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Women in Banking: Could Silicon Valley Foster Wall St. Diversity?

02/25/16

Tech giants like Intel and Apple are doing more business with women- and minority- owned underwriters; Christine Lagarde has five more years at the IMF; and why Lehman Sisters might not have failed. Plus, are girls getting a bad rap from dictionaries and bad counsel from parents?

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Morning Scan: Banks Cop to Energy Woes; Regulators Warn Against Russian Deal

02/25/16

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Preparing for an Energy Bust?: The list of banks coming to terms with the downturn in the energy industry has grown rapidly in the past week. Wednesday, Wells Fargo reported in a regulatory filing that it set aside $1.2 billion in reserves for potential oil- and gas-related loan losses. It's far from alone: JP Morgan disclosed Tuesday a $44 billion total exposure to the energy industry, nearly three-quarters of which is unfunded.Â...

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Morning Scan: JPM's Loan Loss Reserves; Standard Chartered Ends Bonuses

02/24/16

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

JPM Raises Energy Loan Reserves: JPMorgan Chase executives sought to calm investors Tuesday after it announced plans to increase loan loss provisions for oil and gas by $500 million, which drove its share price down 4.2%. CFO Marianne Lake said JPM could have increased reserves 60% from the end of 2015 to $1.3 billion — the bank has done well in limiting its exposure to potential losses in the energy sector —...

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Morning Scan: The 'London Whale' Defends Himself; Google to Shut Down PFM Site

02/23/16

Wall Street Journal

The "London whale" doesn't want you to call him the "London whale." Bruno Iksil resents the nickname, which he said his competitors devised to make his trade losses at JPMorgan Chase seem worse than they were. Also, Iksil said senior management at JPMorgan "initiated, approved, mandated and monitored" the trades he placed that led to losses of $6 billion. So Iksil said he didn't do anything wrong there, either. ...

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Customer Experiences Have a Long Way to Go

02/22/16

For all the technology banks have to help them deliver personalized service, the overall customer experience remains a challenge.

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Morning Scan: HSBC's Asian Hiring Probed; Courts Hear Home Trickery Cases

02/22/16

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Asian Hiring Probe: HSBC is the latest bank to be probed over potential conflicts in hiring candidates referred by or related to high-ranking government officials in Asia. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating HSBC and "multiple financial institutions" for their hiring practices, HSBC said during its earnings report. JPMorgan Chase was investigated, starting in 2013, for hiring the children of Chinese officials, in exchange for allegedly receiving preferential treatment on deals. ...

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Morning Scan: IPO Market's Woes Drag Down First Data; GM Pushes into Banking

02/19/16

Wall Street Journal

The IPO market has been dreadful of late. A few big-name financial-services companies held IPOs last year and they have been hurt by the carnage. First Data raised $2.82 billion from its Oct. 14 IPO, but since then its shares have fallen 29%. Square had to sell shares in its IPO below the level at which the company was valued by private investors in 2014. However, Square's stock has risen 11% since its...

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Women in Banking: Ally's Aspirations; Warren as One of the Supremes?

02/18/16

Ally Bank CEO Diane Morais talks about rolling out mortgages and credit cards; thereÂ's talk of putting Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the Supreme Court; the judge in the MetLife SIFI case talks tough to FSOC; the Mean Girls talk really has to go; and how corporate directors talk about the lack of women on boards (warning: men think there arenÂ't a lot of qualified women, but, um, could that be because their network is mostly male?).

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Morning Scan: Reform Banks, But Not Kashkari's Way; Stocks No Bonus

02/18/16

Wall Street Journal It's one thing for Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren to call for a break-up of the megabanks. It's another thing, apparently, when a newly tapped regional Fed president calls for it. Neel Kashkari's comments to the Brookings Institution this week (read the Journal's extended excerpts from his presentation here) has set off a round of hand-wringing about whether it really is time to blow up the likes of JPMorgan Chase and Bank ofÂ...

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Morning Scan: Investors Worry About Bank 'Bail-In' Plans; Higher Capital Requirements?

02/17/16

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Farm Aid? The difficulties pot businesses face in obtaining a bank account have been well-documented. Now, at least two startups are trying to help banks confront their regulatory fears and open accounts for marijuana growers and dispensaries, according to articles in the magazine Inc. and the New York Times. Â...

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