexes are allowed we can go to the Investor Index and we can create a dozen indexes so top 10 top 5 top 10, top 10 out of 100 , top 10 small cap top 10 large cap. We can create and again also active portfolios so we can create a whole series of products. We just have to get that first product done and then the doors will open. You know it's just sad to see that Bitcoin's had to go from three thousand three hundred to an eight thousand. The general public gets access to it. And the reality is when see are our clients are going to be stockbrokers as financial advisors. It's the advisor that understands tech. It's the advisor that understands the Internet. You know it's I watch Kevin O'Leary on the TV yesterday. He clearly has no concept of what Bitcoin is or their future or are doing and you know what. We can let those people be you know have their opinions and we're happy to let them short us all the time as much as they want on it because we'll take all their money. But definitely you know there is a growing part of the population that wants easy access through a registered or licensed investment account and that's really what we're trying to do for everyone.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah like you said when you have the first product up and out of the door then it's about to be floodgates right. Yeah right. Awesome. So, Fred with that I mean is there any last-minute tidbits you want to give us before we wrap this up.
Frederick T. Pye: No I think as I said to keep if you can do two things and tell your investment advisors you'd like to buy our funds or get them on the platforms because we now have to work with all the brokerage firms and the banks to allow our funds on their platforms but certainly keep an eye out for 3iQ work with the OSC. And when we win then you'll see us on TV you'll see us in all the newspapers. But right now, it's funny the journalists in Canada don't follow it like they do in the United States every time. Hester Peirce or one of the people in the US say something it's covered by all the press. You know we've kind of been under the radar but it's about to go very public and kudos to you for being one of the first to bring us on.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah. No, I'm super excited to have you on and I'm excited to keep having you guys on and just pretty much rallying behind bitcoin with you guys.
Frederick T. Pye: Good. Well happy to be here.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah for sure. Fred thank you so much for sitting down with me today. And we'll be the best way for audience members to connect with you and or some of the amazing team you have behind 3iQ.
Frederick T. Pye: You will definitely go to the 3IQ.CA. We actually run a weekly blog which is the five coolest things that happen in crypto in Canada. Nice you send us a link we'll have this show. There's so linked on our Sunday or Monday blog that comes out and this will clearly be one of the coolest things that happen in crypto this week.
Manseeb Khan: So awesome. I'm super excited to make it on your blog. So.
Frederick T. Pye: Yeah go to 3iq.ca and surf around and take a look at what we're doing.
Manseeb Khan: Awesome.
Outro : you've been listening to fintech Fridays brought to you by NCFA and partners. Tune in weekly for the latest fintech Friday podcast by subscribing to this channel. The National crowdfunding and FinTech Association of Canada is a non-profit actively engaged with social and investment fintech sectors around the globe and provide education research industry stewardship services and networking opportunities to thousands of members and subscribers. For more information please visit and see if a Canada dot org. Oh yea.
End of Podcast
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Embedded Finance, Artificial Intelligence And Data Zown Connects Rent Rewards, AI Search and Home Finance On September 15, 2026, Toronto-based Canadian proptech Zown updated its homebuying app with Rent Rewards alongside AI property search, affordability estimates, mortgage pre-approval and transaction services. Zown advertises up to 8% back on rent, giving it a reason to start working with consumers years before many will be ready to buy a home. The 8% combines two potential rewards. Zown Money says Zown currently provides up to 4% cashback directly on rent, while an eligible credit card can add up to another 4% depending on the card's terms. At C$2,500 in monthly rent, Zown's 4% portion would equal C$100 a month or C$1,200 a year. If a renter also earned the full additional 4% through their card, the total could reach C$200 a month or C$2,400 a year before any card or payment-related costs. The Canadian iPhone app, developed by Zown Realty Inc., also lets users upload a lease and proof of rent, search properties through an AI assistant called Zoro, view estimated affordability, request showings with licensed agents, seek mortgage pre-approval, ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Digital Banking And BaaS, Cross Border Payments And FX, Competition And Market Structure Wise Adds Everyday Canadian Payments Without Becoming a Bank On September 14, 2026, UK-based global payments company Wise launched a Chequing Account in Canada with no monthly fee, Interac e-Transfer support, Canadian account details, pre-authorized debits, debit-card access and multi-currency features. The launch takes Wise further into everyday Canadian financial activity while keeping the cross-border tools that built its original customer base. The account is available to personal and business customers in Canada. Customers can hold more than 40 currencies, receive money using account details available across 22 currencies and send money to more than 70 countries. Wise converts currencies at the mid-market rate and charges a separate conversion fee that currently starts from 0.19%, depending on the currency and transaction. Interac Makes Wise More Useful Day to Day Canadian customers can send up to C$25,000 to a supported Interac email address and receive up to C$25,000 per day through Interac Autodeposit. Wise doesn't charge its own fee to receive Autodeposit payments, and the September launch removed the Wise fee for sending CAD to an Interac alias and adding ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure, Competition And Market Structure, Public Sector Policy And Industrial Strategy Nearly $500B In Commitments And A Proposed 6.4% Investment Tax Rate Today, on September 15, 2026, Canada's first Canada Investment Summit 2026 commitments reached nearly $500 billion across Canadian pension funds, insurers, banks, investment funds and a major AI infrastructure project. The September 14–15 summit in Toronto also brought together investors from nearly 30 countries managing more than $100 trillion in assets. The $500 billion isn't one pool of foreign equity. It combines institutional investment, bank financing and capital mobilization, investment funds and corporate infrastructure spending. A large share comes from Canadian institutions putting more capital to work at home while Ottawa tries to attract additional global investment. Canadian Institutions Supply Much Of The Capital Canadian pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors committed nearly $100 billion CPP Investments and Brookfield Asset Management launched the $50 billion Maple Fund for Canadian critical infrastructure and strategic industries PSP Investments plans another $25 billion of Canadian investment Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan committed an additional $10 billion by the end of 2027 Sun Life Financial committed $5 billion over five years ...
Sep 15, 2026 Market volatility remains a persistent factor in wealth management, driving investors to seek strategies that balance capital stability with strategic diversification. While physical property has traditionally served as a tangible asset class, direct ownership often carries operational friction and localized concentration risk. Real estate funds present a structured alternative, pooling capital to access larger-scale assets under professional administration. However, evaluating these vehicles requires a realistic understanding of their risk profiles, liquidity terms, fee structures, and underlying statutory frameworks. Structural Trade-offs: Scale, Risk, and Liquidity Managed real estate portfolios offer distinct operational benefits while introducing clear structural constraints: Institutional Execution: Funds leverage pooled capital to negotiate institutional pricing, access commercial or multi-unit residential developments, and spread risk across multiple properties within the fund's mandate. Inflation Pass-Through and Fee Drag: Real estate often mitigates inflation through index-linked commercial leases or periodic residential rent adjustments. However, net investor returns are directly impacted by fund fee structures—typically including a 1–2% annual management fee and potential performance hurdles—which must be weighed against the ongoing maintenance and transaction costs of direct ownership. Operational Relief: Professional managers oversee tenant administration, maintenance, and legal compliance, removing the daily burdens associated with direct landlord responsibilities. Realistic ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Cross Border Payments And FX, Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Competition And Market Structure New Delhi Declaration Advances Payment Interoperability On September 12, 2026, BRICS leaders met in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit and backed further work connecting national payment and financial messaging systems. The New Delhi Declaration confirms that the BRICS Payment Task Force has been studying cross border interoperability and the use of local currencies for trade settlement and investment. BRICS hasn't yet created a common payment network or digital currency. However, payment interoperability has moved into an official technical workstream rather than remaining a series of proposals from individual members. The progression has been fairly quick. India proposed stronger payment and central bank digital currency connectivity in January. In August, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra confirmed that members were discussing links between fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies. The September declaration gives the Payment Task Force a formal basis to continue that work across the bloc. The commercial backdrop has also changed significantly since we last covered the 2023 BRICS summit. The group has expanded, supply chains have been ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Competition And Market Structure, Regulation And Policy, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding Routledge Speech Puts Growth and Competition Higher on OSFI Agenda On September 11, 2026, Superintendent Peter Routledge delivered a speech at the Economic Club of Canada, explaining how the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is refining its risk appetite. Financial resilience remains central, but OSFI is giving more weight to economic growth and competition when it decides whether a regulatory requirement is proportionate to the risk. For financial technology firms, smaller banks, federal credit unions and prospective entrants, the commercial question is whether those decisions make Canada's regulated financial market easier to enter and compete in. Some fintechs may eventually seek a federal bank, trust or loan company structure. Others need regulated partners that can support new lending, payments or financial products without the economics forcing every partnership toward Canada's largest institutions. OSFI is already changing parts of that equation. New entrants have a more structured approval process, selected capital requirements are being recalibrated and unnecessary supervisory material is being removed. The value to the market will depend on what happens to entry costs, operating economics and the ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Artificial Intelligence And Data Institutional Investors Back Tokenized Market Data On September 14, 2026, Paris-baesed digital asset firm Kaiko raised US$110 million in a Series B extension led by S&P Global. RBC joined BNP Paribas, Nasdaq Ventures, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Coinbase Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Canton Foundation, Stellar and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments. Existing shareholders Anthemis, Point Nine and Revaia also participated. Kaiko plans to invest the capital in its market data business and services for onchain capital markets. Its coverage spans more than 150 exchanges and protocols, with data used for pricing, trading, valuation, risk, surveillance and benchmarks. S&P Global, RBC, Nasdaq, BNP Paribas and Broadridge bring something beyond capital. They operate businesses that depend on reliable prices, benchmarks, market data and institutional distribution. Their investment gives Kaiko deeper relationships with firms that could also become customers, partners or distribution channels as tokenized securities and digital assets enter more institutional products. S&P Backs Kaiko After Launching 4,000+ Indices S&P Global was already working with Kaiko before leading the round. On September 1, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko launched the S&P Kaiko ...
Sep 14, 2026 Industrial machinery is essential in the manufacturing, construction, processing, agriculture, energy production, and other industries. Unexpected machine failures can have more than repair costs. Production can be halted, deadlines can be missed, workers can face safety hazards, and businesses can suffer financial losses. By knowing the common causes of machinery failure, operators and maintenance staff can identify problems early and take preventive action. Industrial machinery failure can have many causes. Why Industrial Machinery Fails By determining the root cause, businesses can avoid the same issue, minimize downtime, and extend the useful life of valuable industrial equipment. Here are 10 of the most common reasons for industrial machinery failure. Poor maintenance One of the biggest causes of equipment failure is poor maintenance. A machine has many moving parts and interdependent components that must be inspected, cleaned, adjusted, and serviced regularly. Small issues can turn into big ones if they aren't addressed during routine maintenance. A preventive maintenance schedule can help to detect worn components and other issues before they lead to unexpected failures. Inadequate lubrication Moving parts need proper lubrication to minimize friction and heat. Insufficient lubrication, improper lubricants, or not lubricating parts as recommended can cause faster ...
Sep 5, 2026 | Last Updated Sep 14, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Whisperer | Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Digital Identity And Trust, Cybersecurity Fraud And Financial Crime, Digital Banking And BaaS, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Cross Border Payments And FX, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Embedded Finance, Insurance And Insurtech, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing, Risk Compliance And Regtech, Treasury Liquidity And Cash Management, Regulation And Policy, Data Privacy And Governance This live weekly NCFA intelligence page tracks financial technology developments that significantly affect how fintechs build, sell, raise capital, and operate under scrutiny. Coverage prioritizes Canada and includes global events that directly influence competitive conditions, market access, and execution realities across fintech sectors. This page will be updated throughout the week with market movers in a live format and then each week we'll close the prior week's contents in prep for the upcoming week, and continue on a rolling basis. (Missed prior week's Fintech Whisperer? (December 6-12, 2025, December 13-19, 2025, January 1-9, 2026, January 10-16, 2026, January 17-23, 2026, January 24-30, 2026, January 31-February 6, 2026, February 7-13, 2026, February 14-20, 2026, ...
