Editor's note: Morning Scan will not publish on Monday, Sept. 2, in observance of Labor Day. We’ll be back on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
Receiving Wide Coverage ...
UBS stacks the deck
UBS Group hired Iqbal Khan, Credit Suisse’s former head of wealth management, “as part of a broad reshuffle that creates a fresh lineup of potential internal successors to Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti.” UBS also named COO Sabine Keller-Busse as president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, while Suni Harford, head of investments for the bank’s asset-management business, was promoted to run the entire business. All three are potential internal CEO candidates to succeed Ermotti, who “has signaled a desire to stay for another year or two, having already outlasted most European bank CEOs.”
“The changes come as UBS and other European banks struggle with the effects of low and negative interest rates and stiff competition from U.S. banks,” the Wall Street Journal says.
Khan’s hiring “addresses concerns about succession planning and lackluster performance” at UBS, the Financial Times said. Khan’s “next career move has been the subject of much speculation after his sudden departure from Credit Suisse in July following an internal power struggle.”
Wall Street Journal
What goes up …
Comerica, which was one of the biggest beneficiaries when interest rates started to rise “from rock-bottom levels in 2016,” is one of the banks most exposed now that rates are falling. “When rates were headed up, Comerica shareholders had no complaints. Comerica’s shares rose 108% during 2016 and 2017 compared with a 46% rise in the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index. Now the shoe is on the other foot. Comerica
“If the global economic picture suddenly improves, U.S.-China trade tensions are resolved and the Fed feels it can stop easing, Comerica shares could rally. Such a scenario seems increasingly remote, though, which means this lender has further to fall.”
Falling short
Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada’s second-largest bank by market capitalization, “reported quarterly profit growth of more than 4% from a year earlier, driven largely by higher loan and deposit volumes in its U.S. retail operations.” The bank reported net income of 3.25 billion Canadian dollars ($2.44 billion), or C$1.74 a share, compared to C$3.11 billion, or C$1.65 a share, a year earlier. But that
Easing the transition
The Treasury Department said “existing financial instruments that
Financial Times
Big on crypto
Elwood Asset Management, a firm owned by the British hedge fund manager Alan Howard, “is planning to launch a $1 billion venture that will put money in a range of
Elsewhere
Looking to buy
BNP Paribas “is hopeful it can beat off rival bidders to secure a deal in the next few weeks” to
Quotable
“As we head into the final quarter of the year, the macroeconomic environment
