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Financial Services
Financial services news from MLex helps you navigate the risk and complex compliance requirements of this industry. Our coverage identifies threats and opportunities in the oversight of derivatives, trading and securities, investment and retail banking, asset management, payment services and credit-rating agencies. MLex focuses on international regulatory bodies that set global standards for the industry, and with experts in the US and EU, we cover regional rulemaking, implementation and enforcement. The selected stories below represent some of the latest financial services news reporting from our expert journalists across the globe.
Recent Financial Services articles
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US policymakers will likely try to bolster liquidity, stress test and resolution-plan rules for mid-sized banks -
The US Federal Reserve and the main US banking group appear to be stockpiling weapons as a battle brews over stiffer -
Financial regulators and international standard setters have warned banks about the dangers of getting too close to the cryptoasset business. -
UK next steps on bank separation rules, the resolution of SVB vindicate those pushing for the regime to stay -
The implosion of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank raises questions about what US Federal Reserve -
The rapid rescue of the UK operations of a US bank relied on by the technology sector will have British regulators -
Options Clearing Corp.’s $22 million regulatory fine last month shows that the main clearinghouse for US stock-options trading is still struggling to fix all the legal, compliance and management problems that have vexed it for a decade. -
EU governments are split in initial negotiations for the bloc's revamp of its clearing rules over the "active account" requirement -
A US SEC proposal to prohibit conflicts of interest in securitization transactions can be traced to Goldman Sachs. -
The EU’s response to Chinese and US advances in the green technology race has put the bloc’s state-aid rules in the spotlight -
Digital cash, the EU is plowing ahead, while the UK appears to be having second thoughts -
Congress has passed legislation requiring the US SEC, Federal Reserve and five other financial agencies to adopt uniform data standards -
EU proposal initially targeted at tearing euro-clearing business away from London seems to have changed course -
EU to approve a common negotiating stance on the proposed EU implementation of updated global prudential banking standards -
UK financial regulators face an uphill battle to maintain their independence with the announcement of Britain’s new Prime Minister -
The increasingly political debate over insurance capital cuts in the UK post-Brexit is set to become a top-agenda item -
18 potentially risky single-stock exchange-traded funds has elicited unusual public criticism by a Democratic US SEC member. -
A row over UK insurance rules looks set to be the first post-Brexit test of the power dynamics -
Congressional investigation of the GameStop trading frenzy found shortcomings by a US stock-trading clearinghouse -
US SEC chief Gensler’s ideas for shaking up stock-market trading to help ordinary investors face well-founded skepticism -
Greenwashing increases the risk of a late and disorderly transition to net-zero emissions, Bank of England warns -
Democratic and Republicass expressed skepticism about the adequacy of investor protections afforded by FTX’s proposed cryptocurrency derivatives clearinghouse, giving a green light to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s scrutiny of the plan. -
Archegos-driven US SEC swaps plans, touted by Gensler, draw fire over effect on shareholder activismSEC to do some tinkering if it wants to avoid possible lawsuits that could lead to an overhaul of the security-based swaps rules -
New risk-governance proposal for US-registered clearinghouses will be considered by the CFTC -
GLEIF future as an international risk-management tool rests on whether firms boost their limited adoption rates -
EU financial services laws could inch towards an approach based on regulating activities rather than entities -
US Securities and Exchange Commission report on results for credit-rating agencies didn’t identify violators -
Head of the US SEC terse remarks about its plans to bring more transparency and competition to the Treasury market. -
US Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles rejected the reasoning of Christine Lagarde, president of the ECB. -
US banks, faced with an end-of-year halt to new Libor-linked contracts, are moving to alternative rates far too slowly -
The business models of SPACs leave “room for improvement,” the head of a global regulatory network. -
UK lenders are supporting the FCA in its battle against cryptocurrencies, as it begins a multimillion-pound campaign. -
UK clearinghouses face the expiration of a temporary EU equivalence decision at the end of June 2022 -
A Bank of England official made a plea to corporations to identify “absolutely pervasive” Libor exposures outside the financial sector -
The US Federal Reserve will try to finalize the last phase of the Basel III capital reforms by January 2023.
