Tag Archives: banking

Trump: I Plan To Take Mortgage Guarantors Public

CBS News reports: President Trump said again Tuesday he’s working to take mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public, winding down 17 years of federal control over two central parts of the U.S. housing market — a move that was cheered on by Trump ally and noted Wall Street investor Bill Ackman. Ending the conservatorship of Fannie and Freddie …

Read More »

House GOP Repeals Rule On Regulating Bank Mergers

Politico reports: House Republicans on Tuesday passed legislation to rescind a Biden-era policy meant to more closely scrutinize proposed bank mergers, sending the regulatory rollback to President Donald Trump’s desk. The House voted 220-207 to nullify a new rule finalized by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency last September that created a tougher regulatory process for banks seeking …

Read More »

Senate Advances Crypto Regulation Bill In 66-32 Vote

NBC News reports: The Senate advanced a major cryptocurrency regulation bill Monday on a bipartisan vote two weeks after every Senate Democrat united to block it. The procedural vote on the GENIUS Act — which would establish the first regulatory framework for issuers of stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar — was 66-32. Sixteen Democrats …

Read More »

FDIC Rescinds Rules On Banks Holding Crypto Assets

Axios reports: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said Friday that banks no longer need to get its prior approval before engaging in crypto-related activities, like holding digital currency assets or partnering with companies in the industry. After publishing a general caution against banks participating in the industry just two years ago, the FDIC is the latest Trump administration regulator to …

Read More »

Texas Judge Blocks Federal Anti-Money Laundering Law

The Dallas Express reports: A judge in Texas has issued a nationwide injunction blocking the Corporate Transparency Act. The law pushed by the Biden Administration allegedly aimed at increasing corporate transparency and cracking down on financial crimes like money laundering. The injunction, issued by Judge Amos L. Mazzant III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, …

Read More »

DOJ Files Antitrust Suit Against Visa Over Debit Cards

Bloomberg News reports: The US Justice Department sued Visa Inc. Tuesday, alleging the global payments giant illegally monopolized the debit card market, in the Biden administration’s first major antitrust case in the financial services industry. Antitrust enforcers alleged in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court that Visa, which handles more than 60% of US debit transactions, entered into a …

Read More »

Cops: Arizona Wells Fargo Employee Sat Dead At Her Desk For Four Days Before Her Body Was Discovered

Tempe’s NBC affiliate reports: There’s an investigation underway in Tempe after a Wells Fargo employee died while on the job. A new timeline released by police suggests her body was there for four days before being discovered. Tempe police confirmed with 12News that on Aug. 16, 60-year-old Denise Prudhomme scanned into work at the building at 7 a.m. On Aug. …

Read More »

Experts: CrowdStrike Update Didn’t Get Quality Check

Reuters reports: Security experts said CrowdStrike’s routine update of its widely used cybersecurity software, which caused clients’ computer systems to crash globally on Friday, apparently did not undergo adequate quality checks before it was deployed. The latest version of its Falcon Sensor software was meant make CrowdStrike clients’ systems more secure against hacking by updating the threats it defends against. …

Read More »

Target To Stop Accepting Checks: Not Worth The Hassle

NBC News reports: Target will soon stop accepting personal checks as a form of payment at checkout. In a statement to NBC News, the retail giant said it was committed to creating an easy and convenient checkout experience — but that due to “extremely low volumes,” it would no longer take personal checks starting July 15. It said it has …

Read More »

New Docs Outline Plan To Make X The Next Venmo

Bloomberg News reports: A major plank of Elon Musk’s plan for expanding X into an “everything app” has been grafting a payments network onto its main social networking service. The details of this project have remained blurry, but dozens of documents the company has submitted to state regulators—which have not previously been made public—give a new view of the business. …

Read More »

Insider Trading Kingpin Ivan Boesky Dies At Age 87

The New York Times reports: Ivan F. Boesky, the brash financier who came to symbolize Wall Street greed as a central figure of the 1980s insider trading scandals, and who went to prison for his misdeeds, died on Monday. He was 87. An inspiration for the character Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone’s movie “Wall Street” and its sequel, Mr. Boesky …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

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) …

Read More »