BankThink

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

HSBC Woes: Legal matters pounded HSBC, as the British bank reported quarterly earnings. HSBC set aside $1.6 billion, according to the Financial Times, or $1.7 billlion, according to the Wall Street Journal, to cover legal settlements, including resolving a probe into rigging foreign-exchange markets, and the cost of reimbursing customers. The set-aside also included $550 million to cover a settlement with the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Authority to resolve a probe into...

Mobile money products are taking off in countries including Bangladesh, Kenya and Somaliland Â-- and banks have a historic opportunity to get involved in this rapidly advancing market.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Coming Down the Pike: Citigroup's move to increase its third-quarter legal provisions by an additional $600 million suggests the bank may soon reach a settlement over charges that it manipulated foreign-exchange rates, the papers report. The adjustment, made in response to "very recent communications with certain regulatory agencies" according to the bank's regulatory filing, lowered Citigroup's quarterly earnings by nearly 18%, to $2.84 billion. The Wall Street Journal's anonymice say Citi and...

Expect more regional banks to pursue deals that put them over the $50 billion-asset threshold in an effort to reap the benefits of implicit government subsidies.

Rather than wait until after a data breach to increase information-security investments, banks should put into place practices that help prevent cyberattacks in the first place.