Fresh off news of decreased SEC enforcement in the past year and the outgoing FDIC chief’s concerns about weakening regs, we’ve got word that the OCC is dialing back its regulatory bent in an effort to return to its “natural...more
11/16/2017
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Resignation ,
Commerzbank ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Deregulation ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Financial Crisis ,
OCC ,
Procter & Gamble ,
Regulatory Reform ,
REIT ,
Richard Cordray ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela
The White House has made it official and nominated Fed governor Jerome Powell as the next Chair of the Federal Reserve. Powell is expected to continue the basic fiscal (though not necessarily regulatory) policies of the...more
11/3/2017
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Bank of England ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
Federal Reserve ,
FinCEN ,
General Electric ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Job Creation ,
Money Laundering ,
Mortgage Interest ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Reform ,
Telecommunications ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unemployment ,
Wireless Industry
Facebook may have had a difficult day on the Hill. But a 79% rise in Q3 profit—driven, ironically enough, by online ads—should help soften the blow....more
11/2/2017
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Arbitration ,
Automotive Loans ,
Banking Sector ,
Board of Directors ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Digital Currency ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FOMC ,
Google ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Microsoft ,
Quarterly Report ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sharing Economy ,
Social Media ,
SoftBank ,
Subprime Loans ,
Token Sales ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
If the White House gets its way, Richard Cordray and the CFPB (and many other current Wall Street regulators and regulations) would be virtually unrecognizable as compared to their current form....more
6/13/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Citigroup ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Deregulation ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disgorgement ,
EURIBOR ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
General Elections ,
General Electric ,
Hedge Funds ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Trading Platforms ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
White Collar Crimes
Even as the administration is mulling over withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, Exxon Mobil’s shareholders have voted to demand a more detailed accounting of the climate change policy risks facing the company—an...more
6/1/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Bernie Madoff ,
Bitcoin ,
Bonds ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Cybersecurity ,
Environmental Policies ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Financial Markets ,
Google ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Ireland ,
Morgan Stanley ,
Nasdaq ,
Paris Agreement ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
Venezuela ,
Virtual Currency
An EU high court opinion yesterday about a trade deal with Singapore could throw yet another stumbling block in the way of Britain’s exit of the union. Read on for more on the intricacies of the EU division of competencies....more
5/17/2017
/ Ambac Financial Group ,
Automotive Industry ,
Corporate Governance ,
Countrywide ,
Disney ,
Economic Development ,
ETFs ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Job Creation ,
Mortgages ,
Refinancing ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Singapore ,
Trade Agreements ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit
Investors’ decreasing appetite for actively managed mutual funds appears to have helped drive the major shake-up at AllianceBernstein Holding, which said so long to CEO Peter Kraus and removed nine board members in favor of 6...more
5/2/2017
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Bank of America ,
Bank of America v Miami ,
Banking Sector ,
Barclays ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Hedge Funds ,
Investment ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mutual Funds ,
NCUA ,
OCC ,
Predatory Lending ,
RMBS ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
UBS ,
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo’s Board Chair, Stephen Sanger, did survive his reelection vote the other day. Barely. But Breakingviews thinks he should think awfully hard about his future as a Director at the bank....more
4/27/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Canada ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Deregulation ,
Earnings Reports ,
Family Offices ,
FCC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fintech Charter ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Internet ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mexico ,
NAFTA ,
Net Neutrality ,
OCC ,
Procter & Gamble ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Subprime Loans ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo
Mega luxury brand news yesterday, as LVMH announced a series of moves that, combined with $13.1 billion, helped it take over the 70-year-old French fashion house Christian Dior....more
4/26/2017
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Dubai ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Google ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Student Loans ,
Tax Reform ,
Technology ,
Trump Administration ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wells Fargo
The new administration is working on a tax plan that would slash corporate tax rates to 15 percent and doing so with a hastiness that could jeopardize House Republicans’ ability to make the cuts permanent....more
4/25/2017
/ Alibaba ,
Banking Sector ,
Business Valuations ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Cross-Selling ,
Data Collection ,
Financial Fraud ,
FSOC ,
Internet Retailers ,
Living Will ,
MetLife ,
SIFIs ,
Student Loans ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
Wells Fargo
Trouble at the Federal Reserve Bank of Virginia, where president Jeffrey Lacker abruptly resigned yesterday after disclosing that he had broken Fed rules in 2012 by relaying private deliberations to a financial analyst and...more
4/5/2017
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Blockchain ,
Commodities ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investment Adviser ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
McDonalds ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retirement Plan ,
Trump Administration
A collection of corporate heavy hitters are betting big on the blockchain technology behind bitcoin rival Ethereum to build a computing system to track data and financial contracts. The project is seen by some as a way to...more
2/28/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Berkshire Hathaway ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Bonds ,
Bribery ,
China ,
Corruption ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Currency ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Elon Musk ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Sector ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Investment ,
Forex ,
Indictments ,
Insurance Industry ,
Samsung ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
South Korea ,
Stock Markets ,
Stocks ,
Technology ,