September 11, 2026 | NCFA Regulatory Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Regulation And Policy, Risk Compliance And Regtech AI Literacy, Transparency and Agent Governance On September 9, 2026, the Government of Canada launched a National AI Literacy Initiative with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. The $13 million partnership is expected to reach up to 1 million post secondary students and more than 50,000 K to 12 educators, alongside free learning for workers and other Canadians. The program sits under Canada's AI for All strategy and focuses on helping people understand AI, use it responsibly and recognize risks such as bias, misinformation and privacy loss. Ottawa is working on the governance side at the same time. Its AI transparency consultation remains open until September 23 and asks whether Canada needs stronger ways to identify AI generated content, tell people when they are interacting with AI, explain system capabilities, track serious incidents and record what AI agents actually do. The consultation paper says 19.2% of Canadian companies used AI to produce goods or deliver services in the second quarter of 2026, up from 12.2% a year earlier and three times the 2024 level. The federal government has already been working through ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Embedded Finance, Artificial Intelligence And Data Zown Connects Rent Rewards, AI Search and Home Finance On September 15, 2026, Toronto-based Canadian proptech Zown updated its homebuying app with Rent Rewards alongside AI property search, affordability estimates, mortgage pre-approval and transaction services. Zown advertises up to 8% back on rent, giving it a reason to start working with consumers years before many will be ready to buy a home. The 8% combines two potential rewards. Zown Money says Zown currently provides up to 4% cashback directly on rent, while an eligible credit card can add up to another 4% depending on the card's terms. At C$2,500 in monthly rent, Zown's 4% portion would equal C$100 a month or C$1,200 a year. If a renter also earned the full additional 4% through their card, the total could reach C$200 a month or C$2,400 a year before any card or payment-related costs. The Canadian iPhone app, developed by Zown Realty Inc., also lets users upload a lease and proof of rent, search properties through an AI assistant called Zoro, view estimated affordability, request showings with licensed agents, seek mortgage pre-approval, ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Digital Banking And BaaS, Cross Border Payments And FX, Competition And Market Structure Wise Adds Everyday Canadian Payments Without Becoming a Bank On September 14, 2026, UK-based global payments company Wise launched a Chequing Account in Canada with no monthly fee, Interac e-Transfer support, Canadian account details, pre-authorized debits, debit-card access and multi-currency features. The launch takes Wise further into everyday Canadian financial activity while keeping the cross-border tools that built its original customer base. The account is available to personal and business customers in Canada. Customers can hold more than 40 currencies, receive money using account details available across 22 currencies and send money to more than 70 countries. Wise converts currencies at the mid-market rate and charges a separate conversion fee that currently starts from 0.19%, depending on the currency and transaction. Interac Makes Wise More Useful Day to Day Canadian customers can send up to C$25,000 to a supported Interac email address and receive up to C$25,000 per day through Interac Autodeposit. Wise doesn't charge its own fee to receive Autodeposit payments, and the September launch removed the Wise fee for sending CAD to an Interac alias and adding ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure, Competition And Market Structure, Public Sector Policy And Industrial Strategy Nearly $500B In Commitments And A Proposed 6.4% Investment Tax Rate Today, on September 15, 2026, Canada's first Canada Investment Summit 2026 commitments reached nearly $500 billion across Canadian pension funds, insurers, banks, investment funds and a major AI infrastructure project. The September 14–15 summit in Toronto also brought together investors from nearly 30 countries managing more than $100 trillion in assets. The $500 billion isn't one pool of foreign equity. It combines institutional investment, bank financing and capital mobilization, investment funds and corporate infrastructure spending. A large share comes from Canadian institutions putting more capital to work at home while Ottawa tries to attract additional global investment. Canadian Institutions Supply Much Of The Capital Canadian pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors committed nearly $100 billion CPP Investments and Brookfield Asset Management launched the $50 billion Maple Fund for Canadian critical infrastructure and strategic industries PSP Investments plans another $25 billion of Canadian investment Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan committed an additional $10 billion by the end of 2027 Sun Life Financial committed $5 billion over five years ...
Sep 15, 2026 Market volatility remains a persistent factor in wealth management, driving investors to seek strategies that balance capital stability with strategic diversification. While physical property has traditionally served as a tangible asset class, direct ownership often carries operational friction and localized concentration risk. Real estate funds present a structured alternative, pooling capital to access larger-scale assets under professional administration. However, evaluating these vehicles requires a realistic understanding of their risk profiles, liquidity terms, fee structures, and underlying statutory frameworks. Structural Trade-offs: Scale, Risk, and Liquidity Managed real estate portfolios offer distinct operational benefits while introducing clear structural constraints: Institutional Execution: Funds leverage pooled capital to negotiate institutional pricing, access commercial or multi-unit residential developments, and spread risk across multiple properties within the fund's mandate. Inflation Pass-Through and Fee Drag: Real estate often mitigates inflation through index-linked commercial leases or periodic residential rent adjustments. However, net investor returns are directly impacted by fund fee structures—typically including a 1–2% annual management fee and potential performance hurdles—which must be weighed against the ongoing maintenance and transaction costs of direct ownership. Operational Relief: Professional managers oversee tenant administration, maintenance, and legal compliance, removing the daily burdens associated with direct landlord responsibilities. Realistic ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Cross Border Payments And FX, Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Competition And Market Structure New Delhi Declaration Advances Payment Interoperability On September 12, 2026, BRICS leaders met in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit and backed further work connecting national payment and financial messaging systems. The New Delhi Declaration confirms that the BRICS Payment Task Force has been studying cross border interoperability and the use of local currencies for trade settlement and investment. BRICS hasn't yet created a common payment network or digital currency. However, payment interoperability has moved into an official technical workstream rather than remaining a series of proposals from individual members. The progression has been fairly quick. India proposed stronger payment and central bank digital currency connectivity in January. In August, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra confirmed that members were discussing links between fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies. The September declaration gives the Payment Task Force a formal basis to continue that work across the bloc. The commercial backdrop has also changed significantly since we last covered the 2023 BRICS summit. The group has expanded, supply chains have been ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Competition And Market Structure, Regulation And Policy, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding Routledge Speech Puts Growth and Competition Higher on OSFI Agenda On September 11, 2026, Superintendent Peter Routledge delivered a speech at the Economic Club of Canada, explaining how the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is refining its risk appetite. Financial resilience remains central, but OSFI is giving more weight to economic growth and competition when it decides whether a regulatory requirement is proportionate to the risk. For financial technology firms, smaller banks, federal credit unions and prospective entrants, the commercial question is whether those decisions make Canada's regulated financial market easier to enter and compete in. Some fintechs may eventually seek a federal bank, trust or loan company structure. Others need regulated partners that can support new lending, payments or financial products without the economics forcing every partnership toward Canada's largest institutions. OSFI is already changing parts of that equation. New entrants have a more structured approval process, selected capital requirements are being recalibrated and unnecessary supervisory material is being removed. The value to the market will depend on what happens to entry costs, operating economics and the ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Artificial Intelligence And Data Institutional Investors Back Tokenized Market Data On September 14, 2026, Paris-baesed digital asset firm Kaiko raised US$110 million in a Series B extension led by S&P Global. RBC joined BNP Paribas, Nasdaq Ventures, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Coinbase Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Canton Foundation, Stellar and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments. Existing shareholders Anthemis, Point Nine and Revaia also participated. Kaiko plans to invest the capital in its market data business and services for onchain capital markets. Its coverage spans more than 150 exchanges and protocols, with data used for pricing, trading, valuation, risk, surveillance and benchmarks. S&P Global, RBC, Nasdaq, BNP Paribas and Broadridge bring something beyond capital. They operate businesses that depend on reliable prices, benchmarks, market data and institutional distribution. Their investment gives Kaiko deeper relationships with firms that could also become customers, partners or distribution channels as tokenized securities and digital assets enter more institutional products. S&P Backs Kaiko After Launching 4,000+ Indices S&P Global was already working with Kaiko before leading the round. On September 1, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko launched the S&P Kaiko ...
Sep 14, 2026 Industrial machinery is essential in the manufacturing, construction, processing, agriculture, energy production, and other industries. Unexpected machine failures can have more than repair costs. Production can be halted, deadlines can be missed, workers can face safety hazards, and businesses can suffer financial losses. By knowing the common causes of machinery failure, operators and maintenance staff can identify problems early and take preventive action. Industrial machinery failure can have many causes. Why Industrial Machinery Fails By determining the root cause, businesses can avoid the same issue, minimize downtime, and extend the useful life of valuable industrial equipment. Here are 10 of the most common reasons for industrial machinery failure. Poor maintenance One of the biggest causes of equipment failure is poor maintenance. A machine has many moving parts and interdependent components that must be inspected, cleaned, adjusted, and serviced regularly. Small issues can turn into big ones if they aren't addressed during routine maintenance. A preventive maintenance schedule can help to detect worn components and other issues before they lead to unexpected failures. Inadequate lubrication Moving parts need proper lubrication to minimize friction and heat. Insufficient lubrication, improper lubricants, or not lubricating parts as recommended can cause faster ...
Sep 5, 2026 | Last Updated Sep 14, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Whisperer | Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Digital Identity And Trust, Cybersecurity Fraud And Financial Crime, Digital Banking And BaaS, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Cross Border Payments And FX, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Embedded Finance, Insurance And Insurtech, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing, Risk Compliance And Regtech, Treasury Liquidity And Cash Management, Regulation And Policy, Data Privacy And Governance This live weekly NCFA intelligence page tracks financial technology developments that significantly affect how fintechs build, sell, raise capital, and operate under scrutiny. Coverage prioritizes Canada and includes global events that directly influence competitive conditions, market access, and execution realities across fintech sectors. This page will be updated throughout the week with market movers in a live format and then each week we'll close the prior week's contents in prep for the upcoming week, and continue on a rolling basis. (Missed prior week's Fintech Whisperer? (December 6-12, 2025, December 13-19, 2025, January 1-9, 2026, January 10-16, 2026, January 17-23, 2026, January 24-30, 2026, January 31-February 6, 2026, February 7-13, 2026, February 14-20, 2026, ...
September 11, 2026 | NCFA Regulatory Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Regulation And Policy, Risk Compliance And Regtech AI Literacy, Transparency and Agent Governance On September 9, 2026, the Government of Canada launched a National AI Literacy Initiative with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. The $13 million partnership is expected to reach up to 1 million post secondary students and more than 50,000 K to 12 educators, alongside free learning for workers and other Canadians. The program sits under Canada's AI for All strategy and focuses on helping people understand AI, use it responsibly and recognize risks such as bias, misinformation and privacy loss. Ottawa is working on the governance side at the same time. Its AI transparency consultation remains open until September 23 and asks whether Canada needs stronger ways to identify AI generated content, tell people when they are interacting with AI, explain system capabilities, track serious incidents and record what AI agents actually do. The consultation paper says 19.2% of Canadian companies used AI to produce goods or deliver services in the second quarter of 2026, up from 12.2% a year earlier and three times the 2024 level. The federal government has already been working through ...
Bermuda Spotlights Fintech Innovation at Consensus 2019
Financial Post | Bermuda Development Agency Release | May 15, 2019
NEW YORK — Bermuda highlighted its world-respected regulatory and legal framework for fintech business, as a delegation of government and industry experts returned for a second year to “Blockchain Week” in New York for Consensus 2019.
Bermuda promoted its pioneering legal & regulatory framework for fintech startups during New York’s Blockchain Week, attending Consensus and an interview with @bloombergradio
Premier David Burt, accompanied by Finance Minister Curtis Dickinson and Bermuda Business Development Agency CEO Andy Burrows, led a group of regulatory and industry representatives to the annual three-day midtown conference which attracted 4,500 attendees, including major sponsoring companies such as IBM, Deloitte, Microsoft, Citi, RBC and eBay. Along with a business development team from the BDA were Assistant Financial Secretary Stephen Gift, Chief Fintech Advisor to the Premier Denis Pitcher, and fintech experts from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), Deloitte Bermuda, PwC Bermuda, and global law firms Appleby, Conyers, and Walkers.
See: The Future of Government… in a Digital Age
“Events like this are important because they bring a lot of the major players from well-established companies that are going to be the largest companies of the future,” said the Premier. “It’s a long-term investment and it takes time to build relationships, but this has given us the opportunity to talk about the innovative work Bermuda has been doing and to raise our jurisdiction’s profile in this space. We’ve had meaningful discussions with companies that want to set up in Bermuda, with those already in the process of setting up, and with some who are investing in companies that want to set up in Bermuda.”
Bermuda’s fintech environment has evolved substantially since the island sent a delegation to Consensus just one year ago, the Premier noted, with key initial coin offering (ICO) and digital assets business legislation now in place, along with a dedicated fintech unit, regulatory sandbox, and Innovation Hub at the BMA. “That certainty is now paying dividends,” he said, “and we are attracting interest from excellent prospects. It bodes well for the future.”
Bermuda’s robust regulation won the spotlight Monday during a Consensus panel that featured the BMA’s Senior Advisor for Fintech, Moad Fahmi, along with peers from Japan and Australia. “It was a great opportunity to discuss regulation of digital assets with fellow regulators and industry bodies,” said Fahmi.
“The digital asset industry is evolving rapidly and moving towards institutionalization—our robust digital asset framework is fit for purpose to welcome entities looking to meet the Bermuda Standard.”
See: PODCAST: Listen Now - Why Bermuda Is At The Forefront Of Blockchain Tech
Minister Dickinson and Burrows also held a series of meetings outside the conference with institutional investors, family offices, funds and private equity managers, fintech incubators, influencers and investors in technology and digital assets businesses. “We took the opportunity while in New York to meet with leading companies in the wealth management industry to discuss opportunities for their businesses in Bermuda,” Dickinson said. “The discussions were fruitful and provided the Bermuda team with valuable insights that can be used as we continue to improve our service offering in our evolving wealth management pillar.”
