In The News

Bloomberg: US Libor Replacement

Alex Harris April 18, 2018
In April, the New York Federal Reserve Bank launched a new US benchmark rate – the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, SOFR – to compete with the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor. Libor offers a range of rates depending on currencies and loan duration, but is based on human expectations – a system deemed a problem after investigations revealed that some bankers had been rigging rates profits...

Reuters: Brexit Transition Offers Little Certainty for Banks

Huw Jones and Andrew MacAskill March 21, 2018
The United Kingdom has reached a conditional agreement on a transition period, ending in December 2020, for withdrawing from the European Union. But banks and other financial firms may continue to make contingency plans including for relocating offices and staff from London. The agreement won’t be formally ratified until October, and uncertainty continues. British leaders are divided about a...

Newsweek: NY Bank Regulator Scrutinizes Kushner

Jessica Kwong March 2, 2018
Jared Kushner, senior adviser and son-in-law to the US president, confronts charges of conflict of interest on numerous fronts. New York’s banking regulator is requesting details on loans to Kushner, his real estate company and family members from three banker including Deutsche Bank, reports Newsweek. This follows a New York Times report that Kushner received loans after meeting with top...

The New York Times: Banks Could Control Gun Sales if Washington Won’t

Andrew Ross Sorkin February 20, 2018
Jurisdictions that restrict gun sales, like Australia or Connecticut, soon experience fewer mass shootings, suicides and other shooting deaths. The United States has the highest rate of gun violence among developed nations, yet the National Rifle Association and Congress resist background checks and other controls. In the wake of a Florida school shooting that left 17 dead, Andrew Ross Sorkin of...

Global Finance: Global Regulators Finalize Basel III Rules

Efraim Chalamish January 30, 2018
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has finalized Basel III rules on voluntary global bank capital standards. “The original rules raised questions about the ability of global banks to use internal models to assess various risks and the need to level the playing field in global banking,” explains Efraim Chalamish for Global Finance. The rules aim to decrease bank leverage and increase...

Reuters: Source Claims Deutsche Bank Gets Mueller Subpoena

Arno Schuetze and Nathan Layne December 5, 2017
The US rule of law has a long reach. US federal investigators looking into Russian interference of the 2016 presidential election are reported to have asked Deutsche bank for data on accounts held by associates of Donald Trump and his family. “Germany’s largest bank received a subpoena from Special Counsel Robert Mueller several weeks ago to provide information on certain money and credit...

Caixin: China to Roll Out Red Carpet for Foreign Financial Firms

Peng Qinqin, Wu Hongyuran, Zhang Yu, Yang Qiaoling and Han Wei November 21, 2017
China may do more to open its financial industry to foreign investors, lifting ownership caps for banks as well as securities, funds, and futures industries, according to a team from Caixin. “Sixteen years after China agreed to liberalize foreign access to its financial sector as part of its World Trade Organization accession commitments, overseas investors still complain about barriers...