University Intern

Liahm Simon and Jake Jorgensen have joined Ankura as Associates in its Sydney office supporting the Transactions, Real Estate and Restructuring team.

Evolve Bank & Trust said Tuesday (March 4) that it is set to return some funds to end users impacted by the Synapse bankruptcy but does not yet have the information it needs to return additional funds.The bank is working with Ankura to analyze data and confirm institution-to-institution cash management transactions involving end users’ funds held at Evolve, the bank said in a Tuesday update.“As a result, Evolve will be disbursing more funds to a subset of End Users on or about March 6, 2025, via PayPal and checks sent via the U.S. Postal Service,” the bank said in the update.To continue identifying and returning funds to the appropriate end users, Evolve needs to receive more transactional data from other Synapse ecosystem banks and to examine that data, according to the update.“If and when we receive the necessary data from the Synapse ecosystem banks, we expect the comprehensive, ecosystem-wide reconciliation will determine which banks hold End Users’ funds, how much each bank holds, and what still needs to be disbursed to End Users,” Evolve said in the update.Before Synapse’s bankruptcy, Synapse connected other FinTech firms with banks, helping those startups store their customers’ money, PYMNTS reported in February.At its peak, Synapse was managing billions of dollars, and when it collapsed in April, thousands of people were locked out of their accounts.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) cited the Synapse situation in September when proposing a rule that would strengthen recordkeeping for bank deposits received from third party, non-bank companies that accept those deposits on behalf of consumers and businesses, PYMNTS reported at the time.Currently, when non-bank companies deposit their customers’ funds in a bank, they do so in a single custodial account that may hold funds of thousands of consumers and businesses — and the bank may not know the individual owners of funds in the custodial account.Evolve said in its Tuesday update that it is working with the other Synapse ecosystem banks to get the transaction data it needs to determine where end users’ funds are being held, because the Synapse ledger is unreliable.“While the process for reconciling and recovering from the Synapse bankruptcy is taking longer than expected, we remain optimistic that with cooperation from the Synapse ecosystem banks, End Users funds can be located and returned to their rightful owners,” the bank said

NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ankura Consulting Group, LLC ("Ankura"), the premier global expert services and advisory firm, today announced its acquisition of Red Flag Global, an award-winning strategic communications and public affairs agency that helps the world's leading organizations transform the way they strategize, communicate, campaign, and influence. The acquisition further cements Ankura's position as the global leader in driving comprehensive solutions for clients facing increasingly complex business, policy, regulatory, trade, and reputational landscapes."Red Flag's unparalleled expertise in strategic communications, public affairs, and campaign management perfectly complements Ankura's multidisciplinary approach to delivering transformational results for clients where it counts most," said Ankura Chief Executive Officer Kevin Lavin. "Their team of experts — drawn from the worlds of business, politics, diplomacy, media, and digital communications — is renowned for executing creative strategies that drive measurable results and significant value for clients."Founded in 2013 and with offices in Washington, DC, Brussels, London, Dublin, and Cape Town, Red Flag will join Ankura's Global Strategic Advisory business, which includes McLarty Associates, the leading global commercial diplomacy and geopolitical advisory firm, and GreenPoint, a respected U.S.–China strategic advisory firm, to offer holistic, client-focused solutions that address today's most pressing challenges."By combining Red Flag's full spectrum strategic communications and public affairs capabilities with our geopolitical, commercial diplomacy, and operational expertise, we will provide clients a further differentiated approach to transforming market insights into decisions, relationships, and messages that change the game," added Fernando Batlle, Head of Global Strategic Advisory at Ankura."Red Flag Global prides itself on transforming how our clients strategize, communicate, campaign, and influence. We excel in anticipating 'Red Flag moments' that demand action to seize opportunities and mitigate challenges, and we are hugely excited to join Ankura and leverage our mutual strengths to offer clients unmatched support," said Red Flag Global founder and Chief Executive Officer Karl Brophy.About AnkuraAnkura Consulting Group, LLC is an independent global expert services and advisory firm that delivers end-to-end solutions to manage conflict, crisis, performance, risk, strategy, and transformation. Ankura has more than 2,000 professionals serving 3000+ clients across 55 countries