Tag Archives: banking

Biden Administration Caps Credit Card Late Fees At $8

NPR reports: The cost of a late payment on your credit card could soon be going down. Federal regulators issued a new rule Tuesday capping credit card late fees at $8, down from the current average of $32. The move is expected to save customers $10 billion a year. Consumer advocates praised the measure as providing welcome relief for millions …

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Capital One To Acquire Discover In $35 Billion Deal

The Associated Press reports: Capital One Financial said it will buy Discover Financial Services for $35 billion, in a deal that would bring together two of the nation’s credit card companies as well as potentially shake up the payments industry, which is largely dominated by Visa and Mastercard. Under the terms of the all-stock transaction, Discover Financial shareholders will receive …

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Bank Of America Fined $150M For Shady Practices

The Associated Press reports: Bank of America must pay more than $100 million to customers for doubling up on some fees, withholding reward bonuses and opening accounts without customer consent. Bank of America will pay $90 million in penalties to its organization and $60 million in penalties to the OCC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday. The Office of …

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JPMorgan Settles Suit With Victims Of Jeffrey Epstein

The New York Times reports: JPMorgan Chase on Monday reached a tentative settlement with sexual abuse victims of Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased financier, after weeks of embarrassing disclosures about the bank’s longstanding relationship with him, said the bank and lawyers for the victims. The proposed deal would settle a lawsuit filed last November in Manhattan federal court by an unidentified …

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JPMorgan Chase Acquires Failed First Republic Bank

The Associated Press reports: Regulators seized troubled First Republic Bank early Monday and sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase Bank in a bid to head off further banking turmoil in the U.S. San Francisco-based First Republic is the third midsize bank to fail in two months. It is the second-biggest bank failure in …

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Cashless Retailers Increasingly Turn To “Reverse ATMs”

Axios reports: As stores and restaurants attempt to go cashless, they’re installing “reverse ATMs” that dispense stored-value cards in exchange for greenbacks. More businesses are eschewing cash — a trend accelerated by the pandemic — but states and cities are passing laws banning them from doing so, in deference to people who don’t have bank accounts or credit cards. Reverse …

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First Citizens Bank Buys Failed Silicon Valley Bank

NPR reports: North Carolina-based First Citizens will buy Silicon Valley Bank, the tech industry-focused financial institution that collapsed earlier this month, rattling the banking industry and sending shockwaves around the world. The sale involves the sale of all deposits and loans of SVB to First-Citizens Bank and Trust Co., the FDIC said in a statement late Sunday. Customers of SVB …

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Failed Bank Held Fundraiser For Rep Overseeing Probe

Bloomberg News reports: Ten days before Signature Bank collapsed, the House Republican overseeing an inquiry into the bank’s failure was inside its boardroom on New York’s Fifth Avenue. Patrick McHenry was there to raise thousands of dollars from bank executives. The mood inside the Signature boardroom at the March 2 fundraiser was calm, according to a person who was at …

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Major Swiss Banks To Merge In Bid To Stem Fallout

CNN Business reports: Switzerland’s biggest bank, UBS, has agreed to buy its ailing rival Credit Suisse in an emergency rescue deal aimed at stemming financial market panic unleashed by the failure of two American banks earlier this month. It said the rescue would “secure financial stability and protect the Swiss economy.” UBS is paying 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.25 billion) …

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DOJ Opens Investigation Into Silicon Valley Bank

The Washington Post reports: The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the actions of its senior executives, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an investigation still in its early stages. Financial regulators closed the bank, popular among tech firms and start-ups, …

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Barney Frank Blames Bank Failures On Cryptocurrencies

Bloomberg News reports: Barney Frank — the former congressman known for the Dodd-Frank Act, which overhauled US banking regulation to prevent another global financial crisis — said there was one thing lawmakers and regulators didn’t reckon with back in 2008: cryptocurrencies. “Digital currency was the new element entered into our system,” the 82-year-old Frank said in an interview Sunday. “A …

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Biden: “Rest Assured That US Banking System Is Safe”

NBC News reports: President Joe Biden said Monday that Americans should “rest assured” after his administration acted to ease uncertainties about the banking system in the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week, the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history. The president spoke about the actions taken by his administration to give Americans confidence that the banking …

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Feds Move To Protect Deposits At Silicon Valley Bank

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration announced Sunday night that all depositors at the failed Silicon Valley Bank would have access to all their money on Monday morning, approving an extraordinary intervention aimed at averting a crisis in the financial system. Authorities said they were also extending protection to depositors of a second bank, Signature Bank of New York, …

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Yellen: No Govt Bailout For Silicon Valley Bank [VIDEO]

CNBC reports: After regulators shuttered Silicon Valley Bank and seized its deposits Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that she has been working “to address the situation in a timely way,” but that a major government bailout is not on the table. “Let me be clear that during the financial crisis, there were investors and owners of systemic …

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Silicon Valley Bank Fails, Biggest Failure Since 2008

The New York Times reports: If there is one enduring axiom in banking, it is this: Don’t run out of money. Silicon Valley Bank, a lender to some of the biggest names in the technology world, did just that on Friday, becoming the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis. The move put nearly $175 billion in customer …

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NY Sues Crypto Mogul For Alleged Multi-Billion Scam

CNBC reports: New York AG Letitia James sued former Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky on Thursday, alleging that Mashinsky defrauded hundreds of thousands of investors out of billions of dollars at the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange. Mashinsky publicly assured his customers that investing with Celsius was both safer and more lucrative than leaving their investments in a traditional bank. At one …

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Wells Fargo Ordered To Pay $3.7B For “Illegal Activity”

Via press release from the CFPB: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is ordering Wells Fargo Bank to pay more than $2 billion in redress to consumers and a $1.7 billion civil penalty for legal violations across several of its largest product lines. The bank’s illegal conduct led to billions of dollars in financial harm to its customers and, for …

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Epstein’s Accusers Sue Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase

The Wall Street Journal reports: Women who accused Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse are suing Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase, saying the banks facilitated Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking operation and ignored red flags about their wealthy client. The two lawsuits seek class-action status and unspecified financial damages. They were both brought by lawyers that have represented many of the late financier’s …

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WSJ: Peter Thiel’s “Anti-Woke” Bank To Shut Down

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Texas startup that sought to build a conservative banking alternative is shutting down. GloriFi has laid off most of its employees and told them that it is closing up shop, according to people familiar with the matter and emails to employees reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.  The company’s fate became clear on Friday, …

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CEO Of Thiel’s “Anti-Woke” Banking Startup Resigns

The Daily Beast reports: The CEO of an anti-woke banking startup that raised tens of millions in funding and then careened toward bankruptcy has resigned, The Wall Street Journal reported. GloriFi was launched by Toby Neugebauer and Nick Ayers, former chief of staff to Mike Pence, and promoted as an alternative to liberal banks for conservatives. A recent Journal investigation …

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