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EU bank crisis-management guidance out does little to address a complex and discretionary system. -
US corporations are expressing frustration that banks aren’t extending loans tied to an officially endorsed Libor alternative. -
The latest fracas between the UK and the EU over France’s fishing license in Jersey waters is just that - the latest. -
Getting senior Euronext, Cboe and BNY Mellon executives to advise on how to boost EU capital markets. -
State and local officials are asking federal regulators to go back to the drawing board on money-market mutual fund. -
Unprecedented plunge of West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures April 2020 stemmed from both small investors’ -
US corporate treasurers are calling for a single approach to calculating the Secured Overnight Financing Rate designated to replace Libor. -
Privacy litigation in the US has been difficult for plaintiffs. Whether it stays that way could hinge on a case before the Supreme Court. -
US bank syndicates’ high-interest loans to heavily indebted companies pose credit risks that are “high and increasing,” banking regulators said. -
EU’s insurance watchdog will in future publish details of legislative developments, a senior official has told lawmakers. -
US stock-market volatility & the rise of easy-to-use online brokerages are causing EU regulators to look at tweaking the bloc's rulebook. -
China’s finance regulators are dealing with antitrust-enforcement issues after the country’s leaders pledged to prevent the expansion of capital in the economy. -
A Wall Street banking group said it was “fundamentally unfair” of the US stock and options exchanges to propose limiting their liability for data breaches. -
EU insurance watchdogs should publish details of how national regulators vote on laws affecting the sector, -
The financial-sector entry of technology giants such as Amazon, Facebook and Alibaba poses financial stability, competition and privacy threats. -
US SEC Chairman Nominee Gary Gensler is sure to grapple with money-market mutual fund and Treasury market reforms in the wake of the pandemic. -
The Biden administration plans to resuscitate Obama-era assessments of financial stability risks posed by hedge fund leverage.
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EU banking officials are still pursuing measures which would undermine international rules designed to ensure lenders hold enough capital. -
Insurers’ defeat at the hands of the UK's top judges against small businesses claiming Covid-19 payouts could be the first step toward irreversible change for the sector. -
US regulators are exploring how to oversee banks’ use of artificial intelligence to prevent fraud and evaluate creditworthiness of potential borrowers. -
Jay Clayton’s legacy as US Securities and Exchange Commission chairman will include his reluctance to address climate change.
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The US Federal Reserve is exploring how to improve its ratings of banks’ overall condition and how much to disclose of these figures. -
The US Securities and Exchange Commission could recover ill-gotten gains from wrongdoers for up to 10 years after fraudulent conduct, rather than just five. -
EU financial markets are set to get a unified data service, known as a consolidated tape, even as the US rethinks its own longstanding arrangements. -
The US CFTC’s decision to make only minor changes to swap execution facility rules amounted to a repudiation of a more sweeping overhaul. -
The US Congress and global authorities should pass a law spelling out what is and isn't permissible for digital currencies. -
The US Federal Reserve and other boards are looking into the possibility that bankruptcies, especially among small businesses, will swell next year. -
US regulators said they've been moving to improve oversight of mortgage-backed securities after volatility in March 2019 exposed structural shortcomings. -
Insurers could face a defeat on a key legal ruling on whether policyholders were restricted in accessing their place of business during the height of the UK’s Covid-19 outbreak. -
Digital-payment vehicles that don’t depend on banks could be a more effective US approach to serving low-income cash users than traditional US policy. -
US authorities should consider Treasury market reform that includes expanding use of central clearing in Treasury cash markets and increasing access to trading platforms with more direct trading -
The possibility of a rocky Libor transition is prompting the Group of 20 economic powers to review the progress of 50 jurisdictions in moving away from the tarnished interest-rate benchmark.
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The derivatives and mutual fund industries convinced the US Securities and Exchange Commission to back off some investor safeguards. -
The Financial Stability Board’s identification of US shortcomings in money-market mutual funds oversight backs Democratic policymakers’ criticisms. -
Implementation of Basel III capital and liquidity requirements for banks shouldn’t be slowed due to the pandemic because of these global reforms. -
The chief executives of big US banks, asset managers and corporations must focus their firms on switching from Libor by the end-of-2021 deadline.
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Global banks’ internal distribution of bail-in debt to be used to unwind crippled firms has raised allocation issues that call for regulators' attention. -
US banks’ dividend payments would significantly cut into firms’ capital and lending ability over the life of the pandemic, Federal Reserve researchers said.
