national-regional

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Pay up: The European Court of Justice ruled that Spanish lenders must reimburse mortgage borrowers for charging them excess interest payments on variable-rate mortgages. The ruling, which can't be appealed, follows a 2013 decision by Spain's highest court that outlawed "mortgage floor" agreements on loans because banks didn't pass along the savings from low rates to customers. The ECJ confirmed the Spanish court decision but also said borrowers could seek reimbursement for...

Breaking News This Morning ...

Deal: Lloyds Banking Group agreed to buy Bank of America's U.K. credit card business, called MBNA Limited, for about $2.4 billion. The deal, which includes about $8.7 billion in assets, would boost Lloyd's share of the British card market from 15% to 26%, about the same share as market leader Barclays. "The deal culminates years of upheaval and reorganization at the bank, which the British government bailed out in the middle...

Wall Street Journal

Incentives dropped: Wells Fargo said it will stop offering bonuses to its securities brokers for urging customers to take out loans, including mortgages, securities-backed loans and other consumer lines of credit. "Such bonuses usually come in the form of deferred compensation and can add several thousand dollars to a broker's annual pay," the Journal said. Erik Karanik, a managing director at Wells Fargo Advisors, said the move brings the brokerage unit in line...

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Confirmed: As expected, Goldman Sachs named David Solomon and Harvey Schwartz as presidents and co-COOs to replace Gary Cohn, who is leaving to join the Trump administration. The naming of two co-presidents to replace Cohn "raises questions about the structure and strategic direction of the company," the Financial Times says, and suggests "a return to a traditional structure that pits an executive from the trading side of the business against one from...

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Suspended: Prudential Financial said it suspended sales of its MyTerm life insurance policies through Wells Fargo following allegations that Wells employees wrote policies without customers' permission and withdrew money from their bank accounts to pay the premiums. Many of the victims did not speak English, according to a suit filed by three former Prudential employees, who claim the company tried to hush up the scandal. Prudential said Monday it would reimburse any...