BankThink

International banks and other global private firms need to ensure that they do more than pay lip service to the privacy laws of sovereign states. In fact, the penalties for failure to comply with privacy laws in many countries can be very serious indeed.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Spotlight on Yellen: Janet Yellen faced Congress Tuesday for the first time as Federal Reserve chairman. The marathon session Â-- lasting almost six hours Â-- yielded several takeaways pertaining to her forthcoming tenure. A few of the more notable ones circulating among the pundits: Yellen is a dove, which we all pretty much already knew; Yellen is an effective communicator; and Yellen may or may not be a high pressure Fed chair...

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Barclays to Cut Jobs, Raise Bonuses: Barclays plans a massive round of layoffs after suffering a quarterly loss of about $845 million, or 514 million pounds. The British bank will slash up to 12,000 of its 140,000 workers in 2014, as it tries to bring down rising expenses Â-- which include a hefty charge for litigation and regulatory penalties Â-- and offset weaker revenue from its investment bank. Those who don't loseÂ...

While waiting for regulators to fully understand the effects, small banks should proactively take measures to prepare themselves from the Volcker rule, just like their larger counterparts.

Receiving Wide Coverage ... More Headaches for Barclays: British bank Barclays and its regulator are investigating the possible theft and sale of personal data affecting at least 2,000 customers. Barclays believes based on an initial investigation that the breach was limited to customers from its financial planning business, which it closed in 2011. Customers have begun to be notified that their information might have been stolen. The security breaches followed a less than lackluster earnings reportÂ...