national-global

Morning Scan: Credit Suisse Mulls Spinoff; Metal Fraud Probe

06/09/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Suisse Weighs Spinoff: Credit Suisse may spin off a part of its fixed-income trading business. The Swiss lender is considering selling a stake in its Wake USA subsidiary to outside investors and making it an independent operation, according to anonymice. The move would be "designed to cut its capital costs, as banks around the world face declining revenues from trading bonds," the Financial Times reports. The Wall Street Journal has a similar...

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Morning Scan: B of A's Mortgage Settlement; BNP's Global Intrigue

06/06/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Put It on the Tab: Bank of America is in talks to pay $12 billion to settle Department of Justice and various state probes over legacy mortgage stuff, the papers report, citing the usual anonymice. Of that, $5 billion would be "soft money" in the form of consumer relief such as mortgage writedowns. Combined with a previous $6 billion settlement with FHFA, this deal would bring B of A's total tab forÂ...

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Morning Scan: ECB Holds Rates Steady; Rackoff Decision Reversed

06/05/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Same Old: The Bank of England decided once again to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, even as the British economy appears to be gaining steam. The British central bank under the stewardship of Governor Mark Carney also left its stimulus program unchanged continuing to hold about $628 billion in government bonds it has purchased over the past five years. ...

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Morning Scan: Turning the Screws on BNP Paribas

06/04/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Regulatory Overreach? Some bank regulators are plunging the depths of the financial system to determine whether they can add on to the steep fine facing BNP Paribas, which has been charged with processing payments for companies and countries sanctioned by the United States. The Times points to rumors that Benjamin Lawsky, New York's Department of Financial Services, is considering a temporary suspension on BNP Paribas' dollar clearing. "The fact that regulators areÂ...

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Morning Scan: BNP Enlists Government; Interest-Only Home Equity Lines Endangered

06/03/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Up in Arms: French leaders are incensed over demands by U.S. authorities that BNP Paribas pay $10 billion to end a criminal probe of its alleged evading of sanctions by doing business with Sudan and other U.S.-blacklisted nations, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Financial Times all reported. "The penalty must be proportional and reasonable," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was quoted as saying on Tuesday. "These figures are not...

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Morning Scan: Mexican Authorities on Ex-Banamex Bankers' Tails

06/02/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Banamex Update: In Mexico, warrants have been issued for the arrest of an unspecified number of former Citigroup executives allegedly tied to a $400 million fraud at the bank's Banamex subsidiary. Citi fired 11 people last month for what CEO Michael Corbat described as "actions or inactions [that] failed to protect our company from this fraud." According to the reports, Citigroup has been made aware of the warrants but has not been...

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Morning Scan: BNP May Fork Over $10B in Settlement; Piketty Defends His Data

05/30/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

BNP Could Face $10B Fine: U.S. authorities want BNP Paribas to pay more than $10 billion to settle allegations the French lender violated U.S. sanctions against countries including Iran and Sudan, according to the Wall Street Journal. "We are used to seeing penalties wipe out a quarter's profits, but $10 billion will wipe out a full year for BNP so market reaction will probably be somewhat greater," Mizuho credit strategist Roger Francis...

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Morning Scan: Preventing the Next Housing Crisis; Santander Targeted for Alleged Redlining

05/29/14

Wall Street Journal

It's hard out there for a U.S. bank, the Journal reports. Plunging mortgage revenue and lower trading activity propelled a 7.6% decline in banks' year-over-year first-quarter profits, according to newly released data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Year-over-year profits had only fallen once in the past 19 quarters, according to the FDIC. The declines in revenue make layoffs and other cost-cutting measures more likely in the months to follow. The paper's "Heard...

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Morning Scan: Square Makes Small Business Loans; Is SEC Slow on Reform?

05/28/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Never Christmas: Big banks including Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase are reporting a continued slowdown in trading. Fewer big trades, low volatility, economic uncertainty and pullback from large investors have all contributed to dwindling trading revenue for several quarters, according to news reports of a banking industry conference sponsored by Deutsche Bank on Tuesday. "Some investors have begun to worry that the slowdown may be more than a temporary phenomenon," the Wall Street...

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Morning Scan: IMF Head Blasts Financial Industry for Resisting Reform

05/27/14

Wall Street Journal

Federal prosecutors are on an international hunt for U.S. tax dodgers. Credit Suisse, which last week pleaded guilty to helping Americans evade taxes, has agreed to relinquish some records that will help authorities sniff out individuals who have hidden money in foreign accounts. Meanwhile, roughly 100 Swiss banks "have applied to join a Justice Department program that allows them to voluntarily turn over records about possible undisclosed U.S. accounts." The Justice Department may...

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