George Yacik

Wall Street JournalSoFi to sell insurance: Marketplace lender SoFi, which got its start in 2011 refinancing student loans and has since expanded into mortgages and other financial products, is now gearing up to sell life insurance. The San Francisco-based company obtained a license in its home state in September to sell insurance on behalf of Protective Life Insurance, a Japanese-owned company that had $767 billion of insurance in force at the end of last year. SoFi has since obtained licenses in several other states, according to the Journal.

Breaking News This Morning ...UBS profits fall: Unlike other large international banks, which have mostly been reporting better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter, UBS reported its net profit dropped more than 60%. Net profit fell to 827 million Swiss francs from 2.1 billion francs in the same quarter last year. Analysts were expecting 945 million francs. Last year's figure was inflated by a large one-time tax benefit. The Swiss bank said it continued to experience "client risk aversion" as well as the effects of low and negative interest rates that reduce revenue.

Breaking News This Morning ...Deutsche Bank reports: Deutsche Bank reported a profit of €278 million in the third quarter, compared to a loss of €6.02 billion in the year earlier quarter. Analysts had been expecting another loss. The big German bank said it was making progress on turning around its business even as it seeks to negotiate a reduced penalty with the U.S. Justice Department to close a probe related to mortgage securities. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times

Receiving Wide Coverage ...OCC seeks data: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has sent formal letters to large and regional banks it regulates seeking information about their sales practices and incentive-compensation plans following the Wells Fargo scandal. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Santander USA were among the banks getting letters. Comptroller Thomas Curry told the Senate Banking Committee last month the regulator will "review the sales practices of all the large and midsize banks the OCC supervises and assess the sufficiency of controls with respect to these practices."

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Court hears SIFI appeal: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia heard arguments from the federal government on Monday that MetLife is a "systemically important financial institution" and requires stricter regulation. The Financial Stability Oversight Council voted in December 2014 that the insurance company was a "SIFI" but was overruled by a U.S. district court judge earlier this year. The FSOC is now appealing that decision. "Beyond issues related to MetLife directly, the case holds broader significance," the Wall Street Journal commented. "The ability to bring large financial companies such as MetLife under tougher rules was an important piece of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul. The law created the council to … tag financial companies for stricter oversight if it determined their failure could put the broader economy at risk." Wall Street Journal, American Banker, New York Times

Breaking News This Morning ...Discount brokers to merge: TD Ameritrade is buying rival Scottrade for $4 billion. The combined company will have $944 billion in client assets and execute 600,000 client trades a day. TD says the merger will enable the two companies to cut costs by $450 million a year. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times

Receiving Wide Coverage ...More pressure on Wells: Two Democrat senators, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, asked Wells Fargo's chairman if the board had sufficiently questioned Timothy Sloan about his knowledge of the bank's phony accounts scandal before appointing him chief executive officer. "It is difficult to believe that he had no knowledge of or bears no responsibility for the actions of thousands of Wells Fargo employees creating fake accounts," the senators' letter to Wells Chairman Steven Sanger said. "We continue to have questions about who is being held accountable at Wells Fargo."

Receiving Wide Coverage ...More trouble for Wells: The California Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into Wells Fargo to determine if bank employees engaged in criminal identity theft and false impersonation to open accounts for customers without their permission. "There is probable cause to believe that employees of Wells Fargo Bank unlawfully accessed the bank's computer system to obtain the PII [personally identifiable information] of customers," the state's affidavit said. "The bank's employees then used the unlawfully obtained customers' PII to commit false impersonation and identity theft by opening unauthorized accounts, credit cards, and various other products that resulted in the accumulation of fees and charges for Wells Fargo."

Breaking News This Morning ...Morgan Stanley beats estimates: Morgan Stanley reported a third quarter profit of $1.6 billion, or 81 cents a share, up 57% from $1.02 billion, or 48 cents a share, in the year ago period. That easily beat the median Street forecast of 63 cents. Revenue rose 15% to $8.91 billion from $7.77 billion, also beating analysts' estimates of $8.17 billion. As with its peers on Wall Street, which reported earlier, the bank's results were helped by a rebound in securities trading. Return on equity jumped to 8.7%, up from 5.6% a year ago. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times

Breaking News This Morning ...Goldman's earnings soar: Goldman Sachs's third quarter earnings jumped 47% versus the year-ago period as trading revenue rose 17%. The bank earned $2.09 billion, or $4.88 a share, easily beating analysts' estimates of $3.82 a share. A year earlier it earned $1.43 billion, or $2.90 a share. Revenue rose 19% to $8.17 billion from $6.86 billion, well above Street forecasts of $7.42 billion. Return on equity climbed to 11.2%, up from 7% in the year-earlier quarter and the first time the ratio exceeded 10% since early 2015. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times

Breaking News This MorningB of A beats: Bank of America reported earnings of $4.96 billion, or 41 cents a share, for the third quarter, compared to $4.62 billion, or 38 cents a share, in the same period of 2015. That beat analyst estimates of 34 cents a share. Revenue rose about 3% to $21.6 billion, beating Street forecasts of $20.97 billion.