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US banks and investment firms hoping for a forward-looking Secured Overnight Financing Rate to replace Libor might not get it. -
Undue secrecy in EU financial lawmaking by supervisory watchdogs will be probed by the bloc’s ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly. -
The US Federal Reserve’s planned instant-payments service is seeking nationwide reach to ensure speedy government relief.
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The US Treasury Department, which is responsible for coordinating cyber defenses in the financial sector, is failing to track efforts. -
US corporate stock buybacks can pose a risk to financial stability if they result in too much company leverage, a Bank for International Settlements study said. -
The US Federal Reserve should join a group of central banks that’s trying to identify and manage systemic stability risks posed by climate change. -
US life insurers met with CFTC chief to seek more anonymity in industry’s long-term liability hedgesUS life insurers met with CFTC chief Heath Tarbert to seek more anonymity in using large, privately negotiated futures contracts to hedge unusual liabilities. -
A growing number of UK banks are choosing to follow US recommendations on how to structure contractual fallbacks.
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Many banks are lagging far behind where they should be in switching from the Libor benchmark to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate.
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An advocate for US student-loan borrowers expressed concern that many will be “left holding the bag” for costs assumed by banks and asset managers. -
US derivatives market participants lack adequate understanding of how a key step in the transition of clearinghouses to Libor’s successor is to work in October. -
Sixteen European Union-authorized trading platforms were granted access to US derivatives traders without being subject to Washington oversight. -
US Federal Reserve nominee Judy Shelton is a supply-side economist who would bring the strongest deregulatory views of any of its current governors.
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US hedge funds’ participation in shadow banking remains risky even after the Federal Reserve’s rescue of these markets. -
Eight of the world’s biggest insurance companies are gearing up for a court case brought by the UK’s financial services regulator. -
The Libra project has been issued yet another warning from international financial policymakers: regulation comes first. -
US investor stampedes from money-market mutual funds & Treasuries during the pandemic panic in March highlight the need for regulatory fixes in those markets.
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Deutsche Bank's $150 million settlement with New York over financier Epstein has drawn large headlines, but the fine for the bank was relatively small. -
Banks, insurers and hedge funds could face large losses in a prolonged downturn from their holdings of high-risk loans to troubled companies. -
Financial Stability Oversight Council powers over money market mutual funds, hedge funds, insurers and other nonbanks have been weakened during the Trump administration -
Banks and other swap dealers have launched a full-court press on officials to ease dealer-capital requirements in a CFTC proposal. -
A US proposal to require the use of legal entity identifiers by investment companies that trade swaps doesn’t open a big enough window.
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The US Federal Reserve’s Municipal Liquidity Facility may continue to exclude Deep South cities with a majority of black residents. -
US Federal Reserve should make all banks suspend common dividends and share repurchases
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The US Federal Reserve may include nonprofits in its pending Main Street Lending Program for small and mid-sized businesses. -
The NY Stock Exchange Group ripped a US Securities and Exchange Commission proposal to spur competition in market-data sales. -
Powell said “fully appropriate” for mid-sized banks to use Ameribor interest-rate benchmark instead of Libor
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US banks will be allowed to use the Libor benchmark in loans issued to small and mid-sized businesses under the Main Street Lending Program. -
A rise in the price of Bitcoin increases the probability of cyber attacks on the lightly regulated crypto-exchanges and firms that hold these assets.
