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Morning Scan: CFPB-Payday Loan Grumbling; Porat's Worth to Google

03/27/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Too Much or Not Enough: Depending on who you ask, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's newly proposed restrictions on payday lenders may be characterized as a prime example of regulatory overreaching or as a milquetoast response to toxic practices. Both consumer advocates and payday lending supporters are disappointed by the CFPB's proposals, according to the New York Times. "A chorus of consumer groups said that loopholes in the proposal could still leaveÂ...

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Morning Scan: Payday Loan Reforms Previewed; Amex Is Mum on Plans

03/26/15

Wall Street Journal The Journal takes a look at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's upcoming rules for payday lenders, set to be released today, as did American Banker in today's edition. The Journal's piece includes a quote from Lauren Saunders at the National Consumer Law Center, who said the CFPB's proposal doesn't go far enough. "The CFPB has taken an either/or approach: prevention or protection. But borrowers need both," Saunders said. The Journal also quoted DennisÂ...

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From Wall Street to Google: Takeaways from Ruth Porat's Big Move

03/25/15

For ex-bankers like Ruth Porat, who is leaving Morgan Stanley for Google, free-flowing cash and a sunnier climate are only part of Silicon ValleyÂ's allure, industry observers note. The tech sector is also mercifully light on regulation.

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Morning Scan: Is Silicon Valley Winning the Battle for Talent?

03/25/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Go West, CFOs: Ruth Porat's move from chief financial officer at Morgan Stanley to the same position at Google has sparked a surge of think pieces on Wall Street's diminished lure compared to the creative yet lucrative jobs in Silicon Valley Â-- and more than a few contrarian responses. The New York Times' Neil Irwin cheers Porat's decision as an indicator that the tech sector has dibs on the country's top talent,Â...

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Morning Scan: Foreign Banks' Living Wills Get Thumbs Down; NYSE May Delist Ocwen

03/24/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Living Will Letdowns: When it comes to living wills, banks face a tough crowd. So it may not come as a total shock that regulators rejected the living wills of foreign banks BNP Paribas, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland Group, instructing them to address deficiencies in their wind-down plans for U.S. units by the end of the year or face possible sanctions. Eleven U.S. banks received similar orders from the Federal...

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Morning Scan: Would More Skin in the Game Make Banks Safer?

03/23/15

Wall Street Journal

Zions Bancorp is a comparatively small and simple fish in the "too big to fail" pond, but it's among the banks that's struggled most with the Federal Reserve's stress tests. The paper implies that Zions' predicament may be indicative of the problems with the $50-billion asset threshold used to determine which institutions are systemically important. The Salt Lake City lender focuses on "meat and potatoes banking," like lending and taking deposits, whereas most...

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Morning Scan: BNY Mellon to Pay $714M to Settle Forex Case; B of A's Breakup Proposal

03/20/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Not the Best: Bank of New York Mellon agreed to pay $714 million to settle litigation that accused the custody bank of defrauding clients on currency transactions. Stemming from a lawsuit filed in February 2011, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney and the New York State Attorney General said BNY Mellon gave some clients worse prices on foreign currency trades than promised. Put another way, BNY Mellon promised "best execution" of the foreign-currency trades,...

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Morning Scan: Banks in Energy Loan Pickle; Fed Flexible on Rate-Hike Timing

03/19/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Embrace the Unknown: The Federal Reserve is "patient" no more, but it's not exactly raring for an interest-rate hike. In dropping the word from its statement Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee made room for the possibility that it will increase its benchmark rate as soon as June without committing itself to that timeline. "If the strengthening dollar and falling oil prices start to translate into still-lower expectations for future inflation, the...

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Morning Scan: Facebook Readies Money-Transfer; Citi, Barclays to Settle Forex Suit

03/18/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Facebook 'Likes' Payments: Comes now Facebook to the electronic money-transfer wars. Facebook will let users send money to friends, Romans and countrymen using its Messenger service, the Times, Journal and FT all reported, citing a Facebook blog post. It's Facebook's first foray into peer-to-peer money transfers. The service is free (for now) and a user only has to upload a Visa or MasterCard debit card to her Facebook account. The service will...

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Morning Scan: Apple Pay Fraud Questions; Military Members Victimized by Arbitration

03/17/15

Wall Street Journal

Citigroup is among at least a dozen companies that have given in to activist shareholders' demands to nominate directors, a strategy known as proxy access. Calpers, one of the largest activist shareholders, describes the trend as a "sea change," while the New York City Comptroller said it's only a matter of time before most companies allow for proxy access. New York Times ...

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