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Embedded Finance, Artificial Intelligence And Data Zown Connects Rent Rewards, AI Search and Home Finance On September 15, 2026, Toronto-based Canadian proptech Zown updated its homebuying app with Rent Rewards alongside AI property search, affordability estimates, mortgage pre-approval and transaction services. Zown advertises up to 8% back on rent, giving it a reason to start working with consumers years before many will be ready to buy a home. The 8% combines two potential rewards. Zown Money says Zown currently provides up to 4% cashback directly on rent, while an eligible credit card can add up to another 4% depending on the card's terms. At C$2,500 in monthly rent, Zown's 4% portion would equal C$100 a month or C$1,200 a year. If a renter also earned the full additional 4% through their card, the total could reach C$200 a month or C$2,400 a year before any card or payment-related costs. The Canadian iPhone app, developed by Zown Realty Inc., also lets users upload a lease and proof of rent, search properties through an AI assistant called Zoro, view estimated affordability, request showings with licensed agents, seek mortgage pre-approval, ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Digital Banking And BaaS, Cross Border Payments And FX, Competition And Market Structure Wise Adds Everyday Canadian Payments Without Becoming a Bank On September 14, 2026, UK-based global payments company Wise launched a Chequing Account in Canada with no monthly fee, Interac e-Transfer support, Canadian account details, pre-authorized debits, debit-card access and multi-currency features. The launch takes Wise further into everyday Canadian financial activity while keeping the cross-border tools that built its original customer base. The account is available to personal and business customers in Canada. Customers can hold more than 40 currencies, receive money using account details available across 22 currencies and send money to more than 70 countries. Wise converts currencies at the mid-market rate and charges a separate conversion fee that currently starts from 0.19%, depending on the currency and transaction. Interac Makes Wise More Useful Day to Day Canadian customers can send up to C$25,000 to a supported Interac email address and receive up to C$25,000 per day through Interac Autodeposit. Wise doesn't charge its own fee to receive Autodeposit payments, and the September launch removed the Wise fee for sending CAD to an Interac alias and adding ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure, Competition And Market Structure, Public Sector Policy And Industrial Strategy Nearly $500B In Commitments And A Proposed 6.4% Investment Tax Rate Today, on September 15, 2026, Canada's first Canada Investment Summit 2026 commitments reached nearly $500 billion across Canadian pension funds, insurers, banks, investment funds and a major AI infrastructure project. The September 14–15 summit in Toronto also brought together investors from nearly 30 countries managing more than $100 trillion in assets. The $500 billion isn't one pool of foreign equity. It combines institutional investment, bank financing and capital mobilization, investment funds and corporate infrastructure spending. A large share comes from Canadian institutions putting more capital to work at home while Ottawa tries to attract additional global investment. Canadian Institutions Supply Much Of The Capital Canadian pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors committed nearly $100 billion CPP Investments and Brookfield Asset Management launched the $50 billion Maple Fund for Canadian critical infrastructure and strategic industries PSP Investments plans another $25 billion of Canadian investment Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan committed an additional $10 billion by the end of 2027 Sun Life Financial committed $5 billion over five years ...
Sep 15, 2026 Market volatility remains a persistent factor in wealth management, driving investors to seek strategies that balance capital stability with strategic diversification. While physical property has traditionally served as a tangible asset class, direct ownership often carries operational friction and localized concentration risk. Real estate funds present a structured alternative, pooling capital to access larger-scale assets under professional administration. However, evaluating these vehicles requires a realistic understanding of their risk profiles, liquidity terms, fee structures, and underlying statutory frameworks. Structural Trade-offs: Scale, Risk, and Liquidity Managed real estate portfolios offer distinct operational benefits while introducing clear structural constraints: Institutional Execution: Funds leverage pooled capital to negotiate institutional pricing, access commercial or multi-unit residential developments, and spread risk across multiple properties within the fund's mandate. Inflation Pass-Through and Fee Drag: Real estate often mitigates inflation through index-linked commercial leases or periodic residential rent adjustments. However, net investor returns are directly impacted by fund fee structures—typically including a 1–2% annual management fee and potential performance hurdles—which must be weighed against the ongoing maintenance and transaction costs of direct ownership. Operational Relief: Professional managers oversee tenant administration, maintenance, and legal compliance, removing the daily burdens associated with direct landlord responsibilities. Realistic ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Cross Border Payments And FX, Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Competition And Market Structure New Delhi Declaration Advances Payment Interoperability On September 12, 2026, BRICS leaders met in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit and backed further work connecting national payment and financial messaging systems. The New Delhi Declaration confirms that the BRICS Payment Task Force has been studying cross border interoperability and the use of local currencies for trade settlement and investment. BRICS hasn't yet created a common payment network or digital currency. However, payment interoperability has moved into an official technical workstream rather than remaining a series of proposals from individual members. The progression has been fairly quick. India proposed stronger payment and central bank digital currency connectivity in January. In August, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra confirmed that members were discussing links between fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies. The September declaration gives the Payment Task Force a formal basis to continue that work across the bloc. The commercial backdrop has also changed significantly since we last covered the 2023 BRICS summit. The group has expanded, supply chains have been ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Competition And Market Structure, Regulation And Policy, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding Routledge Speech Puts Growth and Competition Higher on OSFI Agenda On September 11, 2026, Superintendent Peter Routledge delivered a speech at the Economic Club of Canada, explaining how the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is refining its risk appetite. Financial resilience remains central, but OSFI is giving more weight to economic growth and competition when it decides whether a regulatory requirement is proportionate to the risk. For financial technology firms, smaller banks, federal credit unions and prospective entrants, the commercial question is whether those decisions make Canada's regulated financial market easier to enter and compete in. Some fintechs may eventually seek a federal bank, trust or loan company structure. Others need regulated partners that can support new lending, payments or financial products without the economics forcing every partnership toward Canada's largest institutions. OSFI is already changing parts of that equation. New entrants have a more structured approval process, selected capital requirements are being recalibrated and unnecessary supervisory material is being removed. The value to the market will depend on what happens to entry costs, operating economics and the ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Artificial Intelligence And Data Institutional Investors Back Tokenized Market Data On September 14, 2026, Paris-baesed digital asset firm Kaiko raised US$110 million in a Series B extension led by S&P Global. RBC joined BNP Paribas, Nasdaq Ventures, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Coinbase Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Canton Foundation, Stellar and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments. Existing shareholders Anthemis, Point Nine and Revaia also participated. Kaiko plans to invest the capital in its market data business and services for onchain capital markets. Its coverage spans more than 150 exchanges and protocols, with data used for pricing, trading, valuation, risk, surveillance and benchmarks. S&P Global, RBC, Nasdaq, BNP Paribas and Broadridge bring something beyond capital. They operate businesses that depend on reliable prices, benchmarks, market data and institutional distribution. Their investment gives Kaiko deeper relationships with firms that could also become customers, partners or distribution channels as tokenized securities and digital assets enter more institutional products. S&P Backs Kaiko After Launching 4,000+ Indices S&P Global was already working with Kaiko before leading the round. On September 1, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko launched the S&P Kaiko ...
Sep 14, 2026 Industrial machinery is essential in the manufacturing, construction, processing, agriculture, energy production, and other industries. Unexpected machine failures can have more than repair costs. Production can be halted, deadlines can be missed, workers can face safety hazards, and businesses can suffer financial losses. By knowing the common causes of machinery failure, operators and maintenance staff can identify problems early and take preventive action. Industrial machinery failure can have many causes. Why Industrial Machinery Fails By determining the root cause, businesses can avoid the same issue, minimize downtime, and extend the useful life of valuable industrial equipment. Here are 10 of the most common reasons for industrial machinery failure. Poor maintenance One of the biggest causes of equipment failure is poor maintenance. A machine has many moving parts and interdependent components that must be inspected, cleaned, adjusted, and serviced regularly. Small issues can turn into big ones if they aren't addressed during routine maintenance. A preventive maintenance schedule can help to detect worn components and other issues before they lead to unexpected failures. Inadequate lubrication Moving parts need proper lubrication to minimize friction and heat. Insufficient lubrication, improper lubricants, or not lubricating parts as recommended can cause faster ...
Sep 5, 2026 | Last Updated Sep 14, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Whisperer | Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Digital Identity And Trust, Cybersecurity Fraud And Financial Crime, Digital Banking And BaaS, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Cross Border Payments And FX, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Embedded Finance, Insurance And Insurtech, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing, Risk Compliance And Regtech, Treasury Liquidity And Cash Management, Regulation And Policy, Data Privacy And Governance This live weekly NCFA intelligence page tracks financial technology developments that significantly affect how fintechs build, sell, raise capital, and operate under scrutiny. Coverage prioritizes Canada and includes global events that directly influence competitive conditions, market access, and execution realities across fintech sectors. This page will be updated throughout the week with market movers in a live format and then each week we'll close the prior week's contents in prep for the upcoming week, and continue on a rolling basis. (Missed prior week's Fintech Whisperer? (December 6-12, 2025, December 13-19, 2025, January 1-9, 2026, January 10-16, 2026, January 17-23, 2026, January 24-30, 2026, January 31-February 6, 2026, February 7-13, 2026, February 14-20, 2026, ...
September 11, 2026 | NCFA Regulatory Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Regulation And Policy, Risk Compliance And Regtech AI Literacy, Transparency and Agent Governance On September 9, 2026, the Government of Canada launched a National AI Literacy Initiative with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. The $13 million partnership is expected to reach up to 1 million post secondary students and more than 50,000 K to 12 educators, alongside free learning for workers and other Canadians. The program sits under Canada's AI for All strategy and focuses on helping people understand AI, use it responsibly and recognize risks such as bias, misinformation and privacy loss. Ottawa is working on the governance side at the same time. Its AI transparency consultation remains open until September 23 and asks whether Canada needs stronger ways to identify AI generated content, tell people when they are interacting with AI, explain system capabilities, track serious incidents and record what AI agents actually do. The consultation paper says 19.2% of Canadian companies used AI to produce goods or deliver services in the second quarter of 2026, up from 12.2% a year earlier and three times the 2024 level. The federal government has already been working through ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Embedded Finance, Artificial Intelligence And Data Zown Connects Rent Rewards, AI Search and Home Finance On September 15, 2026, Toronto-based Canadian proptech Zown updated its homebuying app with Rent Rewards alongside AI property search, affordability estimates, mortgage pre-approval and transaction services. Zown advertises up to 8% back on rent, giving it a reason to start working with consumers years before many will be ready to buy a home. The 8% combines two potential rewards. Zown Money says Zown currently provides up to 4% cashback directly on rent, while an eligible credit card can add up to another 4% depending on the card's terms. At C$2,500 in monthly rent, Zown's 4% portion would equal C$100 a month or C$1,200 a year. If a renter also earned the full additional 4% through their card, the total could reach C$200 a month or C$2,400 a year before any card or payment-related costs. The Canadian iPhone app, developed by Zown Realty Inc., also lets users upload a lease and proof of rent, search properties through an AI assistant called Zoro, view estimated affordability, request showings with licensed agents, seek mortgage pre-approval, ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Digital Banking And BaaS, Cross Border Payments And FX, Competition And Market Structure Wise Adds Everyday Canadian Payments Without Becoming a Bank On September 14, 2026, UK-based global payments company Wise launched a Chequing Account in Canada with no monthly fee, Interac e-Transfer support, Canadian account details, pre-authorized debits, debit-card access and multi-currency features. The launch takes Wise further into everyday Canadian financial activity while keeping the cross-border tools that built its original customer base. The account is available to personal and business customers in Canada. Customers can hold more than 40 currencies, receive money using account details available across 22 currencies and send money to more than 70 countries. Wise converts currencies at the mid-market rate and charges a separate conversion fee that currently starts from 0.19%, depending on the currency and transaction. Interac Makes Wise More Useful Day to Day Canadian customers can send up to C$25,000 to a supported Interac email address and receive up to C$25,000 per day through Interac Autodeposit. Wise doesn't charge its own fee to receive Autodeposit payments, and the September launch removed the Wise fee for sending CAD to an Interac alias and adding ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure, Competition And Market Structure, Public Sector Policy And Industrial Strategy Nearly $500B In Commitments And A Proposed 6.4% Investment Tax Rate Today, on September 15, 2026, Canada's first Canada Investment Summit 2026 commitments reached nearly $500 billion across Canadian pension funds, insurers, banks, investment funds and a major AI infrastructure project. The September 14–15 summit in Toronto also brought together investors from nearly 30 countries managing more than $100 trillion in assets. The $500 billion isn't one pool of foreign equity. It combines institutional investment, bank financing and capital mobilization, investment funds and corporate infrastructure spending. A large share comes from Canadian institutions putting more capital to work at home while Ottawa tries to attract additional global investment. Canadian Institutions Supply Much Of The Capital Canadian pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors committed nearly $100 billion CPP Investments and Brookfield Asset Management launched the $50 billion Maple Fund for Canadian critical infrastructure and strategic industries PSP Investments plans another $25 billion of Canadian investment Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan committed an additional $10 billion by the end of 2027 Sun Life Financial committed $5 billion over five years ...
