George Yacik

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Call for consolidation: Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan called for more consolidation in the profit-challenged European banking industry, just after a German magazine reported the bank had considered amd rejected a bid for rival Commerzbank. "It is undeniable that Europe's banks are stuck in a fundamental dilemma," he said in remarks prepared for delivery at a conference in Frankfurt. "We have become significantly more secure since the financial crisis. We maintain more capital and liquidity with fewer risks in our balance sheets. However, we are also far less profitable today." Cryan said the European Central Bank's below-zero-rate monetary policy has made it hard for banks to make money.

Wall Street JournalAML clarification: U.S. banking regulators issued a "Fact Sheet" that tries to clarify anti-money-laundering rules that some critics say are forcing banks to cut off access to innocent countries, businesses and individuals for fear of being penalized. The report is intended to "dispel certain myths" about the rules, which have caused some banks to refrain from serving customers in island nations, emerging-market countries and those in drug-ridden areas, such as the U.S. border with Mexico. In a blog post accompanying the report, senior Treasury officials said regulators resolve "about 95 percent" of compliance failures without penalties and that banks are not required to vet the customers of their foreign bank clients.

Wall Street JournalCutting out banks: Transferwise, the global money transfer startup that has so far worked indirectly with consumers through its bank partners, wants its own independent licenses, eschewing banks. The five-year-old London-based company currently partners with Barclays in the U.K. and Community Federal Savings Bank in New York. It has licenses in 37 states, and can operate independently in three states that don't require licenses. The company's CEO says having its own licenses will enable it to cut costs and offer more features. "This is the latest example of the evolving and complex relationship between aspiring fintech disruptors and traditional banks," the Journal writes.

Wall Street JournalDifferent strokes: As trading revenues shrink and more stringent regulations and higher capital requirements pinch their top and bottom lines, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley "have turned to more basic banking businesses, betting that the cachet of their brand names can overcome relative lack of experience in dealing with the deposits and loans of middle-class Americans."

Wall Street JournalMore sales at Barclays: Barclays is ready to announce three separate asset sales as it trims its balance sheet. The British bank is expected to announce the completion of the sale of its Italian retail business in the next few days, followed soon after by its Iberian credit cards unit and its Egyptian franchise.

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