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Corporate Culture Is Not Something You Pick Like Upholstery

02/13/15

A bank's culture cannot be chosen. Its values and goals can be. And an appropriate combination of values and goals then creates the environment to achieve a positive and lasting culture.

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Morning Scan: JPMorgan Executives Out Amid Asia Probe; What's Next for Amex?

02/13/15

Editor's note: Morning Scan will not publish on Monday, Feb. 16 in observance of the Presidents' Day holiday. We'll be back on Tuesday, Feb. 17. Receiving Wide Coverage ...

JPMorgan's Asian Shake-Up: JPMorgan Chase is forcing two executives out the door amid a federal investigation into the bank's hiring practices in Asia, anonymous sources told the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. The executives are Todd Marin, vice chairman of Asia Pacific investment banking, and Catherine Leung,...

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Morning Scan: B of A Tapped Retail Unit for Risky Trades; Disclosures 'Useless'

02/12/15

Wall Street Journal

Bank of America used federally insured retail deposits to finance risky trades by its European investment banking unit, the paper reports. The bank says it no longer engages in the practice, which is aimed at helping hedge funds and other clients avoid taxes. Regulators had previously questioned Bank of America about the reputational and legal risks associated with dividend arbitrage, and now a bank employee has made whistleblower submissions to the Securities and...

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Morning Scan: Fed Tries to Bond with GOP; Do Felony Pleas Still Scare Banks?

02/11/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Fed Up: The audit the Fed bill has made a comeback in the new Republican-controlled Congress, but it's still got plenty of detractors. The New York Times' Neil Irwin argues the Fed is already pretty darn transparent and well-audited, especially compared to other government institutions. "When people say they want to audit the Fed, what they really mean is 'The Fed is doing things I disagree with,'" he writes. The Wall Street...

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Morning Scan: Powell Pans 'Audit the Fed'; DOJ Wants Felony Forex Pleas

02/10/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Pushback Against 'Audit the Fed': Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome Powell took a stand on Monday against the "Audit the Fed" bill that's been gaining traction among some Republicans legislators. Powell himself is a member of the GOP, but he's no fan of the proposal to subject the central bank to policy audits by Congress. The plan could reverse "decades of deliberate effort by the Congress to insulate the Fed from political...

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Morning Scan: HSBC in Hot Water; Follow the Luxury Real Estate Money

02/09/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

HSBC Under Fire: HSBC's Swiss unit colluded with wealthy clients including "international criminals" to help them avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes, according to what The Guardian calls "the biggest bank leak in history." The Swiss private bank routinely handed untraceable bricks of cash over to clients and conspired with clients to hide undeclared accounts from tax authorities, according to files from the period between 2005 and 2007 that were obtained...

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Morning Scan: Ally Financial's Leadership Shakeup; Colorado Pot Lenders

02/06/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Ally's Shakeup: The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal both take a closer look at the leadership shakeup at Ally Financial. Unnamed sources tell the Times that former Ally Financial CEO Michael Carpenter was politely shown the door because the Ally board was frustrated the company had "stagnated" during his tenure and Carpenter appeared to "lack the vision" needed to dig the bank out of its rut. Furthermore, Carpenter wasn't...

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Morning Scan: UBS in Tax-Evasion Hot Water Again; Somali Remittances

02/05/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

The Swiss and Taxes: And you wonder how the Swiss banking industry got its reputation as a haven for tax evaders? The Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are examining Swiss bank UBS for allegedly helping its American wealth-management clients avoid taxes by putting their money into investments that are banned in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported. This isn't the first time UBS has run afoul of U.S....

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Morning Scan: S&P Re-Examined After $1.5B Settlement; B of A Request Denied

02/04/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Not So Fast: So now that Standard & Poor's has signed off on a $1.5 billion settlement, you'd think the credit ratings agency would be able to move on from the incident and reclaim the industry's reputation? Not so fast, my friend. The Journal takes a closer look at a statement of facts signed by the Justice Department and S&P, and finds troubling signs. The New York Times, on the other hand,...

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Fear and Loathing and Misunderstood Sales Cultures

02/03/15

Bank managers can motivate their teams to make sales without forcing them to pounce on customers the moment they walk in the door.

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