Sabal Law Week in Review: October 31–November 6, 2025

Catch up on this week’s key legal and regulatory updates impacting startups, funds, and emerging tech. Sabal Law breaks it down:

Traditional Finance 

• Texas Stock Exchange. TXSE Group raised over $250M total capital, including $90M in a second round led by J.P. Morgan, which joins as a board observer; the firm plans a Texas Stock Exchange launch in Q1 2026 with trading starting early that year.

• More SPAC IPOs. Viking Acquisition I raised $200M and Dynamix Corp. III raised $175M via IPOs; Viking targets flexible acquisitions while Dynamix focuses on digital infrastructure, energy, and power intersections.

• Gifts & Entertainment Compliance. FINRA fined First Trust Portfolios $10M for excessive client gifts, including courtside tickets and luxury suites, that violated $100-per-person limits and involved falsified expense reports from 2018-2024.

• 2025’s Largest EU Continuation Vehicle. Montagu raised €2B for a continuation fund to retain Wireless Logic, an IoT connectivity platform; TPG GP Solutions leads with CVC and Partners Group as co-leads.

• DefenseTech Still Raising Capital. Arlington Capital closed a $6B defense and government-focused fund, 58% larger than its predecessor, amid surging PE investments in aerospace and defense.

• Expanding Access to Private Capital. Charles Schwab nears a $600M acquisition of private shares marketplace Forge Global, following Morgan Stanley's EquityZen purchase, to expand private capital access.

• Outbound Investing Rule Impact. VC funding in Chinese AI dropped sharply to $6B across 574 deals YTD, down from 2024, due to economic constraints and reduced foreign inflows despite strong AI model performance.

• IAA’s Year-End Compliance Checklist. Investment advisers must update risk assessments, Form ADV, custody exams, cybersecurity protocols, and vendor due diligence under amended Reg S-P by key 2025/2026 deadlines to ensure exam readiness. Read the checklist here.

Digital Assets 

• Fighting Debanking. Sen. Thom Tillis introduced the Ensuring Fair Access to Banking Act to create a federal standard preventing banks from denying services for political reasons, targeting industries like crypto; it allows regulators and attorneys general to sue violators and bars reputational risk scrutiny.

• Nordic Countries Access Crypto ETP. Nordea will offer customers a synthetic Bitcoin-tracking ETP from CoinShares starting December 2025, targeting experienced investors in an execution-only model.

• Western Union Stablecoin. Western Union filed for "WUUSD" trademark and plans USDPT stablecoin launch on Solana via Anchorage Digital in early 2026 to enhance remittance efficiency.

• Securitize IPO via SPAC Merger. BlackRock-backed Securitize will go public via $1.25B pre-money merger with Cantor Equity Partners II, trading as SECZ on Nasdaq; Consensys prepares IPO led by JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs.

• Custodia Master Account Loss. 10th Circuit affirmed denial of Custodia Bank's Fed master account, ruling Fed has discretion; Custodia considers rehearing petition.

• ECB CBDC Acceleration. European Council urges faster digital euro development, targeting 2026 regulations, mid-2027 pilot, and 2029 rollout at €1.3B cost.

• Stablecoin Volume Record. Ethereum stablecoin transactions hit $2.82T in October, up 45% MoM, led by USDC at $1.62T; issuers captured 65-70% of protocol revenue amid yield farming. This means the companies behind stablecoins like USDC and USDT now earn most of the fees in decentralized finance.

• Coinbase Trust Charter Opposition. Banking associations urge OCC to reject Coinbase's national trust charter bid, citing systemic risks from crypto volatility and non-fiduciary activities.

• JPMorgan Tokenized PE. JPMorgan tokenized a private equity fund on Kinexys for private bank clients to streamline capital calls and ownership tracking.

• Canada Stablecoin Rules. Canada's 2025 budget outlines stablecoin framework requiring reserves, redemption policies, and risk management; Bank of Canada allocates $10M for oversight.

• FTSE Russell On-chain. FTSE Russell publishes indices like Russell 1000 and FTSE 100 on-chain via Chainlink DataLink, enabling tokenized products across 50+ blockchains.

• Brazilian CBDC Trade Settlement Pilot. Banco Inter and Chainlink settled Brazil-Hong Kong trade in real-time using Drex and Ensemble via DvP/PvP.

• Ripple Mastercard Integration. Ripple partners with Mastercard, WebBank, and Gemini to settle Gemini Credit Card fiat transactions using RLUSD on XRPL for faster compliance.

• CMT Digital Fund. CMT Digital raised $136M for its fourth crypto VC fund, backing firms like Circle and Figure amid tough fundraising environment.

• Gemini Prediction Market. Gemini seeks CFTC approval for regulated event contract market Gemini Titan to compete with Kalshi and Polymarket.

• Ripple Valued at $40B. Ripple raised $500M at $40B valuation led by Fortress and Citadel Securities, expanding payments, custody, and stablecoins with $95B+ volume.

• UBS Tokenized Redemption. UBS executed first on-chain redemption of uMINT money market fund token on Ethereum via Chainlink DTA and DigiFT.

Stay ahead with Sabal Law PLLC’s tailored solutions in securities, wealth management, private funds, co-investments, venture financing, private equity, FinTech, SportsTech, DefenseTech, and blockchain. Schedule a consultation to connect! #SabalLaw #StartupLaw #PrivateFunds #EmergingManagers #WealthManagement #PrivateEquity #VentureCapital #CoInvestments #FamilyOffices #Crypto #DigitalAssets