Sep 15, 2026 Market volatility remains a persistent factor in wealth management, driving investors to seek strategies that balance capital stability with strategic diversification. While physical property has traditionally served as a tangible asset class, direct ownership often carries operational friction and localized concentration risk. Real estate funds present a structured alternative, pooling capital to access larger-scale assets under professional administration. However, evaluating these vehicles requires a realistic understanding of their risk profiles, liquidity terms, fee structures, and underlying statutory frameworks. Structural Trade-offs: Scale, Risk, and Liquidity Managed real estate portfolios offer distinct operational benefits while introducing clear structural constraints: Institutional Execution: Funds leverage pooled capital to negotiate institutional pricing, access commercial or multi-unit residential developments, and spread risk across multiple properties within the fund's mandate. Inflation Pass-Through and Fee Drag: Real estate often mitigates inflation through index-linked commercial leases or periodic residential rent adjustments. However, net investor returns are directly impacted by fund fee structures—typically including a 1–2% annual management fee and potential performance hurdles—which must be weighed against the ongoing maintenance and transaction costs of direct ownership. Operational Relief: Professional managers oversee tenant administration, maintenance, and legal compliance, removing the daily burdens associated with direct landlord responsibilities. Realistic ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Cross Border Payments And FX, Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Competition And Market Structure New Delhi Declaration Advances Payment Interoperability On September 12, 2026, BRICS leaders met in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit and backed further work connecting national payment and financial messaging systems. The New Delhi Declaration confirms that the BRICS Payment Task Force has been studying cross border interoperability and the use of local currencies for trade settlement and investment. BRICS hasn't yet created a common payment network or digital currency. However, payment interoperability has moved into an official technical workstream rather than remaining a series of proposals from individual members. The progression has been fairly quick. India proposed stronger payment and central bank digital currency connectivity in January. In August, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra confirmed that members were discussing links between fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies. The September declaration gives the Payment Task Force a formal basis to continue that work across the bloc. The commercial backdrop has also changed significantly since we last covered the 2023 BRICS summit. The group has expanded, supply chains have been ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Competition And Market Structure, Regulation And Policy, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding Routledge Speech Puts Growth and Competition Higher on OSFI Agenda On September 11, 2026, Superintendent Peter Routledge delivered a speech at the Economic Club of Canada, explaining how the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is refining its risk appetite. Financial resilience remains central, but OSFI is giving more weight to economic growth and competition when it decides whether a regulatory requirement is proportionate to the risk. For financial technology firms, smaller banks, federal credit unions and prospective entrants, the commercial question is whether those decisions make Canada's regulated financial market easier to enter and compete in. Some fintechs may eventually seek a federal bank, trust or loan company structure. Others need regulated partners that can support new lending, payments or financial products without the economics forcing every partnership toward Canada's largest institutions. OSFI is already changing parts of that equation. New entrants have a more structured approval process, selected capital requirements are being recalibrated and unnecessary supervisory material is being removed. The value to the market will depend on what happens to entry costs, operating economics and the ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Artificial Intelligence And Data Institutional Investors Back Tokenized Market Data On September 14, 2026, Paris-baesed digital asset firm Kaiko raised US$110 million in a Series B extension led by S&P Global. RBC joined BNP Paribas, Nasdaq Ventures, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Coinbase Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Canton Foundation, Stellar and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments. Existing shareholders Anthemis, Point Nine and Revaia also participated. Kaiko plans to invest the capital in its market data business and services for onchain capital markets. Its coverage spans more than 150 exchanges and protocols, with data used for pricing, trading, valuation, risk, surveillance and benchmarks. S&P Global, RBC, Nasdaq, BNP Paribas and Broadridge bring something beyond capital. They operate businesses that depend on reliable prices, benchmarks, market data and institutional distribution. Their investment gives Kaiko deeper relationships with firms that could also become customers, partners or distribution channels as tokenized securities and digital assets enter more institutional products. S&P Backs Kaiko After Launching 4,000+ Indices S&P Global was already working with Kaiko before leading the round. On September 1, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko launched the S&P Kaiko ...
Sep 14, 2026 Industrial machinery is essential in the manufacturing, construction, processing, agriculture, energy production, and other industries. Unexpected machine failures can have more than repair costs. Production can be halted, deadlines can be missed, workers can face safety hazards, and businesses can suffer financial losses. By knowing the common causes of machinery failure, operators and maintenance staff can identify problems early and take preventive action. Industrial machinery failure can have many causes. Why Industrial Machinery Fails By determining the root cause, businesses can avoid the same issue, minimize downtime, and extend the useful life of valuable industrial equipment. Here are 10 of the most common reasons for industrial machinery failure. Poor maintenance One of the biggest causes of equipment failure is poor maintenance. A machine has many moving parts and interdependent components that must be inspected, cleaned, adjusted, and serviced regularly. Small issues can turn into big ones if they aren't addressed during routine maintenance. A preventive maintenance schedule can help to detect worn components and other issues before they lead to unexpected failures. Inadequate lubrication Moving parts need proper lubrication to minimize friction and heat. Insufficient lubrication, improper lubricants, or not lubricating parts as recommended can cause faster ...
Sep 5, 2026 | Last Updated Sep 14, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Whisperer | Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Digital Identity And Trust, Cybersecurity Fraud And Financial Crime, Digital Banking And BaaS, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Cross Border Payments And FX, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Embedded Finance, Insurance And Insurtech, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing, Risk Compliance And Regtech, Treasury Liquidity And Cash Management, Regulation And Policy, Data Privacy And Governance This live weekly NCFA intelligence page tracks financial technology developments that significantly affect how fintechs build, sell, raise capital, and operate under scrutiny. Coverage prioritizes Canada and includes global events that directly influence competitive conditions, market access, and execution realities across fintech sectors. This page will be updated throughout the week with market movers in a live format and then each week we'll close the prior week's contents in prep for the upcoming week, and continue on a rolling basis. (Missed prior week's Fintech Whisperer? (December 6-12, 2025, December 13-19, 2025, January 1-9, 2026, January 10-16, 2026, January 17-23, 2026, January 24-30, 2026, January 31-February 6, 2026, February 7-13, 2026, February 14-20, 2026, ...
September 11, 2026 | NCFA Regulatory Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Regulation And Policy, Risk Compliance And Regtech AI Literacy, Transparency and Agent Governance On September 9, 2026, the Government of Canada launched a National AI Literacy Initiative with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. The $13 million partnership is expected to reach up to 1 million post secondary students and more than 50,000 K to 12 educators, alongside free learning for workers and other Canadians. The program sits under Canada's AI for All strategy and focuses on helping people understand AI, use it responsibly and recognize risks such as bias, misinformation and privacy loss. Ottawa is working on the governance side at the same time. Its AI transparency consultation remains open until September 23 and asks whether Canada needs stronger ways to identify AI generated content, tell people when they are interacting with AI, explain system capabilities, track serious incidents and record what AI agents actually do. The consultation paper says 19.2% of Canadian companies used AI to produce goods or deliver services in the second quarter of 2026, up from 12.2% a year earlier and three times the 2024 level. The federal government has already been working through ...
Fintech Fridays Episode 31: Blockchain Law with Jason Saltzman
NCFA Canada | May 14, 2019
JOIN US ON A STORYTELLING JOURNEY EVERY FRIDAY.
Ep31-May 14: Blockchain Law with Jason Saltzman
About this episode: On this episode of the Fintech Friday's Podcast, our host Manseeb Khan sits down with Jason Saltzman partner at Gowlings WLG law firm. They chat about how to make your ICO compliant, Blockchain in law and how to create a business structure. Enjoy!
HOST: Manseeb Khan, Fintech Friday's show host
GUEST: JASON SALTZMAN, Partner, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP (Linkedin)
BIO: Jason Saltzman is a partner in Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP’s Toronto office practising in corporate finance and securities law, with an emphasis on securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital transactions and regulatory compliance matters. Jason assists issuers, investment dealers, investment portals and institutional and private investors on complex equity and debt financing transactions, ranging from start-up investments, venture capital and private equity investments, to larger public offerings and project finance. Jason has taken numerous companies public on the TSX, TSX Venture Exchange and Canadian Securities Exchange by IPO, reverse takeover, capital pool transactions and direct listings. He also advises securities dealers, advisers, investment fund managers and other market participants in connection with their registration and compliance issues. Jason served two terms on the Ontario Securities Commission’s Small and Medium Enterprises Committee and has been very active in building an alternative finance practice by focusing on fin-tech, crowdfinance and other disruptive models such as online investment platforms, peer-to-peer lending and robo-advising. He has become known as a thought leader in this innovative area.
Subscribe and tune in each Friday to check out the latest movers and shakers in fintech.
Listen to more podcasts here: Season 1 | Season 2
Transcription of Interview
Intro: Welcome fintech Friday's a weekly podcast brought to you by the National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association of Canada and partners.Covering all things fintech block chain be AI and alternative finance.
Jason Saltzman: Thanks so much happy to be here Manseeb . Great to be on this amazing podcast that I listen to all the time.
Manseeb Khan: Awesome I mean I love to hear that. So, Jason just for I guess the five or six people that may not know essentially who you are and what Gowlings does could just give us a quick rundown?
Jason Saltzman: Yeah. So, my name is Jason Saltzman I'm a partner at the law firm Gowlings WLG Gowlings is a law firm that's global. We have about 14 hundred lawyers around the world where in every major business center in Canada. We're also throughout Europe London Germany a number of other offices in Europe as well as we're in the Middle East and in Asia. Yeah. And my practices on the corporate finance and security side. So, I basically help all kinds of companies raise money access capital from all the early stage entrepreneurs all the way through different investment rounds up through going public transactions and of course in new asset classes such as alternative finance with anything from robo-advising, peer to peer lending and crypto currencies.
Manseeb Khan: We're seeing a lot in the space of pretty much crypto companies going just having crazy evaluations doing amazing things in the space. And I guess my question to you, my main question to you is as a law firm What are you guys kind of looking for to take on a robo-advisory company. A peer to peer company or crypto company. I guess like what is their list of qualifications that to kind of fill out. Like what. I guess like what is your quick little checkmark or checklist of things that you are looking for. If I personally but I guess as a law firm for these companies to have?
Jason Saltzman: Yes. So I mean we're open to working with all kinds of clients at everything from large blue chip companies and we act from any of them here in Canada and globally but we know that a lot of these big companies they started somewhere and they've started from the entrepreneur and they've grown. So, it is not uncommon for us to work with good quality startup companies and entrepreneurs and those that have amazing ideas that we see the growth potential in, and we want to be with them from the ground floor and work with them and whatnot. So, we're open to all kinds of inquiries from entrepreneurs that think they have neat ideas. We're particularly invested in the fintech space which is everything from financial technologies to blockchain technology to alternative finance as I mentioned and entrepreneurs that have these amazing ideas, we want to hear about them and figure out how we can work together.
Manseeb Khan: So, there are a lot of amazing fintech companies here. I guess how I get. Yeah, I guess specifically when it comes to since you are working with so many amazing companies you may you may not have to give specific names, but I guess what excites you about the space. I mean as a law firm as somebody kind of standing a little bit more outside going a little bit but also very much in the details. What are you very much excited about in the space?
Jason Saltzman: Yeah, I mean I love working with innovative companies with great ideas that solve big problems that are disruptive. You know I've been a lawyer for on Bay Street for twenty-two years working with all kinds of traditional industries everything from mining and natural resources and you know early stage technologies as well. But in a different era and life science. But when fintech and alternative finance and blockchain came around it was like wow this is like just a greenfield of so many new disruptive ideas. And it's a great opportunity for a law firm to say OK like you know we're just on the cusp of this new industry and you know law firms you know they have this image of being old and staunch and especially on Bay Street. But you know as we see the world evolve and new technologies go from small companies to very big players and you know we want to be part of it. And you know we found that just by immersing ourselves and myself personally in these ideas going back now four or five years myself personally particularly on known crowdfunding and alternative finance and crowd finance and whatnot that you can vary by it by working with these companies you have more experience than your competitors. You're immediately going up the chain in terms of knowledge and you know I started working with some great organizations like the NCFA and whatnot where I've gone to events, I speak, I write, I participate on the advisory board and I've met so many wonderful people through my involvement with the organization both companies and investors. There's you know those in the ecosystem who support or want to be part of the industry and it just I just keep coming back for more because it is so interesting and exciting.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah no I get it like every day is something very exciting especially like comparing it to traditional Bay Street where everything is a little bit more slower. Today everything's a new adventure and that's probably it's just fun. It's very amazing. So, with I mean I'll hit on blockchain as a legal firm right. I mean there's definitely a lot of blockchain innovation right now. You're seeing a huge I guess we'll call it overhaul in the insurance space. Blockchain definitely has a role in the legal system definitely does it plays a role in government. Play the role in law. What does blockchain in law look like to?
Jason Saltzman: Yeah. No, it's that's a great question and as far as how what we're seeing as a law firm we took an early adoption in this industry and back in I'd say 2017. We set up a blockchain group and my partner Usman Sheikh has become a leader in blockchain law, and I worked very closely with him in my practice in the corporate finance and security space. You know we saw in early 2018 and since the emergence of ICOs and initial coin offerings and whatnot and we you know sensed that there would be securities law and regulatory issues. So, our group mobilized to see how we can support the entrepreneurs who wanted to use you know non-dilutive financings like an ICO to access capital and help grow their business. So we worked with many interesting entrepreneurs who had great ideas and tried to navigate the you know the securities law system and you know we took many companies through the Ontario Securities Commission through their launch pad program and through those in the other provinces and tried to advise them on the best way to approach their model in a way that is compliant and whatnot. So, you know we saw a lot of opportunities on the security side but also you know apart from securities I mean our firm does everything from intellectual property whether it's patents or trademarks. And we've also been dealing closely with companies that may not have sold the tokens in a compliant way and helping them now through the through the process on the other end. We've been helping a lot there but. And also, just general technology law when you're you know setting up web sites and making sure you have your terms of use. And when you have a white paper making sure that that's compliant and makes sense and you know a law firm can be a friend and making sure that you know that that that works out well. So, we've become a big believer in blockchain. Our group has grown to about one hundred professionals worldwide and our global platform who have some aspect of blockchain their practice and we stay on top of developments in the industry to ensure that you know we speak, we write and participate at events but also you know we're trying to figure out the best where it's going to go and how blockchain can actually be integrated into the practice of law. And you mentioned insurance and other industries. And so, we're always we're understanding, and the technology and we want to be where it's going.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah. No I mean as you it's kind of a relief to hear that and not only do you guys make sure that everybody is kind of covered before their ICO's are not complaint but after as well it's kind of like hey whoa woops we just lost X amount of money like these 15 things weren't compliant. Okay cool. You guys can actually help that's a sigh of relief. For a few audience members.
Jason Saltzman: Yeah. And we can advise you know those who want to get in the business of that as they need to do it in a compliant way whether it's you know some in some companies they want to register as dealers and make sure they're doing it right. Yeah get whatever relief they need from the regulators and whatnot. Yeah. You know we can help.
Manseeb Khan: I agree with you I mean like compliance is really it's a really funny thing especially in this space because since this space is so brand new it's kind of like hey you know we can kind of do whatever we want, well not really though. There are still some terms this does some like rules that you still have to kind of follow. You can't just it's not an open playing field right.