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The US Federal Reserve panel overseeing the transition from tarnished Libor said it would support any active benchmark as an alternative if... -
Insurer Hiscox is being sued by a group of EU businesses for failing to pay out for a coronavirus hit to business. -
The US Federal Reserve’s current stress tests on the largest banks include an assessment of the potential effect of the pandemic on commercial real estate. -
The US Federal Reserve is weeks away from getting loan facilities for mid-sized businesses, as well as states and localities, up and running. -
Global banks’ use of payouts such as dividends, share buybacks and bonuses should be restricted. -
EU asset managers should have to reveal holdings in all kinds of fossil-fuel companies, not just in coal producers, under planned sustainability disclosure rules. -
The patchy international response to the Covid-19 pandemic was underscored by the Group of 20 economic powers’ approach to vulnerable countries’ needs. -
The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had failed as of a year ago to develop an agency-wide readiness or personnel-training plan for economic crises. -
Major UK banks may have acquiesced yesterday to a Bank of England request to ditch dividend payments amid the Covid-19 crisis. But on a further request to withhold lucrative staff bonuses they have been conspicuously quiet. How far they will try to resist remains to be seen. -
US derivatives markets that are parched by the Covid-19 pandemic could benefit from a liquidity injection that a speedier introduction of a new bank capital rule could provide, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Heath Tarbert said. -
The financial services industry is scrambling to persuade policymakers around the world that there is no need to close markets, despite daily tumbles in stocks. But their fate may have already been sealed. -
US Libor transition authorities are unlikely to get a change in law they hoped would come this year from New York state authorities who are giving urgent priority to the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impacts. -
European banks are seeing impending regulations and information demands cast aside, as their supervisors clear the decks for lenders to focus on leading the economic fight against coronavirus. -
The US Federal Reserve’s encouragement of banks to stop exceeding capital requirements and use the surplus to lend to virus-affected borrowers received a conditional welcome from economists who asserted that the central bank needs to be clearer about what it will allow. -
US corporations’ transition from Libor has been retarded by their hesitation to issue bonds linked to the official alternative, a JPMorgan Securities managing director said. -
US companies and asset managers will inevitably be pushed to disclose more of their environmental impacts by market-based incentives rippling from recent EU initiatives — even as Washington regulators decline to wade in, investment management specialists said. -
Banks’ operations, exposures and potentially their capital rules could all be affected by the worldwide spread of the Covid-19 virus, even as global regulators insist the fundamentals of financial stability remain sound. -
A UK push for enhanced EU equivalence conditions that would offer London financiers greater certainty after Brexit seems likely to be achievable, given the narrow distance between negotiating mandates published by both sides this week. -
Derivatives dealers would have to report the margin posted for uncleared transactions under a US Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposal that aims to improve identification of financial-stability threats. -
The possibility of a rocky Libor transition is prompting the Group of 20 economic powers to review the progress of 50 jurisdictions in moving away from the tarnished interest-rate benchmark. -
Jurisdictions with the largest banks need to move more quickly to effect overdue Basel III standards and make sure they are consistent with each other, said Pablo Hernandez de Cos, head of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. -
US position-limits plan for commodities traders faces likely changes in wake of bipartisan criticismThe US Commodities Futures Trading Commission's proposal last week to cap speculative commodity trading seems likely to be changed following criticism of a hedging provision from three of the five commissioners. -
US banks' gaps in money-laundering controls are enabling a "large and growing" amount of illicit proceeds from international drug traffickers, terrorists, and financial fraudsters to be cycled through international trade transactions, a congressional watchdog said. -
If an increasing number of financial companies choose to set up offices in the UK post-Brexit — as new data from the London-based Financial Conduct Authority suggest — the country might be able to go its own way on rules without fears the EU will shut off access to customers in the bloc. -
Facebook, Google and other Big Tech companies should be subject to bank-like restrictions on capital requirements, hiring practices and misselling when they venture into financial services, a group of advisers to the European Commission said in a report published on 13 December 2019. -
The US Libor transition has been slowed by policymakers’ inability to incorporate a bank risk premium into the replacement benchmark to make it more attractive to market participants. -
As London's financial sector faces an uncertain future post-Brexit, the UK government has called on regulators to ensure it retains its attractiveness — and that means enforcers might think twice before using their toughest weapons. -
Proposals for EU clearinghouses to come under tougher capital rules — a move the world's biggest banks have been calling for — will be discussed this week by member states, MLex has learned. -
Cloud services provided to banks by technology giants such as Amazon and Microsoft are being scrutinized by the international Financial Stability Board, US Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said. -
At least 10 of the 13 financial institutions charged with improper handling of pre-release American Depositary Receipts have exited that activity in recent years amid a long-running US Securities and Exchange Commission investigation that has covered much of the industry. -