Technology Sector ,
Tesla ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Valuation ,
Virtual Currency ,
Warren Buffett ,
White Collar Crimes
FinCEN is extending its campaign to press title insurance companies to reveal the real buyers behind shell companies that pay cash for high-end real estate deals in select cities around the country....more
2/24/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Big Data ,
BSA/AML ,
Capital One ,
Cash Transactions ,
China ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Driverless Cars ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
FinCEN ,
Google ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Money Laundering ,
Patents ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shell Corporations ,
Stock Markets ,
Technology ,
Technology Sector ,
Title Insurance ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber
We learned about KraftHeinz’s offer to merge with Unilever only after it had been rejected. And now it appears to be off the table completely—all $143 billion of it....more
2/20/2017
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Capital Raising ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deregulation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Heinz ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Kraft ,
Merger Agreements ,
Public Offerings ,
Retirement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Trump Administration ,
Unilever
RBS has agreed to pay $85 million to the CFTC to resolve allegations that its traders “manipulated the ISDAfix benchmark rate over a period of five years to benefit the bank’s derivatives positions”....more
2/6/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Benchmarks ,
CFTC ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Derivatives ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ETFs ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Market Manipulation ,
Member State ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
RBS ,
Referendums ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
The Brexit Appeal ,
Trading Platforms ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Parliament
Snap Inc. filed its first public prospectus yesterday in advance of its fast-approaching offering date, playing up the strength of its ad revenue in just two short years as part of its pitch for big-time value....more
2/3/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Economic Development ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Interest Rates ,
Job Creation ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Social Networks ,
Startups ,
Trump Administration
Unfortunately enough for Deutsche Bank, 2017 isn’t starting off much better than the previous year. The German banking giant has agreed to pay a $425 million fine to NY state authorities (and another $204 million to the UK’s...more
1/31/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Bonds ,
Capital Requirements ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Elon Musk ,
Energy Storage ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investors ,
Microsoft ,
Money Laundering ,
Renewable Energy ,
Russia ,
Stress Tests ,
Tesla ,
Trump Administration
On the heels of Deutsche Bank’s $7.2 billion deal, Credit Suisse has finalized the terms of its own MBS-related settlement. The Swiss bank will pay $5.3 billion to resolve claims that it misled investors about the standards...more
1/19/2017
/ Banks ,
Bonds ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Suisse ,
Debt Collection ,
Discrimination ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
FHA Loans ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Loans ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
RMBS ,
Samsung ,
Securities Violations ,
Student Loans ,
Trump Administration
On Oct. 24, 2016, Reuters and Forbes reported that the Navajo Nation, whose reservation is the largest by square miles in the United States, was in the final stages of partnering with CannaNative to grow industrial hemp on...more
The Financial Stability Board—that Swiss-based grand collection of central bankers and regulators from the world’s biggest economies—has upped the systemic importance ranking for three of America’s biggest banks, including...more
11/22/2016
/ Ally Financial Inc ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Bank of America ,
Banks ,
Brokers ,
Citigroup ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
FSB ,
Investment Adviser ,
Kickbacks ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Cuts ,
Trump Administration ,
Valeant ,
Wells Fargo
On the Hill yesterday, Fed Chair Yellen acknowledged that the recent election would likely mean changes for the economy, but she said it was “too soon” to predict the nature of that economic impact at this time (though that...more
11/18/2016
/ Automotive Industry ,
Bribery ,
Broker-Dealer ,
China ,
Corruption ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Elon Musk ,
Energy Sector ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraud ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Investment Management ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Kickbacks ,
Layoffs ,
Presidential Elections ,
Retirement Plan ,
Solar Energy ,
Solar Panels ,
SolarCity ,
Technology Sector ,
Tesla ,
Trump Administration ,
Valeant ,
Volkswagen
All those traders excited about a burgeoning US economy ahead may want to keep an eye on the commercial real estate market, which is seeing a rise in defaults and delinquencies as pre-crisis 10-year loans come due....more
11/16/2016
/ Airlines ,
Commercial Real Estate Market ,
Credit Suisse ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
General Electric ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Moody's ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Presidential Elections ,
Rating Agencies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Transparency ,
Trump Administration ,
Warren Buffett
The bond market seems to have a pretty good guess of things to come, at least. The bond market lost more than $1 trillion in value last week, and 30-year US bond yields rose the most since January 2009—all in anticipation of...more
11/14/2016
/ AT&T ,
Banks ,
Big Data ,
Bonds ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Mergers ,
Pensions ,
Presidential Elections ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Time Warner ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo ,
Whistleblowers
Veteran’s Day in the US means Singles Day in China, the world’s biggest shopping day and a major test for Alibaba to keep growing on the day it helped invent....more
11/11/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Alibaba ,
China ,
Cybersecurity ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mergers ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Presidential Elections ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Retirement Plan ,
Sales Commissions ,
Trump Administration ,
Verizon ,
Wells Fargo ,
Yahoo!
So, it turns out that all of the Brexit-style market freefalling was reserved for overnight trading. US markets actually closed up yesterday after modest opening losses....more
11/10/2016
/ Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EU ,
Extradition ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Flash Crash ,
Hackers ,
Member State ,
Mortgage Loan Originators ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
NYDFS ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Referendums ,
Retirement Plan ,
Spoofing ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Yahoo!