Jason Saltzman: Yeah that's right. we've seen that evolve like a year ago when ICOs are first coming on scene everyone would say well I can do this because somebody else did it but would say no and we were always like the party poopers. Yeah say no. Guys you got to be careful here. And so now we've seen it evolve. to.
Manseeb Khan: No I absolutely agree with you I mean it's very important like you did mentioned on the top the episode that like you guys work with these companies well you guys aren't here to hinder their innovation, you're not here to hinder their technology, you're not here to hinder anything whatsoever. You're just making sure you guys aren't navigating through the right waters make sure like OK there's a storm coming. Your kind of carefully veer left a little bit because you know we want to stay away from that. Right. Exactly. Yeah. And that's very important I mean I don't think like you mentioned. I think I think people and companies are slowly understanding that now. Right. That you guys can work alongside of them that this change is not a radical cut from the old world it's that it's more of a hybrid. Yes, you can work together to kind of create something amazing.
Jason Saltzman: Correct and because we have gained a lot of experience with the challenges that the entrepreneurs have faced with the current regulatory regime and we're able to take our stories that we hear from our clients and together with other industry participants like the NCFA and others be you know be part of a community we can have an open dialogue with the regulators and who very much want to hear from all of us. Absolutely. And they've said many times they want to work and listen to what people have to say and see you know maybe they can do something that's better. So, you know I think we're still in the early innings of where this is going to go from the regulatory point of view. But I think there is definitely a movement toward something that makes more sense yes for the industry.
Manseeb Khan: It's actually it's kind of funny because you think that the regulators are not as open to have a conversation with many of the entrepreneurs. With many of the law firms, with many of the people that are in the space but they're they sure do a lot of events. They come, they speak if you have any questions, I feel free to come by and by all means we'll sit down with you. They'll understand your problem why where you're coming from and then we'll try to work with you and then talk about OK well this is kind of the red tape is or this is why we can't kind of do this. Yeah. Because yeah, we don't know X Y and Z which it’s is hilarious since that was pretty funny. So, I'm going to shift gears a little bit we did very early on in the show we talked about smart contract was probably the very early topic we ever talked about. Since I am speaking to another lawman what would it. What is your take on smart contracts and or what would what do you need to see to for Gowlings to kind of take on a more of a smart contract initiative?
Jason Saltzman: Yeah, I mean we're certainly open to it. We see that that's where the world is going there's going to be more and more smart contracts coming so you know we'd like to try to understand the technologies that are being proposed that would be formed the basis of that smart contracting question. So, we can assess as to you know the validity and the enforceability and how we will execute and where the pitfalls or risks may be with that contract. But we you know we're all over it and we are interested in learning about them and seeing how they'll be adopted in a more mainstream practice. Yeah for sure. Yeah. I mean you know traditionally law firms are like big steamships. They're hard to navigate and you've got to go through lots of bureaucracy. You know I think fortunately we have dedicated teams in this area who and the firm has invested in the area and is a believer in the area that we can move quicker when it comes to these new opportunities. But you know but like anything else we need to understand it but we have good news is we have like such a significant technology and intellectual property group with all kinds of engineers and computer scientists and people who are much smarter than me on technical technology then you know they can they certainly bring a lot of value to these kinds of companies.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah. No I mean I think it is incredible that you guys have actually decided to put actual manpower behind it because it's not just all talk it's kind of like now we actually have a team around it that are everyday there on top of it they're learning they're understanding it so they can come back to us is like hey this is how we're going to navigate this is the game plan for x y and z so you can kind of hit the ground sprinting which is it's pretty awesome.
Jason Saltzman: Yeah. And that's what's exciting about it. Actually, we like the team is just you know you know men and women are absolutely wonderful professionals who you know who really enjoy working with entrepreneurs in the innovation area.
Manseeb Khan: So, you do and at many of the events that you've been to the events that you sponsor, the entrepreneurs you have onboard that you've been talking to. I guess we'll be your best advice to them on how to set up a proper business structure when it comes to setting up partnerships because these are brand new founders right these are these are people that have an idea and they want to build something but they don't know how to build it so that they people like you. What's your best advice to these people?
Jason Saltzman: And that's a great question. Like in many cases you know we come across entrepreneurs who have a great idea and then I'll say OK. Like what. You have a business structure yet and they say no and we say OK well that's great because you know we always want to know who are clients going to be is going to be the individuals are going to be a company that already exists and who's involved and you know we have very strict know your clients procedures under the law society before we take any went on. So, it's always good to know who we're dealing with. And in cases where it's just an individual. The first thing we generally advise the individual when we take them on is OK. Do you want to set up as a partnership or are you doing this alone? Or you're doing want to do this to a corporate vehicle? And there are many different reasons why you would choose one thing over another sometimes it's tax driven sometimes it's jurisdictional be driven and whatnot but you know the simplest form is we generally advise setting up a either you know on Ontario or a federal company put a little you know get a name for the company so you have an account of your identity and whatnot and that company gives the entrepreneurs you know some advantages in terms of you know mostly a lot of entrepreneurs set up through a company so they have personal. So, they don't have personal liability and exactly how they can sort of have you know limited liability through their company and then the company can go ahead and do things and whatnot. Generally, when there is more than one founder or entrepreneur involved in a business then when the company is incorporated, they both become shareholders or could be more than two. But however, many there are some shareholders and then we assist in putting together like a shareholders agreement which basically governs how the shareholders operate amongst themselves and you know basically no one person can sell his or her shares unless the other one has the first opportunity to buy them. And because you need to know who your partners are you can just go ahead and set up a company and then sell your shares and not exactly leaving the others with partners that they didn't desire.
Manseeb Khan: And or not know right. Just like Wait who's Greg.
Jason Saltzman: That's right. Yeah. So, we assist with every aspect of from the incorporation to the organization of the company to setting up the shareholder agreement. But then also you know what's the next step for that company it is raising equity before you do like an ICL or something like that. So it may be you go to some friends and family investors and we assist with the documentation and ensuring that the business when it's selling the equity is complying with securities law has a prospectus exemption and that kind of thing and then you know we'll help with the various rounds and if there is an opportunity to do an ICO then will advise about that as well. And you know as I said how to do it in a compliant way and as the company grows there's different opportunities whether it's a merger and acquisition buying another company, or you know maybe it goes public. And we saw some blockchain technology companies go public. In fact, our firm acted for the first one and quite a few years ago and sometimes we see these structures like in a reverse takeover where they know they don't just go public by an IPO, but they get acquired by a public shell company and a share deal. So, we certainly can advise and all of that stuff too right.
Manseeb Khan: So ideally you want to make sure you from the jump gets set up so you can if you're going to be going to go public get built. So, you can become public.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah absolutely right. Because there's a lot of work that goes into becoming public whether it's and the habits form early right. Yeah like you know entrepreneurs and I work with many of them and you know usually things happen so fast in an entrepreneurial world which is great. But sometimes that's the corporate records and financial statements and things like that lag a bit. So, there's always you know everybody sort of has to you know get their act together quickly to be in a position to go public. But certainly it's never too early to develop those good habits and have records in place and that's everything from you know if you're taken on employees, have in your employment contracts having your IP protected having you know at any if there's any dispute settling all of those in advance and whatnot because if you get if you wait too late to the end of the go public process and things come out of the woodwork and that's going to get in the way of your plans.
Manseeb Khan: So, you did talk about how. OK so now we have a business structure right. We know not we know how we want to get a built. Now the next step is say raising money right. We can take it a traditional way where we can talk to VCs. We can go to the hedge fund guys. We can go to some of your old friends a Bay Street 100 percent but say if take it we want to be on this new wave, we want to raise money through peer to peer through crowdfunding. We'll be your best advice to companies if they're are considering taking that route. So, they are 100 percent compliant?
Jason Saltzman: Yeah that's a great question and I'm sure it's one that's on the top of every entrepreneur's mind is where's the money going to come from. And you know there are only so many you know friends and family members that are you know that you're that you want to take money from.
Manseeb Khan: Mom is only going to give you so much money.
Jason Saltzman: That's right. So. So let's talk about crowdfunding first. Crowdfunding is actually very exciting. I mean it's something that really burst on the scene probably about five years ago or so and you know there are there are some great crowdfunding platforms and portals that that are available that help companies raise money in different ways using you know in a compliant way in Canada using existing exemptions. Some of these platforms are you know I've known for quite a long time there are different exemptions that they use whether it's the accredited investor exemption, where they seek money on their platform from credit accredited investors only which is you know it's a more limited market in the sense that there are only so many accredited investors who are in the world or in Canada who are willing to invest. But you know the benefit of going to those types of investors on a platform is that it's quicker and easier and there's fewer information that you need to provide and less information that you to provide. On the theory that an accredited investor has enough money that he or she can afford to lose it and can take care of him or herself. But you know there are some other exemptions that the platforms use. There's the offering memorandum exemption the offer memorandum exemption unfortunately varies by province because in Canada we don't have a national securities regulator as I'm sure many of your listeners know. So, we're fragmented and have to deal with it on a you know by complying with the patchwork of the different provincial regulations. The good news is there is some harmonization but we're not quite there yet. We're moving in that direction but the offer memorandum exemption like in British Columbia you can give a British Columbia an investor on a platform just an offering memorandum and a risk acknowledgement form and they can invest whereas in Alberta and Ontario and some of the other provinces you give them an offering memorandum and a risk acknowledgement form. But there are limits imposed on the investment based on the net worth of that investor of course. Basically, anybody can invest up to ten thousand dollars in those provinces but then there's a concept of an eligible investor which you don't quite meet the high standard of accreditation that at the credit investor would. But you meet sort of a lower test and then you. But then you can only invest up to 30 thousand dollars or maybe 100 if you get a letter from your broker or whatnot and then the offering memorandum itself. There's some work that goes in in drafting it it's basically got to contain you know full information about your business it can't contain a misrepresentation but one of the big challenges for a small company that wants to use that exemption is that you also have to have audited financial statements put in that offering memorandum which for a small company paying an auditing firm is not a good use of your resources. Not at all no. Yeah. So. So that's sort of a challenge with the current use of that exemption. There's also a crowdfunding exemption that the regulators had come up with specifically dedicated to use on these crowdfunding platforms. It hasn't really been popular because there were you know pretty tough restrictions on the ability to advertise the investment. So, no one has really been using that, but the good news is this is an example of the regulators listening to the industry and they've come back with some new proposals that the industry is now considering and maybe we'll move into something a little bit easier there. So but there are some as I mentioned there are some great platforms that are sort of using all of these exemptions and they've set it up to assist in the drafting of your offering memorandum and assistant navigating the different exemptions and the different provinces and they're registered as dealers to enable to operate. I'd recommend looking into some of these platforms and seeing if that. Would be an option for your company because they exist and some of them are doing quite well. As far as robo and ICOs and what not. I mean robo advising is not a way to raise money but it's a way to. It's a way to get involved and invest your money in it. Certainly, there are some great sites out there that too. It's certainly marketed a lot and whatnot and they have all the registrations they need, and they seem very interesting and whatnot and then on the ICO side I mean ICOs. What's interesting about that for a company is as I mentioned earlier it's non-dilutive. You're not selling equity in your company you're selling a token. Token might have some kind of functionality could be used on the platform. Could you know value could go into that token which could later be sold on an exchange and what not. But there are challenges because there aren't any recognized exchanges right now. So, I think we're past the point of debating whether to token itself as a security or not. I think the regulators have become quite clear that a lot of people think that the regulation isn't clear. But I would tell you it is that the regulators take the position that that in most cases these tokens are securities under established common law tests and therefore you need to sort of comply with the same exemptions that I mentioned earlier. Yeah or do a public offering under a prospectus but where no one's quite taken that leap as of yet in a successful way. But the idea would be that if you navigate the exemptions then you can do it and there are some token companies that have received that do use exemptions and have seen have received relief and they're operating in a compliant way. But then what do you do with your tokens How do you trade them on an exchange that's not recognized yet. So, I think we're early days and, in the industry, still I think there'll be a time when all that gets flushed out . Yeah. When there will be exchanges that rate whether it's existing exchanges that have added crypto to their business or new crypto exchanges that have gone through the regulatory process I think we are going to get there because there's no stopping the desire on the part of the industry to move in that direction.
Manseeb Khan: No, I absolutely agree with you. So, before we wrap this up. My last question to you would be aside from all the amazing as we talked about write robo advising, smart contracts, blockchain in a law. Bay street. What are you most excited about in the space?
Jason Saltzman: Yeah, I mean I personally just love the ideas and working with the people and the entrepreneurs and you know let's face it. You know I'm getting a little bit older and it's fun to me you know some real bright entrepreneurs that have amazing ideas that you know open up a new world and you know for us it's you know for me personally it's working with people and learning new things. So, to be in an industry where it's all about innovation and new things and you know moving from the old ways of doing things and things that are disruptive, I mean that's to me that's exciting.
Manseeb Khan: That's I mean that's awesome. So, Jason thank you so much for sitting down with me today. And super excited to have you back on.
Jason Saltzman: Pleasure this was this was great. And yeah. Again, thanks again for the opportunity. Cheers.
Outro : you've been listening to fintech Fridays brought to you by NCFA and partners. Tune in weekly for the latest fintech Friday podcast by subscribing to this channel. The National crowdfunding and FinTech Association of Canada is a non-profit actively engaged with social and investment fintech sectors around the globe and provide education research industry stewardship services and networking opportunities to thousands of members and subscribers. For more information please visit and see if a Canada dot org. Oh yea.
