“We’re focused on building a great, independent public company,” Allan Tygesen, CEO of DocuSign, told CNBC in an interview this week at a partner event the firm held in London. DocuSign, an online document signing platform, was rumored to have been circled by private equity suitors Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman, according to media reports. He added DocuSign wouldn’t rule out the prospect of M&A in the future, but stressed the firm is “very focused on building a great independent company.” The DocuSign website is seen on a laptop in Dobbs Ferry, New York, April 1, 2021. Tiffany Hagler-Geard | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Contract management platform DocuSign is committed to remaining a public company and is working to convince investors of its artificial intelligence potential, CEO Allan Thygesen told CNBC, after reports suggested the firm had been the target of takeover interest from private equity suitors.

“We’re focused on building a great, independent public company,” Thygesen told CNBC in an interview earlier this week at a partner event the company held in London. “I joined DocuSign as a public company, it’s a very exciting time right now, so that’s our plan.”

DocuSign, which offers a popular service that allows users to sign contracts digitally, was rumored to have been circled by suitors Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman, according to reports from Reuters and Bloomberg earlier this year citing people familiar with the matter.

Reuters and Bloomberg both reported the PE firms were dueling to buy DocuSign for almost $13 billion. According to a February Reuters report, Bain Capital and Hellman & Freshman paused their pursuit of DocuSign due to disagreements over how much they should pay to buy the firm.

CNBC has been unable to independently verify the reports.

Thygesen said he “can’t comment on anything that may or may not have happened in the past,” when asked by CNBC whether he could confirm rumors of PE buyers’ previous interest in DocuSign.

Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman were unavailable for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Thygesen added DocuSign wouldn’t rule out the prospect of an M&A (merger and acquisition) transaction in the future, telling CNBC: “In the future if something comes up — of course, you can never close the door on any transaction.”

However, he stressed: “We’re very focused

CNBC

British regulators on Wednesday dished out a combined £61.6 million ($79 million) in fines to U.S. investment bank Citi for failings in its trading systems and controls. The fines and were issued by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority, whose investigation focused on the period between April 1, 2018, and May 31, 2022. People walk by a CitiBank location in Manhattan on March 01, 2024 in New York City.  Spencer Platt | Getty Images

LONDON — British regulators on Wednesday dished out a combined £61.6 million ($79 million) in fines to U.S. investment bank Citi for failings in its trading systems and controls.

The fines were issued by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority, whose investigation focused on the period between April 1, 2018, and May 31, 2022. Citi qualified for a 30% reduction in the amount of the penalty after agreeing to resolve the matter.

“Firms involved in trading must have effective controls in place in order to manage the risks involved. CGML [Citigroup Global Markets Limited] failed to meet the standards we expect in this area, resulting in today’s fine,” Sam Woods, deputy governor for prudential regulation and the chief executive officer of the PRA, said in a statement Wednesday.

The regulators said that certain system and control issues persisted during the probe period and led to trading incidents, such as so-called fat-finger trading blunders. The main incident highlighted took place on May 2. 2022, when an experienced trader incorrectly inputted an order, which resulted in $1.4 billion “inadvertently being executed on European exchanges.”

“Deficiencies in CGML’s trading controls contributed to this incident, in particular the absence of certain preventative hard blocks and the inappropriate calibration of other controls,” the statement read.

In a statement to CNBC, a Citi spokesperson said that the bank was pleased to resolve the matter from more than two years ago, “which arose from an individual error that was identified and corrected within minutes.”

“We immediately took steps to strengthen our systems and controls, and remain committed to ensuring full regulatory compliance.” the spokesperson said.

CNBC