“The debate over “too big to fail” banks is about to reignite, courtesy of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. “On Tuesday, the New York Fed released an insightful series on how U.S. global systemically important banks received a funding advantage before Dodd-Frank and Basel III started being implemented. Moreover, one of its studies […]
“Against a backdrop of relative calm in global financial markets, central banks in Asia, Europe and Africa kept policy rates unchanged as expected Thursday, safeguarding their economies and currencies.” “The central banks, from Norway to South Africa and Taiwan, don’t always generate the kind of buzz that the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank do. But their decisions can […]
“It is often challenging enough to appreciate the political horse-trading surrounding the creation of United States bank regulations. We could certainly be forgiven for not understanding the political nuances of how the 28 member states of the European Union are creating new banking regulatory bodies.” “Yet a last-minute compromise last week to create a so-called […]
“When Barclays BARC.LN +0.06% PLC executives wanted to overhaul the culture at their scandal-prone bank, they turned to a long-haired, paisley shirt-wearing professor known as the ‘weirdy beardy.’ “Roger Steare, a ‘corporate philosopher,’ has been tapped by several lenders, including Royal Bank of Scotland Group RBS.LN +1.76% PLC and HSBC PLC’s U.K. unit, as well as the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, to advise […]
“For mortgage lenders, “subprime” can sound like a dirty word, especially after the financial crisis. But now some mortgage companies, in search of new business, are starting to loosen their credit standards again. As some banks and nonbank lenders, including Wells Fargo and Carrington Mortgage, offer mortgages to less creditworthy borrowers, are the subprime mortgage floodgates about […]
“‘State-owned China Development Bank, which does the bidding of Beijing, will team up with Barclays BARC.LN -1.01% PLC in a wide-ranging deal under which the British lender will offer services to the Chinese bank around the world.’” “Stock and bond sales, foreign-exchange trading, day-to-day commercial banking and staff training are among the areas covered by the agreement—as is […]
(Reuters) – “U.S. banks will tell shareholders on Wednesday how much they plan to pay out after the U.S. Federal Reserve unveils whether they can afford the cost and still be robust enough to weather the next crisis.” “It is part of a two-step annual regulatory check-up of the health of the largest U.S. banks. Last week, the […]
“The British government plans to reduce sharply its stake in the Lloyds Banking Group, another sign of the strengthening of the financial sector here.” “Lloyds, a British lender, received a bailout of 17 billion pounds, or about $28 billion, from the British government during the financial crisis.” “On Tuesday, U.K. Financial Investments, which manages the […]
“State-owned China Development Bank, which does the bidding of Beijing, will team up with Barclays BARC.LN PLC in a wide-ranging deal under which the British lender will offer services to the Chinese bank around the world. “Stock and bond sales, foreign-exchange trading, day-to-day commercial banking and staff training are among the areas covered by the […]
“U.S. banks will tell shareholders on Wednesday how much they plan to pay out after the U.S. Federal Reserve unveils whether they can afford the cost and still be robust enough to weather the next crisis. “It is part of a two-step annual regulatory check-up of the health of the largest U.S. banks. Last week, […]
“The largest US banks have benefited from a significant funding advantage over their smaller peers, according to new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that is likely to invigorate a heated debate over the future of “too-big-to-fail” lenders. “The amount of taxpayer “subsidy” enjoyed by large banks, thanks to an implicit assumption […]
“The British government plans to reduce sharply its stake in the Lloyds Banking Group, another sign of the strengthening of the financial sector here. “Lloyds, a British lender, received a bailout of 17 billion pounds, or about $28 billion, from the British government during the financial crisis. “On Tuesday, U.K. Financial Investments, which manages the […]
“Wall Street banks and their foreign rivals have paid out $100bn in US legal settlements since the financial crisis, according to Financial Times research, with more than half of the penalties extracted in the past year. “The sum reflects a substantial shift in political attitudes towards banks, as regulators and the Obama administration seek to […]
“Yet another proposal for winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and overhauling the nation’s housing finance system will be put before Congress on Thursday, this one by Representative Maxine Waters of California, the ranking Democratic member of the Financial Services Committee. “The major distinction of Ms. Waters’s proposal is that it would make the […]
“Of the three foreign banks that suffered the ignominy of having their capital plans fall foul of the US Federal Reserve’s stress tests, the failure is likely to be most painful for Royal Bank of Scotland. “It is almost certain to delay RBS’s plan to file for an initial public offering of Citizens, its US […]
“The unexpected belly flops in Federal Reserve tests of some banks on Wednesday will cast a fresh cloud of uncertainty over the sector as lenders gird themselves for similar exercises in Europe later this year. “Analysts on Thursday warned that regular stress tests were becoming a significant hurdle to banks’ freedom of manoeuvre as supervisors […]
“The European Central Bank will soon find out how hard it can be to keep a secret. “The ECB’s plan to keep its health check on euro-area lenders under wraps until the completion of a stress test in October could be undermined by national rules requiring disclosure far sooner. Domestic regulators may order banks to […]
“The Federal Reserve Board denied Citigroup Inc.’s capital plan on Wednesday, saying it had failed to make sufficient improvements to a number of deficiencies in its capital planning processes. “Citi was one of five firms to have its capital plan rejected by the central bank as part of the Fed’s annual stress test exercise known […]
“Bank of America is paying $6.3 billion to settle a lawsuit arising out of troubled mortgage-backed securities it cobbled together and sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the run-up to the financial crisis. “The bank agreed on Wednesday to pay that sum to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of the two government-sponsored […]
“I’ve heard that charge numerous times from the Conservatives I know — that these government-supported agencies were the ones at fault for the “bad” Mortgages of last decade, and as a result responsible for the ultimate collapse of the Mortgage-Backed-Securities market. This they claim, this govt-charity for the poor, led directly to the Great Recession […]
“It is a small miracle that on February 1, Janet Yellen will become chair of the Federal Reserve. She is not just the first woman to head America’s central bank but the first labor economist. While the Fed is ordinarily obsessed with inflation, Yellen has given equal or greater emphasis to unemployment. Yellen represents a […]
“Putting to rest one of its biggest remaining headaches, Bank of America Corp. has agreed to pay $9.5 billion to settle claims by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “The government-sponsored mortgage finance giants had demanded compensation from the Charlotte, N.C., bank for losses on securities backed by faulty loans issued during the housing boom. “The […]
“The Federal Reserve rattled Wall Street last week when it seemed to suggest that it could begin raising a key short-term interest rate earlier than investors expected. Wonkblog sat down with San Francisco President John Williams for an exclusive hour-long interview on his outlook for policy and the economy over the next few years. “Williams […]
“A tax on the balance sheets of big banks – first proposed by US President Barack Obama in 2010 but later shelved – is back on the political agenda. Last month Dave Camp, Republican chairman of the House of Representatives ways and means committee, put forward a proposal for tax reform that included a 0.035 […]
“Anyone who thinks the current lull in multibillion-dollar bank settlements means the payouts have peaked should talk to the US Federal Reserve. “Last year, a protracted and damaging negotiation with the Department of Justice ended with JPMorgan Chase paying $13bn to settle allegations that it mis-sold mortgage-backed securities. Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo […]
“Could the U.S. financial system really not survive the collapse of Zions Bancorporation? “The Salt Lake City-based lender has received more than its fair share of attention, after suffering the indignity of being the only company to flunk the Federal Reserve’s latest stress tests. Much has been written about the implications for Utah’s largest bank, […]
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