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Ep30-Apr 12: The Future of Canadian Crypto With Andrei Poliakov
NCFA Canada | April 12, 2019
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Ep30-Apr 12: The Future of Canadian Crypto With Andrei Poliakov
About this episode: On this episode of the Fintech Fridays Podcast, our Host Manseeb Khan sat down with Andrei Poliakov the CEO of Coinberry. They chatted about the future of Coinberry, the power of blockchain and his favorite failure. Enjoy!
HOST: Manseeb Khan, Fintech Friday's show host
GUEST: ANDREI POLIAKOV, CEO and Co-Founder, Coinberry (Linkedin)
BIO: Andrei is a seasoned entrepreneur having previously launched and managed various start-ups with a strong focus on implementation and early-stage strategy development. Having finished the University of Toronto with a bachelor in Electrical Engineering, Andrei worked in Business Consulting before completing his IMBA at York University, Schulich School of Business. Andrei brings to Coinberry +10 years of algorithm design, management and strategy development experience in various corporate settings with leading multinationals around the world.
Subscribe and tune in each Friday to check out the latest movers and shakers in fintech.
Listen to more podcasts here: Season 1 | Season 2
Transcription of Interview
Intro: Welcome fintech Friday's a weekly podcast brought to you by the National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association of Canada and partners.Covering all things fintech block chain be AI and alternative finance.
Manseeb Khan : So, for the five or six people that may not have been privy to your ads like I have in the past, could you just give us a little bit more of essentially what Coinberry is and a little bit of your background because you have a really interesting background?
Andrei Poliakov: Sure. Yeah, absolutely. So Coinberry is a Fintrac registered cryptocurrency trading platform based out of Toronto. And basically, our whole philosophy and our goal is to break down the barriers of entry that exist for people when they would like to participate in the cryptocurrency space if they want to buy or sell cryptocurrency in a safe, secure manner. So that's what we're about here in Coinberry. Company was founded in 2017 and throughout the last year and a half that we've been in operations, we've put out some what I think are amazing, amazing technology. You know the platform is available on the Web. It's available on Android and Apple. And you're able to very easily and seamlessly trade Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin , the three main crypto currencies basically instantaneously. I mean, from the point of actually, you know, signing up to being able to purchase the coin. You can do this as well, such as just under five minutes, which is amazing because you can buy it with a credit card when you e-transfer if you want to do large amounts and send a wire. Yeah, that's what we try to do. We're trying to make it very easy, very secure for Canadians to participate in the cryptocurrency space, which we think is the future of finance.
Manseeb Khan : I'm going to touch back on the fact when you said secure just to dig a little bit more into your background. I mean, if you go into your LinkedIn and you go through some of the past companies you work on, you pretty much went from working at L’Oréal to Volvo to now crypto which is a very, very interesting career path. I mean, could you tell us a little bit of how you got into crypto? Why you crypto? I mean, was it a buddy of yours?
Andrei Poliakov: There's always that buddy is in there.
Manseeb Khan : Yeah. I'm like I'm like, yeah. Because it's a very common story. Or you could even have a completely different one. Who knows? Right. Like I'm just curious though, like how the heck did you go from there to now here?
Andrei Poliakov: Yeah. How do I get from the corporate world? OK, so my background is I have finished electrical engineer at UofT and then I worked in the field of business systems and algorithm design for a couple of years. So I mean, my LinkedIn isn't like fully detailed for what I did prior to Coinberry, but that's what I did for a couple years after I finished UofT, and then I went to actually back to school, and I got my MBA at York University because I always wanted to combine my technical knowledge and my love of business in one. And so, I figured getting an MBA would be a good way to Segway into that. So, once I graduated from Schulich, I actually ended up moving to Montreal. I was newly married and wanted to move out of Toronto. So, live there for a number of years. Seven years in total. I ended up working in the corporate world there for a bit like you mentioned a couple of companies that I joined. I always had projects that I was involved with on the side. I mean, I had an entrepreneurial streak since I was like 12 years old, you know, selling like apples and oranges from my grandma's orchard on the street kind of thing and then like opening a lemonade stand. So, I always I was always loved, you know, entrepreneurial projects. So, I always had projects on the side. I was involved with at one point in time. I was actually at a startup that actually ended up doing relatively well. We were exporting Hawaii juice from Canada into Eastern Europe and then, you know, start up some work out and some don't. So yeah that followed after a little while and I was looking for a project to get involved with because again, I mean, the corporate world offers a lot of opportunity, and a lot stability, but it also lacks a lot of this. Like really, you know, the passion that drives startups, the endless nights that people love, you know, that totally not existent in the corporate world. So, I was looking for a project to join and a friend of mine, one of the co-founders at Coinberry whom I've known for decades, introduced me to Bitcoin. And actually, funny anecdote, the way that happened is early 2017. We were, so like I said, me and him have been friends for a very long time. We were all down in Florida for a bachelor party and we have friends that came in from different parts of the world. We had friends from the US that were there, Canadians that flew down, friends from Europe. It all came down for the trip. And then the trip you all had to settle our internal tabs like we usually have when a bunch of friends travel and there was a problem that arose, and that people had to concurrences. You know, some people had access to their European bank accounts and some people had access to their Canadian bank accounts. But there was no way to actually settle within this group of friends that were, you know, in one location at this point in time. And so, Evan, my friend, he suggested that we all actually purchase Bitcoin and settle internally that way, which I don't remember if we ended up doing that that night or not. But the fact that this new technology can be used and that there is a use case, but it is just a very simple one. But it’s kind of made me think and start looking at the technology, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain more and much more depth. So fast forward about four or five months later I was on a call with Evan and we were discussing that, you know, there's an opportunity here for us to really start a viable business. And there was a big problem that existed in this space. And it did exist in that you have a lot of people that are, you know, opening companies in cryptocurrency that are not doing it right. They're not doing in a sort of strategic , matter prone to success. It's a lot of fly by nights. See what happened to Quadriga. People that are just basically fraudsters There was a lack in the space of a simple system, That's trusted, you know, trustworthy, that has actual professionals behind it, people with experience and not just randomly, you know, some kid just decide to sell crypto on the side, which I mean, I have no problem with people doing that, too. If that's your thing. But for me personally, we saw an opportunity to create a business that actually lends itself to the masses that we believe will another inevitably look to participate in the current cryptocurrency space. And so that's how the sort of Coinberry came around, you know, with that sort of philosophy and history.
Manseeb Khan : I'm just like mentally picturing you guys just scrambling, trying to, like, settle up with how much is that ?
Andrei Poliakov: But you know what I mean? I mean, I'm sure you've been on road trips as well. It's it doesn't hit you until you face that problem. And like I said previously, I was in the sort of international trade space and I realized that the pains that exist. When you look at international trade and settling international debt and paying for international shipments, using the current rails that exist using SWIFT system, I mean, it is so painful, it's so slow and it's so expensive that I'm honestly amazed that even right now still you don't see a huge demand for. Let me rephrase that. A much bigger demand for settling debt internationally and in international trade using crypto currencies because I mean there is serious opportunities.
Manseeb Khan : I think I mean, you bring up a good point. I think there will be because I think more and more people are starting to realize how slow the whole SWIFT system is, and the process is like how. I mean, some might even say outdated because like all of cryptocurrency and I mean especially blockchain, what it really is doing is shedding a light in just the inefficiencies and like the lag and just in all these systems that we now trust and all the systems that we have currently in place. All it really is like, hey, look, these are the vulnerabilities. This is how slow it is. This is how inefficient it is with our stuff or with what we hope to do with our stuff. It is only going to speed up the process. Right. So, I mean, in the future, like, heck, it might not even like paying up international debt through the currency. Like I've been amazing. add on to have. Right. Especially if you might in the future go back into international shipping and what may have you. It's interesting conversation for sure.
Andrei Poliakov: Yeah. No, I don't think I'll be going anywhere. Yeah. I think this is just so much fun and we're doing so much. I mean we've achieved so much over the last year and a half. I mean, it's incredible. And I'm very fortunate to work with a team that's super dedicated and like we're all aligned here. And I'm just I'm excited. You know, some of the stuff we have coming out not only in the short-term future, but long term as well. It's just that the sky is yours is your limit.
Manseeb Khan : Yeah, I absolutely agree with you. So, I mean, did you briefly touched on security and Quadriga, I mean, could you just I mean, for the audience, give us a little rundown of what does this mean for the very small Canadian cryptocurrency market? And what does this mean for Canadians that either are thinking of investing or have invested in crypto currencies?
Andrei Poliakov: So, I think overall, what happened with Quadriga and you know, the bankruptcy proceedings that are currently ongoing. The loss of keys in general overall is, of course, a very sad occurrence. And nobody is going to deny that, you know, some people lost their life savings. I was reading a story online recently about a developer who lost half a million dollars in Quadriga, which is very unfortunate. So, I think not to minimize the impact of what happened with Quadriga, but I do think that overall in the long term, what happened is it's going to lead to some positive change. First and foremost, I think we're going to see some regulation which is going to weed out, you know, basically a fly by night operations, that exist in this space and it's kind of ironic when we talk about regulation and cryptocurrency in one sentence because, you know, the initial sort, of initial background story of the true believers in crypto currency. Of course, Anti, you know, any sort of involvement of any third parties with anything as to do with currency. But I think when you start applying or you start looking at how things actually unfold in the real world. I personally believe that some degree of regulation, of oversight is required because you do have situations where people are taken advantage of and this exists in every industry. This is not only encrypted currencies. I mean, if you look at you look at, you know, the currency used most in the world for money laundering is not bitcoin. By far, it's the U.S. dollar. Right. So, if this exists in any space, in any industry. But that being said, just because that's the case, does it mean that we should not look at. Taking care of consumers, especially unsophisticated consumers in Canada. Now, what do I think is going to happen? I do think it's going to take some time for people to feel comfortable again and to be able to actually trust. The platforms that do exist, if you look at all the conversations that are taking place on Reddit and there's a ton of conversation that is taking place on Reddit, people are looking, people are discussing, and trust the platforms that that they can join. And I mean, for us and Coinberry, what happened with Quadriga is, I don't want to say it's a good thing, but there are a lot of people looking for new platforms that they would like to use. And Coinberry being one of, you know, one of the few trusted platforms in Canada. Of course, we're seeing an influx of users, and surge in volume. So, is it unfortunate what happened? Absolutely. Was it avoidable? I believe so. Are we going to get over it? Of course. I think in the long term and even in the medium term, we're going to get over it. I mean, look what happened to MtGox. It was a hit to the industry, but by no means was it a fatal blow. Right. So, people going to live and learn and move on.
Manseeb Khan : Yeah, no, I agree with you. I mean, like harping on the whole MtGox I mean like at the time is like it was the most devastating thing that had ever happened. But now in hindsight, it's okay, cause like the market is just it's volatile because we're still figuring things out. It's fine. It's just like a.
Andrei Poliakov: If you compare them out of money or the amount of crypto lost during the whole MtGox thing and now with Quadriga. I mean, Quadriga wasn't even comparable.
Manseeb Khan : That's very true. But I meant like in a sense of like when it way when you take the comparison among MtGox of like, oh, look, no one's ever going to invest in this thing again. Like it's dead. That kind of like mentality.
Andrei Poliakov: And that's where we know when I got involved in Coinberry, I mean, like I left the big cushy corporate job. And when I when I came on board, my idea, and the philosophy which we had from day one was to build a business that's fully compliant and on board with, you know, with supportive banking and to go about it actually building a viable business with long term potential for success and building value. And that's proven to be the absolute right decision because even though, of course, it hasn't slowed us down and, you know, compared to some other players that have cut corners. Absolutely. There's no doubt about it. What wasn't the right decision in the long term? Totally because, look, this is what happens when you cut corners. You have Quadriga happen.
Manseeb Khan : I mean, I absolutely agree with you. I mean, like we mentioned before. Is this all I mean, is this what cryptos all about? Is this what the whole thing's about? Crypto from its birth has been very anti-establishment, very anti. No, no, no government regulations, no banks like decentralize everything. We can do this on our own. But the fact that you guys are actually going to regulation's you guys actually go into the right channels and working with the current systems that are in place now. I mean, that speaks volumes into anybody that's trying to get into crypto that's either, you know, trying to be an investor or are aspiring to do something that you guys are doing.
Andrei Poliakov: It's the only way to build a viable business and a business that can grow outside of Canada, because, I mean, the Canadian market is great. And, you know, we're very proud to be based out of Toronto and to be a Canadian company. But there's a there's a big world out there that, as you know, is facing the same problems that Canada is facing. And we were able to solve this problem here. So, you know, we're very excited to see if we can solve this problem outside of Canada and in the US and Europe and Asia and Latin America. Because, again, I mean, if you look at the actual product we built, which again, is absolutely amazing in a year and a half, what you achieve if you put your mind to it and you pretty much work 24/7 because the product is world class right now. And I'm really proud of it. And I hope that we get really good positive feedback from users that are using it. So, you know, it really makes the whole team here proud and everybody happy, right?
Manseeb Khan : I mean, the fact that you guys went so fast in a year, what has I guess what has been your biggest challenge and subsequent to that question? What has been your favorite failure building Coinberry?
