national-global

U.S. Proposes Tough Leverage Ratio; AIG, GE Capital Get Systemically Important Treatment

07/10/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Beyond Basel: U.S. regulators proposed Tuesday that the nation's biggest banks adhere to a 5% leverage ratio with their FDIC-insured bank subsidiaries subject to a 6% ratio, double the requirement set by Basel III. The Journal calls the proposal "the first in a series of steps regulators plan to take to address ongoing concerns that banks remain so large, complex and interconnected that they could require another government bailout in the event...

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Victory for Public Companies; British Authorities Endorse Jail Time for Bankers

07/09/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Eye on Auditors: You know it's a slow day in the U.S. banking world when the only story that qualifies as "receiving wide coverage" is about proposed legislation that would prevent the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board from forcing companies to periodically rotate their auditors. Late Monday, the House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would block the PCAOB from requiring companies to change auditors — an idea that was first proposed by…

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Early Release of Consumer Sentiment Data to End

07/08/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Trader Sneak Peek Ending: Thomson Reuters will suspend providing a select group of investors with advance results of an important consumer confidence survey from the University of Michigan. The financial information company pays the school more than $1 million a year for the privilege of being the exclusive distributor of the report and releases the data two seconds early to about a dozen clients, who pay a hefty fee. Legal experts claim...

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Central Banks' Low-Rate Bonanza; Libor Trial Update; HSBC Exits South Korean Retail

07/05/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Low-Rate Bonanza: Breaking with tradition, both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England (separately) pledged to keep interest rates low indefinitely. The forward guidance "underscored the stakes as officials around the world try to safeguard fragile economies as financial markets swing wildly," reports the Journal. Per the FT, ECB President Mario Draghi said the timing of the two announcements, tied to meetings held by both central banks, was coincidental. He...

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Basel Approval Draws New Battle Lines; Big Deal in Asia

07/03/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... We've Only Just Begun: The Federal Reserve's approval of the Basel capital rules for U.S. banks drew the most attention from the major dailies. The upshot of the coverage is that the rules generally turned out as expected, though small and midsize institutions dodged some bullets. Perhaps most importantly, major fights lie ahead for big banks over several additional rules in the works — such as efforts to toughen the leverage ratio. …

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Heavy-Handed Leadership Style Stifles Big Banks

07/03/13

No one is going to put a hand up with a radical new business model or push back on dangerous suggestions if they fear ridicule – or worse.

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Citi Settles with Fannie; Winklevoss Twins File for Bitcoin IPO

07/02/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Citi Settles: Citigroup has agreed to pay $968 million to settle claims it sold bad mortgages to Fannie Mae. Analysts tell the Wall Street Journal Citi may settle with Freddie Mac over similar charges as well, though official spokesmen for both parties are declining to comment. Citi did say that the settlement charges would be covered by its existing mortgage repurchase reserves. The bank plans to add $245 million to this reserve…

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EU Accuses Banks of Breaching Anti-Trust Rules: Carney Steps In at Bank of England

07/01/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

A Deluge of EU News: You can tell that a U.S. holiday weekend is on the horizon as Monday's news is largely coming from overseas. Reuters reports that EU regulators have charged Markit, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association and 13 banks with breaching anti-trust rules by blocking rival exchanges in the credit derivatives business. The banks include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and JPMorgan. Elsewhere,...

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Regulators Point Finger at Corzine; Bernanke Successors Considered

06/28/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Corzine in CFTC Crosshairs: Officials filed a civil lawsuit against John Corzine, the former head of MF Global on Thursday, charging misuse of almost $1 billion in customer funds. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission complaint alleges that the former New Jersey governor and U.S. senator did more than just sit on the sidelines as the company spiraled into bankruptcy, though it's still unclear how deeply he was involved with illegal money transfers....

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Don't Fear the Taper, IMF's Lagarde Says; Basel Adds Simple Leverage Ratio

06/27/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Basel: Tacitly acknowledging that risk-based capital measures are susceptible to manipulation, the Basel Committee announced a supplementary, simple 3% equity-to-assets requirement that banks worldwide will have to achieve by 2018. Disclosures of leverage ratios under the new formula are to start in 2015. Investment banks will have to count derivatives on a gross basis, rather than netting out collateral or offsetting trades. This will make the U.S. firms look more leveraged than...

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