national-global

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

On the Regulatory Horizon: An anonymouse tells the Journal that the forthcoming Volcker Rule won't allow banks to use "portfolio hedging," thanks to JPMorgan Chase's whole "London Whale" debacle. "Regulators, in response to [JPM's disclosure its trades were a hedge], pushed to write a rule that would ensure banks couldn't engage in such trades," the paper reports. "The move will come as a blow to banks, which lobbied regulators to keep language...

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Questioned: The Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up its probe into Wall Street's foreign hiring practices. Anonymice are telling their favorite news outlets that Citigroup and Morgan Stanley have both received letters requesting information to determine whether the banks violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Scan readers will recall that, back in August, JPMorgan Chase revealed the regulator was investigating whether the bank habitually hired the children of prominent Chinese officials...

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Co-op Bank Probe: The U.K. Treasury has launched a probe into Co-operative Bank that will examine how the bank was run (and regulated) in the years leading up to its current crisis. Scan readers will recall that the bank is in the middle of bailing itself out largely by ceding control to institutional investors. The Journal says the inquiry "may prove uncomfortable for Britain's politicians, particularly in the opposition Labour Party, some...

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Ring Fenced: Credit Suisse has begun to wall off its Swiss banking business from riskier investment banking operations in the U.S. and U.K. in order to address regulators' concerns over "too big to fail." The plan includes combining two London subsidiaries and transferring its U.S. derivatives business to its U.S. subsidiary. (The unit currently operates out of London.) UBS similarly announced plans to ring fence its banking operations last month. Wall Street…

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

JPMorgan Reaches Big Mortgage Accord: The New York bank agreed to a $13 billion settlement to resolve the government's longstanding issues with questionable mortgage practices. The Wall Street Journal said the "historic settlement," which ends multiple probes into mortgage bonds issued before the financial crisis, is the largest amount of fines and damages the government has secured from a company in a civil settlement. The New York Times notes that $4 billion...