News that Facebook’s virtual-currency project Libra will have to be regulated like a bank in its home town of Geneva looks like just the tip of the iceberg. -
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission sent a signal yesterday to France and Germany that a new EU post-Brexit clearinghouse law can still be shaped to satisfy regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. -
A senior US lawmaker wants Congress to convey bipartisan disapproval of the EU’s new clearinghouse law but is running into resistance from a leading Republican lawmaker and divisions among market participants. -
Online lenders and payday lenders may face tighter rules as the European Commission aims to level the playing field in a review of the 11-year-old consumer-credit directive due later this year. -
Regulators world-wide should consider subjecting asset managers to stress tests, a top Bank of Italy official said, adding to the chorus of bank authorities flagging nonbank risks. -
Rumors that Facebook was planning to launch its own currency drew significant attention. -
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s program of clearinghouse stress tests has shown little improvement since technical shortcomings, mismanagement “dysfunction” and public deception were flagged last year, an internal review has found. -
A US Federal Reserve-sponsored Libor panel hopes to decide in the next few months whether to seek legislative relief from some existing contract requirements that are impeding a shift from the benchmark, said Tom Wipf, head of the Alternative Reference Rates Committee. -
Daniel Tarullo, the former US Federal Reserve governor most responsible for crafting post-financial crisis Washington policies, said a cyberattack on a bank could set off widespread panic by eradicating ownership records held by the institution. -
Insurers’ use of Big Data tools is posing a headache for the sector’s regulators, as a new study shows more than half of companies are already using artificial intelligence or plan to do so. -
Berkshire Hathaway Chief Executive Warren Buffett said the conglomerate will likely increase its stake in Wells Fargo and other banks if the US Federal Reserve finalizes a proposal to ease a current restriction on bank investors. -
European and French central bankers called for global cooperation on making the financial system resilient to climate change at a meeting of a green-conscious bank regulators group — of which the US Federal Reserve isn’t a member. -
Basel III may have contributed to a post-crisis decline in lending from US and other global banks to developing economies, Third World central bankers and international researchers said. -
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase's chief executive, said his biggest regulatory concern is that the international method for calculating global banks’ systemic importance lacks empirical basis and needs updating. -
The EU’s pending law expanding post-Brexit oversight of foreign clearinghouses that do business in Europe would create regulatory overlap and delay in a crisis, the head of Intercontinental Exchange’s London clearinghouse said. -
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission should push to alter swap execution facility rules by the November 2020 presidential election to capitalize on the pro-market bent of the current Republican majority, Commissioner Brian Quintenz said. -
Banks fear the likes of Google, Apple and other big tech players are encroaching on their territory — and regulators aren’t sure how to deal with the invaders. -
Green bonds shouldn’t be shackled by too-tight standards, the financial industry has warned the European Commission, as the EU executive seeks to boost financial instruments that could help fight against climate change. -
Reconfiguring the global economy to tackle climate change is headline news as youth activists lecture world leaders on the need for “panic” and Democrat lawmakers in the US push for a “Green New Deal” in an echo of spending splurges of the 1930s. -
The banking industry could be transformed in years ahead by the expanding foothold of Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook in financial services, creating interconnections that might fuel cyber threats and systemic risks, said Denis Beau, the Bank of France’s first deputy governor. -
BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, has amassed hard data casting doubt on an academic paper central to the now-popular hypothesis that index funds may be harming competition by owning stakes in rival companies. -
While the UK considers what to do about Brexit, EU legislators are set to move ahead on the top priority in financial legislation before Britain’s departure. -
Three former Barclays traders were part of an “elite” group who conspired to “cheat” the global financial system to get an edge over rivals, a London court heard today. -
The US Federal Reserve will try to leverage its upcoming proposal on insurance capital requirements in an effort to make an international plan more suitable for the US market, Fed Governor Randal Quarles said. -
US Federal Reserve efforts to improve stress tests by measuring shocks to the whole financial system will likely be hobbled by a recent deregulatory law that shrinks the universe of available test data. -
Activist fund Mangrove Partners disclosed on Wednesday that it met with senior management of Denbury Resources and Penn Virginia to express opposition to their deal and to convey that the fund "is not alone in disliking this transaction." -
Sustainable finance and financial technology are getting their own unit in the European Commission, raising the profile of those policies as the EU executive body prepares for its next mandate. -
Starbucks and the Dutch government today attacked a 2015 EU decision that branded the coffee company’s EU tax arrangement illegal, and resulted in it having to pay back 25.7 million euros in unpaid taxes. -
Bitcoin’s gyrations have become a concern fast enough for the European Commission to call a roundtable on cryptocurrencies — but not enough to spark immediate EU initiatives. The approach outlined by financial-services chief Valdis Dombrovskis today points to no major legislation coming until at least 2020.