Breaking News This Morning ...Earnings season opens: Analysts are expecting a "downbeat" third quarter from U.S. banks, which began reporting earnings results on Friday. The combined profits for the big six banks are expected to fall about 9% to $20.1 billion compared to the same period last year, the Financial Times says. One reason is a 0.1% decline in business lending. "Although small, the contraction from the prior quarter is the first such drop in six years," says the Wall Street Journal, which nonetheless expects overall results "to be solid if not exciting."

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Stumpf leaves: Wells Fargo chairman and CEO John Stumpf announced Wednesday he is retiring immediately, as was widely expected following the bank's phony accounts scandal. "The toppling of Mr. Stumpf, 63 years old and just shy of his 10th year as CEO, marks a stunning comedown for a firm that largely passed through the financial crisis unscathed and which was seen as a reliable Main Street lender," the Wall Street Journal commented.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...CFPB loses appeal: A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the CFPB's structure, in which an unusual amount of power and autonomy is invested in a single director, is unconstitutional and ordered its powers be curbed. "If it stands, the decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia would reduce the agency's independence, empowering the White House to supervise the agency and remove its director, in contrast to the current arrangement where the director's five-year term is intended to outlast a president's," the Wall Street Journal commented. The three-member panel also criticized the enforcement action that led to the court ruling, in which PHH Mortgage was ordered to pay $109 million for allegedly accepting kickbacks from mortgage insurers. The court ordered the agency to reconsider the penalties.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Wells names senior team: Wells Fargo announced several management appointments Monday even as it continues to try to manage the fallout from its phony accounts scandal. Avid Modjtabai, who previously led consumer lending at the bank, has been named head of a new payments, digital and innovation group. Franklin Codel was named to replace her as head of consumer lending. The two managers were named by President and COO Timothy J. Sloan, who is expected to replace embattled CEC John Stumpf in the next two years. So far, Sloan has managed to avoid being tainted by the scandal. The bank also named several people to its operating committee. The moves are seen as consolidating Sloan's position as CEO in waiting. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, American Banker

Editor's note: Morning Scan will not publish on Monday, Oct. 10 in observance of Columbus Day. We'll be back on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Wall Street JournalRules for payment apps: Mobile payment apps like PayPal's Venmo and Alphabet's Google Wallet will be covered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rules covering prepaid debit cards. While prepaid cards and mobile payment apps serve mostly different demographics and do different things, "the CFPB views the products as requiring similar types of oversight to ensure customers' money is safe," the Wall Street Journal reported. The payment app providers had objected to their inclusion after the rule was first proposed two years ago. Under the rules, which take effect in a year, prepaid card and mobile app providers would be required to more fully disclose their fees and provide the same liability protection as credit card issuers. The rule won't cover digital wallets that simply store payment credentials, such as Apple Pay. The CFPB has already received more than 500,000 comments on the proposal so far.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Out of the shadows: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed disclosure and consumer protection rules for prepaid debit cards. Under the proposal, which would take effect in a year, prepaid cards would be required to carry a standardized disclosure of the card's monthly fee as well as details on fees for cash withdrawals, customer service calls, overdrafts and reloads. The cards would also have to provide the same liability protection that applies to credit cards. "The rules bring prepaid cards out of the shadows, with protections that in many ways are stronger than those for traditional bank accounts," said Lauren Saunders, the associate director of the National Consumer Law Center, which lobbied for the rules. New York Times, Financial Times, American Banker

Receiving Wide Coverage ...More pain for Wells: Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said he plans to introduce a bill that would prevent Wells Fargo from forcing customers to use arbitration clauses if they challenge the bank for opening bank accounts without their permission, a move that would make it easier for customers to sue the bank for any damages they may have incurred as a result. "Giving customers back their right to take Wells Fargo to court gives them the power to ensure they are made whole and helps prevent cases like this in the future," Brown said in a press release.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Deutsche's turn in the hot seat: Deutsche Bank replaced Wells Fargo as the financial world's favorite whipping boy, at least over the weekend. The Financial Times reports that Germany's deputy chancellor and economics minister, Sigmar Gabriel, "launched a blistering attack" on Deutsche's CEO John Cryan after Cryan last week blamed "forces in the market" for trying to destabilize the bank. "I didn't know whether I should laugh or be furious that a bank which turned speculation into a business model now declares itself the victim of speculators," Gabriel told reporters. Gabriel's comments "suggest that if push comes to shove, the bank can expect little sympathy from Berlin," the FT says.