Andrei Poliakov: So, I think the biggest challenge is unfortunately out of our control more or less. And that's the general market sentiment. You know, with Bitcoin flying up to almost twenty-five thousand Canadian dollars last December 2017 wasn't a healthy thing for anybody. It wasn't healthy for the industry, it wasn't healthy for the investors. And, you know, the fall that happened afterwards hasn't really helped the industry as a whole. I personally would have preferred it if we if we saw a more healthy, gradual rise in Bitcoin prices versus what we actually saw. But it is what it is and the whole industry is living through the current bear market. And of course, it doesn't make things easier. It's a lot easier when it's top of mind for everybody and everybody is talking about and wants to get into it. But again, we have a great product, so we're personally like as a company, we're growing month over month, which is amazing in this market. But could we be going faster? Yeah, I think if we if we had the product we have now back, you know, mid 2017, we would be on top of the world right now. So, you know, the general market conditions I think is the biggest challenge for us. And one of our failures. So, I think something that we discuss quiet, quite a bit here between Evan and myself, who is the other co-founder of the company, is. We went to market. I think a bit too early at the beginning with a product that wasn't as complete as it is now. And I think if I had a magic wand, I would go back and just hold on a little bit of an ongoing market until we had a product which was more complete, because what we have now is just as I said, it's world class. And everybody I mean, you know, you live, you learn. And we were very excited to go to market with whatever we had at the time. And, you know, there was some pitfalls, some mistakes made some feedback from users that we had to take into account and to which kind of brought us to where we are now. But knowing what we know now, I would go back and just hold off a little bit. A couple months more, maybe half a year or more and go to market with it with a more deep product then then what we actually did back like a year ago.
Manseeb Khan : So aside from the I mean, what's kind of going in the cryptos space? I mean, what else are you excited about? What else do you have your eye on in 2019 that you're very excited about? I mean, somebody has to give it to give you an idea. I mean, somebody answers. We've been like, what's going on in insurance right now? It's very exciting what's going on in medicine right now. It's very exciting, especially the like the blockchain integration and insurance and medicine. What are you excited about in the space?
Andrei Poliakov: Yeah. So, I mean, what we have right now is we have a bunch of projects we're working with companies even outside crypto, which I'm super excited about, because it shows, first of all, the fact that the industry is maturing is becoming more accepted by other fintech’s in the space, you know? With other financial companies in general, and that to me is super exciting because, you know, in an itself like trading crypto is fun and it's a great way to make money for people that know how to do it. Right. But it's one of its one of many, many, many applications of blockchain in the world, but even specifically within finance. So that, you know, to me that's really exciting is to see that, you know, sort of blockchain and to certain extent even crypto applied to other to solve problems that exist in, you know, in banking, that exist in finance above and beyond, simply trading and speculating on the price of bitcoin today versus tomorrow kind of thing. So that to me, super excited. And you guys are going to see some really amazing project that we're going to be coming out with Coinberry I can't say what it is yet, but in April, it's just going to be that, you know, we have partnerships that are first in Canada and it'll definitely make the news what comes out. I'm super excited about that.
Manseeb Khan : But, you know, that's what's amazing about the space is that literally you can look the world is your oyster. You can go and knock on any door and say, hey, you know, we have this amazing product with this amazing technology that we built. And and I mean, specifically Coinberry. But then there's also the bigger application of blockchain. And, you know, people listen, and people are excited and interested. And regardless of what's being said and news, regardless of the price of, you know, coin at a point in time. I don't think there's any individual right now who doesn't appreciate the potential of what can you know, what what can be achieved with blockchain. So, it's a lot of opportunities that exist in space right now.
Manseeb Khan : I absolutely agree with you, the fact that like. Set aside from what a lot of a lot of media outlets are saying about the price and like all negative news around it. I mean, if you actually, like, sit down and actually, you know, go into like one of the you like into your medium page. I mean, you guys have I your own like a little blog talking about like security options, like just like if you just to sit down actually really look into the actual applications of blockchain and Crypto and everything like the world really is your oyster and it just opens up so many more opportunities and then some. Like so many more options that like we haven't even like fathom yet, because that's how massive of an impact this is bringing on.
Andrei Poliakov: And if you think about it like I mean, you and I are a little bit younger. Right. So. So, you know, there was, you know, like take our parents live in a world with no Internet, right. And I mean, I don't know how old you are, but I mean, I remember when I was a kid. Yeah, I know. But, you know, when I turned like 10ish, I think eight, maybe ten. Eleven. That's it. That was the Internet has been around since I was 10 . There as kids now that I've worn that crypto, who has been around the whole life, like they don't know a life where or, you know, a world where there was no blockchain, where there was no bitcoin. So, imagine the solutions that they are going to come up with when they grow up. They're going to blow, you know, out of the water, whatever we come up with. And that's what's super exciting. And I think people forget that. It's like there's been a there's been a change in, you know, and in to a certain degree in technology. And the generation that, you know, they're growing up right now, they're going to take us to, you know, to the stratosphere, which is the most exciting.
Manseeb Khan : Yeah. No, I'm definitely excited to see just the applications of what they kind of come up with because like you mentioned, like they're actually growing up in this way. Like I'm only 23. Like, I remember being my little brother age, like outside having fun, like fooling around. Now, these guys are like learning and watching all these videos. If such a massive access to information, we're like, yeah, no, they could literally do anything and everything and they can because they have the tools to do things like, yeah. Well you kid now like coding, you know, Ethereum smart contracts. Yeah, I know for sure. For what.
Andrei Poliakov: You know this kid another ten years is going to be I don't know what he's going to be doing, but it's going to what we're doing now is going to pale in comparison to you know.
Manseeb Khan : Yeah, he could be getting contracted out of like one of these law firms.
Andrei Poliakov: Yeah. No, I think it's like the industry super tiding in and, you know, the short-term price volatility. I mean, first of all, Coinberry is in the business of buying and selling cryptocurrency. So, for us, pricing makes no difference whatsoever whether bitcoins twenty-five thousand or twenty dollars doesn't matter. We provide a service to people and as long as people are looking to transact in bitcoin like Ethereum, we're in business. So, pricing itself even for the business model, we have as irrelevant. But to me personally, price is also relevant because it's such a short-term aspect of the growth of a new industry. That doesn't matter. You know, it does not matter. What matters is the services, the tools, the technologies. They're going to be built using blockchain. And that's what really is going to change. It will revolutionize society as a whole.
Manseeb Khan : Eventually. Yeah, no. I mean, I absolutely agree with you. I think they'll be a good, good place to wrap. So, we'll be the best way for the audience. Anybody want to buy a trade crypto? Best way to contact you guys at Coinberry or you personally would be through Snapchat, email. Like fire signal. I mean, carrier pigeon. Yeah. Raven?
Andrei Poliakov: Yeah. No, the carrier pigeon usually works. No, I mean anybody in Toronto is welcome to visit our office. You know, we're located between 320 Davenport. So, you know, feel free to stop by if I'd like to reach out to us on social media. You know, we're on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn. We are everywhere, anywhere. And when it comes to social media, we're available online as well. W w w dot Coinberry dot com, c o i n b e r r y dot com. And also, you can download our apps on the on the Appstore or on the play store or just look for Coinberry.
Manseeb Khan : Awesome. Andrei Thank you so much for sitting out with me today.
Outro : you've been listening to fintech Fridays brought to you by NCFA and partners. Tune in weekly for the latest fintech Friday podcast by subscribing to this channel. The National crowdfunding and FinTech Association of Canada is a non-profit actively engaged with social and investment fintech sectors around the globe and provide education research industry stewardship services and networking opportunities to thousands of members and subscribers. For more information please visit and see if a Canada dot org. Oh yea.
End of Podcast
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September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Embedded Finance, Artificial Intelligence And Data Zown Connects Rent Rewards, AI Search and Home Finance On September 15, 2026, Toronto-based Canadian proptech Zown updated its homebuying app with Rent Rewards alongside AI property search, affordability estimates, mortgage pre-approval and transaction services. Zown advertises up to 8% back on rent, giving it a reason to start working with consumers years before many will be ready to buy a home. The 8% combines two potential rewards. Zown Money says Zown currently provides up to 4% cashback directly on rent, while an eligible credit card can add up to another 4% depending on the card's terms. At C$2,500 in monthly rent, Zown's 4% portion would equal C$100 a month or C$1,200 a year. If a renter also earned the full additional 4% through their card, the total could reach C$200 a month or C$2,400 a year before any card or payment-related costs. The Canadian iPhone app, developed by Zown Realty Inc., also lets users upload a lease and proof of rent, search properties through an AI assistant called Zoro, view estimated affordability, request showings with licensed agents, seek mortgage pre-approval, ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Digital Banking And BaaS, Cross Border Payments And FX, Competition And Market Structure Wise Adds Everyday Canadian Payments Without Becoming a Bank On September 14, 2026, UK-based global payments company Wise launched a Chequing Account in Canada with no monthly fee, Interac e-Transfer support, Canadian account details, pre-authorized debits, debit-card access and multi-currency features. The launch takes Wise further into everyday Canadian financial activity while keeping the cross-border tools that built its original customer base. The account is available to personal and business customers in Canada. Customers can hold more than 40 currencies, receive money using account details available across 22 currencies and send money to more than 70 countries. Wise converts currencies at the mid-market rate and charges a separate conversion fee that currently starts from 0.19%, depending on the currency and transaction. Interac Makes Wise More Useful Day to Day Canadian customers can send up to C$25,000 to a supported Interac email address and receive up to C$25,000 per day through Interac Autodeposit. Wise doesn't charge its own fee to receive Autodeposit payments, and the September launch removed the Wise fee for sending CAD to an Interac alias and adding ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure, Competition And Market Structure, Public Sector Policy And Industrial Strategy Nearly $500B In Commitments And A Proposed 6.4% Investment Tax Rate Today, on September 15, 2026, Canada's first Canada Investment Summit 2026 commitments reached nearly $500 billion across Canadian pension funds, insurers, banks, investment funds and a major AI infrastructure project. The September 14–15 summit in Toronto also brought together investors from nearly 30 countries managing more than $100 trillion in assets. The $500 billion isn't one pool of foreign equity. It combines institutional investment, bank financing and capital mobilization, investment funds and corporate infrastructure spending. A large share comes from Canadian institutions putting more capital to work at home while Ottawa tries to attract additional global investment. Canadian Institutions Supply Much Of The Capital Canadian pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors committed nearly $100 billion CPP Investments and Brookfield Asset Management launched the $50 billion Maple Fund for Canadian critical infrastructure and strategic industries PSP Investments plans another $25 billion of Canadian investment Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan committed an additional $10 billion by the end of 2027 Sun Life Financial committed $5 billion over five years ...
Sep 15, 2026 Market volatility remains a persistent factor in wealth management, driving investors to seek strategies that balance capital stability with strategic diversification. While physical property has traditionally served as a tangible asset class, direct ownership often carries operational friction and localized concentration risk. Real estate funds present a structured alternative, pooling capital to access larger-scale assets under professional administration. However, evaluating these vehicles requires a realistic understanding of their risk profiles, liquidity terms, fee structures, and underlying statutory frameworks. Structural Trade-offs: Scale, Risk, and Liquidity Managed real estate portfolios offer distinct operational benefits while introducing clear structural constraints: Institutional Execution: Funds leverage pooled capital to negotiate institutional pricing, access commercial or multi-unit residential developments, and spread risk across multiple properties within the fund's mandate. Inflation Pass-Through and Fee Drag: Real estate often mitigates inflation through index-linked commercial leases or periodic residential rent adjustments. However, net investor returns are directly impacted by fund fee structures—typically including a 1–2% annual management fee and potential performance hurdles—which must be weighed against the ongoing maintenance and transaction costs of direct ownership. Operational Relief: Professional managers oversee tenant administration, maintenance, and legal compliance, removing the daily burdens associated with direct landlord responsibilities. Realistic ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Cross Border Payments And FX, Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Competition And Market Structure New Delhi Declaration Advances Payment Interoperability On September 12, 2026, BRICS leaders met in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit and backed further work connecting national payment and financial messaging systems. The New Delhi Declaration confirms that the BRICS Payment Task Force has been studying cross border interoperability and the use of local currencies for trade settlement and investment. BRICS hasn't yet created a common payment network or digital currency. However, payment interoperability has moved into an official technical workstream rather than remaining a series of proposals from individual members. The progression has been fairly quick. India proposed stronger payment and central bank digital currency connectivity in January. In August, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra confirmed that members were discussing links between fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies. The September declaration gives the Payment Task Force a formal basis to continue that work across the bloc. The commercial backdrop has also changed significantly since we last covered the 2023 BRICS summit. The group has expanded, supply chains have been ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Competition And Market Structure, Regulation And Policy, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding Routledge Speech Puts Growth and Competition Higher on OSFI Agenda On September 11, 2026, Superintendent Peter Routledge delivered a speech at the Economic Club of Canada, explaining how the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is refining its risk appetite. Financial resilience remains central, but OSFI is giving more weight to economic growth and competition when it decides whether a regulatory requirement is proportionate to the risk. For financial technology firms, smaller banks, federal credit unions and prospective entrants, the commercial question is whether those decisions make Canada's regulated financial market easier to enter and compete in. Some fintechs may eventually seek a federal bank, trust or loan company structure. Others need regulated partners that can support new lending, payments or financial products without the economics forcing every partnership toward Canada's largest institutions. OSFI is already changing parts of that equation. New entrants have a more structured approval process, selected capital requirements are being recalibrated and unnecessary supervisory material is being removed. The value to the market will depend on what happens to entry costs, operating economics and the ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Artificial Intelligence And Data Institutional Investors Back Tokenized Market Data On September 14, 2026, Paris-baesed digital asset firm Kaiko raised US$110 million in a Series B extension led by S&P Global. RBC joined BNP Paribas, Nasdaq Ventures, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Coinbase Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Canton Foundation, Stellar and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments. Existing shareholders Anthemis, Point Nine and Revaia also participated. Kaiko plans to invest the capital in its market data business and services for onchain capital markets. Its coverage spans more than 150 exchanges and protocols, with data used for pricing, trading, valuation, risk, surveillance and benchmarks. S&P Global, RBC, Nasdaq, BNP Paribas and Broadridge bring something beyond capital. They operate businesses that depend on reliable prices, benchmarks, market data and institutional distribution. Their investment gives Kaiko deeper relationships with firms that could also become customers, partners or distribution channels as tokenized securities and digital assets enter more institutional products. S&P Backs Kaiko After Launching 4,000+ Indices S&P Global was already working with Kaiko before leading the round. On September 1, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko launched the S&P Kaiko ...
