Good evening,

Initial public offerings are hard enough to get away at the best of times – let alone during a dead market. But spare a thought for second-time-lucky ASX aspirant Cuscal, which is in the midst of sector-wide upheaval as the Albanese government homes in on debit card surcharges, adding an unwanted layer of regulatory overhang to its campaign.

This is the second time Cuscal, which is owned by Mastercard, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and most of the big credit unions, has gone to public market investors. It kicked the can down the road a year ago after investors failed to meet its valuation expectations.

Street Talk understands Cuscal’s fund manager meetings ended on October 4, overseen by Bank of America, Bell Potter and Ord Minnett. Two weeks on, interested parties are yet to receive any word on research or potential pricing. No doubt investors will have some pertinent questions about the ban, which slashed the share prices of ASX-listed Tyro Payments and Smartpay this week.

Read the full story tomorrow and more on the Street Talk page.

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• Perpetual investors deliver record rebuke, 88 per cent vote against pay plan
• JPMorgan enters Australian payments as competition heats up
• Toll swoops on Rex’s air ambulance business

The sharemarket managed to chart its second record high of the week on Thursday, despite an unexpected gain in the labour market and slumping iron ore prices.

Click here for the latest equity market wrap.