Proposed updates to the Federal Reserve's framework for anti-money-laundering compliance would align its rules with other banking regulators and require banks to focus resources on higher-risk customers and activities. The proposal would also raise the threshold for certain enforcement actions to "significant or systemic" compliance failures. The proposal is open for public comment for 60 days.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication is rolling out a blockchain-based system to enable around-the-clock cross-border payments, with a pilot using tokenized deposits set to involve 17 banks, including Citigroup, Bank of New York Mellon, HSBC, Standard Chartered and UBS. Swift said the network will enable banks to transfer funds for customers outside typical business hours prior to final settlement via existing systems.

Sony secured conditional approval to establish Connectia Trust as a national trust bank in the US. The approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency follows a period of public comment and opposition from major banking groups, which raised concerns about regulatory parity and consumer protections. The OCC said it might eventually mandate that Connectia appoint a dedicated chief financial officer.

Bank of America recently provided OpenAI a $520 million credit line, marking a reversal from the bank's earlier reluctance to support the AI startup, sources said. The move, which comes after extensive due diligence and internal debate, increases OpenAI's available credit to over $5 billion when combined with an existing facility from other banks. The decision reflects Bank of America's recognition of OpenAI's growing market influence and preparations for an expected initial public offering, sources said.

Bars and restaurants in Tokyo have had to revert to cash payments in light of the bankruptcy of credit card processor Zentoshin, highlighting the vulnerability of businesses reliant on digital transactions. Zentoshin's collapse has also affected regional banks, prompting loan write-offs and raising concerns about potential secondary bankruptcies among small businesses. Banks and other creditors are attempting to claw back over $700 million from Zentoshin, which is suspected of having falsified its financial statements for at least 20 years.

Cboe Global Markets has introduced Cboe Predicts, a suite of prediction market contracts aimed at retail traders, to bridge the gap between prediction markets and options trading. The first product, Mini S&P 500 Index prediction market contracts, allows traders to take "yes" or "no" positions on market outcomes with a unique payout zone feature. Cboe aims to educate retail investors and create long-term market participants.

Investors are increasingly shunning traditional hedging strategies in favor of buying call options to capitalize on rising stock prices, which has created a "greed premium" in the options market, with call implied volatility surpassing that of puts, deviating from the historical norm. The S&P 500 has risen about 10% this year despite challenges such as the war in Iran and inflation.

Polymarket and CEO Shayne Coplan have been sued by users William Wood and Thomas Bush, who allege the platform wrongly resolved a market on whether Strategy would sell bitcoin by May 31. The plaintiffs claim breach of contract and deceptive practices, citing that Strategy's Form 8-K confirmed a sale of 32 bitcoin during the relevant period, but Polymarket resolved the market as "No."