Sep 14, 2026 Industrial machinery is essential in the manufacturing, construction, processing, agriculture, energy production, and other industries. Unexpected machine failures can have more than repair costs. Production can be halted, deadlines can be missed, workers can face safety hazards, and businesses can suffer financial losses. By knowing the common causes of machinery failure, operators and maintenance staff can identify problems early and take preventive action. Industrial machinery failure can have many causes. Why Industrial Machinery Fails By determining the root cause, businesses can avoid the same issue, minimize downtime, and extend the useful life of valuable industrial equipment. Here are 10 of the most common reasons for industrial machinery failure. Poor maintenance One of the biggest causes of equipment failure is poor maintenance. A machine has many moving parts and interdependent components that must be inspected, cleaned, adjusted, and serviced regularly. Small issues can turn into big ones if they aren't addressed during routine maintenance. A preventive maintenance schedule can help to detect worn components and other issues before they lead to unexpected failures. Inadequate lubrication Moving parts need proper lubrication to minimize friction and heat. Insufficient lubrication, improper lubricants, or not lubricating parts as recommended can cause faster ...
Sep 5, 2026 | Last Updated Sep 14, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Whisperer | Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Digital Identity And Trust, Cybersecurity Fraud And Financial Crime, Digital Banking And BaaS, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Cross Border Payments And FX, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Embedded Finance, Insurance And Insurtech, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing, Risk Compliance And Regtech, Treasury Liquidity And Cash Management, Regulation And Policy, Data Privacy And Governance This live weekly NCFA intelligence page tracks financial technology developments that significantly affect how fintechs build, sell, raise capital, and operate under scrutiny. Coverage prioritizes Canada and includes global events that directly influence competitive conditions, market access, and execution realities across fintech sectors. This page will be updated throughout the week with market movers in a live format and then each week we'll close the prior week's contents in prep for the upcoming week, and continue on a rolling basis. (Missed prior week's Fintech Whisperer? (December 6-12, 2025, December 13-19, 2025, January 1-9, 2026, January 10-16, 2026, January 17-23, 2026, January 24-30, 2026, January 31-February 6, 2026, February 7-13, 2026, February 14-20, 2026, ...
September 11, 2026 | NCFA Regulatory Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Regulation And Policy, Risk Compliance And Regtech AI Literacy, Transparency and Agent Governance On September 9, 2026, the Government of Canada launched a National AI Literacy Initiative with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. The $13 million partnership is expected to reach up to 1 million post secondary students and more than 50,000 K to 12 educators, alongside free learning for workers and other Canadians. The program sits under Canada's AI for All strategy and focuses on helping people understand AI, use it responsibly and recognize risks such as bias, misinformation and privacy loss. Ottawa is working on the governance side at the same time. Its AI transparency consultation remains open until September 23 and asks whether Canada needs stronger ways to identify AI generated content, tell people when they are interacting with AI, explain system capabilities, track serious incidents and record what AI agents actually do. The consultation paper says 19.2% of Canadian companies used AI to produce goods or deliver services in the second quarter of 2026, up from 12.2% a year earlier and three times the 2024 level. The federal government has already been working through ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Embedded Finance, Artificial Intelligence And Data Zown Connects Rent Rewards, AI Search and Home Finance On September 15, 2026, Toronto-based Canadian proptech Zown updated its homebuying app with Rent Rewards alongside AI property search, affordability estimates, mortgage pre-approval and transaction services. Zown advertises up to 8% back on rent, giving it a reason to start working with consumers years before many will be ready to buy a home. The 8% combines two potential rewards. Zown Money says Zown currently provides up to 4% cashback directly on rent, while an eligible credit card can add up to another 4% depending on the card's terms. At C$2,500 in monthly rent, Zown's 4% portion would equal C$100 a month or C$1,200 a year. If a renter also earned the full additional 4% through their card, the total could reach C$200 a month or C$2,400 a year before any card or payment-related costs. The Canadian iPhone app, developed by Zown Realty Inc., also lets users upload a lease and proof of rent, search properties through an AI assistant called Zoro, view estimated affordability, request showings with licensed agents, seek mortgage pre-approval, ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Digital Banking And BaaS, Cross Border Payments And FX, Competition And Market Structure Wise Adds Everyday Canadian Payments Without Becoming a Bank On September 14, 2026, UK-based global payments company Wise launched a Chequing Account in Canada with no monthly fee, Interac e-Transfer support, Canadian account details, pre-authorized debits, debit-card access and multi-currency features. The launch takes Wise further into everyday Canadian financial activity while keeping the cross-border tools that built its original customer base. The account is available to personal and business customers in Canada. Customers can hold more than 40 currencies, receive money using account details available across 22 currencies and send money to more than 70 countries. Wise converts currencies at the mid-market rate and charges a separate conversion fee that currently starts from 0.19%, depending on the currency and transaction. Interac Makes Wise More Useful Day to Day Canadian customers can send up to C$25,000 to a supported Interac email address and receive up to C$25,000 per day through Interac Autodeposit. Wise doesn't charge its own fee to receive Autodeposit payments, and the September launch removed the Wise fee for sending CAD to an Interac alias and adding ...
September 15, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure, Competition And Market Structure, Public Sector Policy And Industrial Strategy Nearly $500B In Commitments And A Proposed 6.4% Investment Tax Rate Today, on September 15, 2026, Canada's first Canada Investment Summit 2026 commitments reached nearly $500 billion across Canadian pension funds, insurers, banks, investment funds and a major AI infrastructure project. The September 14–15 summit in Toronto also brought together investors from nearly 30 countries managing more than $100 trillion in assets. The $500 billion isn't one pool of foreign equity. It combines institutional investment, bank financing and capital mobilization, investment funds and corporate infrastructure spending. A large share comes from Canadian institutions putting more capital to work at home while Ottawa tries to attract additional global investment. Canadian Institutions Supply Much Of The Capital Canadian pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors committed nearly $100 billion CPP Investments and Brookfield Asset Management launched the $50 billion Maple Fund for Canadian critical infrastructure and strategic industries PSP Investments plans another $25 billion of Canadian investment Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan committed an additional $10 billion by the end of 2027 Sun Life Financial committed $5 billion over five years ...
Sep 15, 2026 Market volatility remains a persistent factor in wealth management, driving investors to seek strategies that balance capital stability with strategic diversification. While physical property has traditionally served as a tangible asset class, direct ownership often carries operational friction and localized concentration risk. Real estate funds present a structured alternative, pooling capital to access larger-scale assets under professional administration. However, evaluating these vehicles requires a realistic understanding of their risk profiles, liquidity terms, fee structures, and underlying statutory frameworks. Structural Trade-offs: Scale, Risk, and Liquidity Managed real estate portfolios offer distinct operational benefits while introducing clear structural constraints: Institutional Execution: Funds leverage pooled capital to negotiate institutional pricing, access commercial or multi-unit residential developments, and spread risk across multiple properties within the fund's mandate. Inflation Pass-Through and Fee Drag: Real estate often mitigates inflation through index-linked commercial leases or periodic residential rent adjustments. However, net investor returns are directly impacted by fund fee structures—typically including a 1–2% annual management fee and potential performance hurdles—which must be weighed against the ongoing maintenance and transaction costs of direct ownership. Operational Relief: Professional managers oversee tenant administration, maintenance, and legal compliance, removing the daily burdens associated with direct landlord responsibilities. Realistic ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Cross Border Payments And FX, Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Competition And Market Structure New Delhi Declaration Advances Payment Interoperability On September 12, 2026, BRICS leaders met in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit and backed further work connecting national payment and financial messaging systems. The New Delhi Declaration confirms that the BRICS Payment Task Force has been studying cross border interoperability and the use of local currencies for trade settlement and investment. BRICS hasn't yet created a common payment network or digital currency. However, payment interoperability has moved into an official technical workstream rather than remaining a series of proposals from individual members. The progression has been fairly quick. India proposed stronger payment and central bank digital currency connectivity in January. In August, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra confirmed that members were discussing links between fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies. The September declaration gives the Payment Task Force a formal basis to continue that work across the bloc. The commercial backdrop has also changed significantly since we last covered the 2023 BRICS summit. The group has expanded, supply chains have been ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Competition And Market Structure, Regulation And Policy, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding Routledge Speech Puts Growth and Competition Higher on OSFI Agenda On September 11, 2026, Superintendent Peter Routledge delivered a speech at the Economic Club of Canada, explaining how the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is refining its risk appetite. Financial resilience remains central, but OSFI is giving more weight to economic growth and competition when it decides whether a regulatory requirement is proportionate to the risk. For financial technology firms, smaller banks, federal credit unions and prospective entrants, the commercial question is whether those decisions make Canada's regulated financial market easier to enter and compete in. Some fintechs may eventually seek a federal bank, trust or loan company structure. Others need regulated partners that can support new lending, payments or financial products without the economics forcing every partnership toward Canada's largest institutions. OSFI is already changing parts of that equation. New entrants have a more structured approval process, selected capital requirements are being recalibrated and unnecessary supervisory material is being removed. The value to the market will depend on what happens to entry costs, operating economics and the ...
September 14, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Artificial Intelligence And Data Institutional Investors Back Tokenized Market Data On September 14, 2026, Paris-baesed digital asset firm Kaiko raised US$110 million in a Series B extension led by S&P Global. RBC joined BNP Paribas, Nasdaq Ventures, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Coinbase Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Canton Foundation, Stellar and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments. Existing shareholders Anthemis, Point Nine and Revaia also participated. Kaiko plans to invest the capital in its market data business and services for onchain capital markets. Its coverage spans more than 150 exchanges and protocols, with data used for pricing, trading, valuation, risk, surveillance and benchmarks. S&P Global, RBC, Nasdaq, BNP Paribas and Broadridge bring something beyond capital. They operate businesses that depend on reliable prices, benchmarks, market data and institutional distribution. Their investment gives Kaiko deeper relationships with firms that could also become customers, partners or distribution channels as tokenized securities and digital assets enter more institutional products. S&P Backs Kaiko After Launching 4,000+ Indices S&P Global was already working with Kaiko before leading the round. On September 1, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko launched the S&P Kaiko ...
Sep 14, 2026 Industrial machinery is essential in the manufacturing, construction, processing, agriculture, energy production, and other industries. Unexpected machine failures can have more than repair costs. Production can be halted, deadlines can be missed, workers can face safety hazards, and businesses can suffer financial losses. By knowing the common causes of machinery failure, operators and maintenance staff can identify problems early and take preventive action. Industrial machinery failure can have many causes. Why Industrial Machinery Fails By determining the root cause, businesses can avoid the same issue, minimize downtime, and extend the useful life of valuable industrial equipment. Here are 10 of the most common reasons for industrial machinery failure. Poor maintenance One of the biggest causes of equipment failure is poor maintenance. A machine has many moving parts and interdependent components that must be inspected, cleaned, adjusted, and serviced regularly. Small issues can turn into big ones if they aren't addressed during routine maintenance. A preventive maintenance schedule can help to detect worn components and other issues before they lead to unexpected failures. Inadequate lubrication Moving parts need proper lubrication to minimize friction and heat. Insufficient lubrication, improper lubricants, or not lubricating parts as recommended can cause faster ...
Sep 5, 2026 | Last Updated Sep 14, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Whisperer | Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Digital Identity And Trust, Cybersecurity Fraud And Financial Crime, Digital Banking And BaaS, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Cross Border Payments And FX, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Embedded Finance, Insurance And Insurtech, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing, Risk Compliance And Regtech, Treasury Liquidity And Cash Management, Regulation And Policy, Data Privacy And Governance This live weekly NCFA intelligence page tracks financial technology developments that significantly affect how fintechs build, sell, raise capital, and operate under scrutiny. Coverage prioritizes Canada and includes global events that directly influence competitive conditions, market access, and execution realities across fintech sectors. This page will be updated throughout the week with market movers in a live format and then each week we'll close the prior week's contents in prep for the upcoming week, and continue on a rolling basis. (Missed prior week's Fintech Whisperer? (December 6-12, 2025, December 13-19, 2025, January 1-9, 2026, January 10-16, 2026, January 17-23, 2026, January 24-30, 2026, January 31-February 6, 2026, February 7-13, 2026, February 14-20, 2026, ...
September 11, 2026 | NCFA Regulatory Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Regulation And Policy, Risk Compliance And Regtech AI Literacy, Transparency and Agent Governance On September 9, 2026, the Government of Canada launched a National AI Literacy Initiative with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. The $13 million partnership is expected to reach up to 1 million post secondary students and more than 50,000 K to 12 educators, alongside free learning for workers and other Canadians. The program sits under Canada's AI for All strategy and focuses on helping people understand AI, use it responsibly and recognize risks such as bias, misinformation and privacy loss. Ottawa is working on the governance side at the same time. Its AI transparency consultation remains open until September 23 and asks whether Canada needs stronger ways to identify AI generated content, tell people when they are interacting with AI, explain system capabilities, track serious incidents and record what AI agents actually do. The consultation paper says 19.2% of Canadian companies used AI to produce goods or deliver services in the second quarter of 2026, up from 12.2% a year earlier and three times the 2024 level. The federal government has already been working through ...
