George Yacik

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Nixed: U.S. banking regulators rejected Wells Fargo's revised living will as inadequate and imposed new sanctions on the bank: preventing it from setting up overseas entities and buying nonbank companies. Wells was one of five big banks – the others were JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon and State Street – whose living will plans were rejected last April; Wells was the only one whose revision did not pass muster. The bank has until March 31 to submit a third plan; if that one is also rejected, the bank could be hit with more sanctions, including higher capital requirements. "This the first time that regulators have imposed penalties since the country's biggest banks were required to submit 'living wills' starting in 2012," the Wall Street Journal notes. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post, American Banker

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Suspended: Prudential Financial said it suspended sales of its MyTerm life insurance policies through Wells Fargo following allegations that Wells employees wrote policies without customers' permission and withdrew money from their bank accounts to pay the premiums. Many of the victims did not speak English, according to a suit filed by three former Prudential employees, who claim the company tried to hush up the scandal. Prudential said Monday it would reimburse any customers who said they were charged for policies they did not ask for. California and New Jersey insurance investigators are looking into the matter. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, American Banker

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Positioning: Gary Cohn's likely departure from Goldman Sachs to join the Trump administration as director of the National Economic Council "sets off a new round of C-suite jockeying at Goldman, where the decade-long tenure of Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein has created a younger generation of executives eager to advance," the Wall Street Journal reports. Cohn's dual roles of president and chief operating officer are likely be split among two executives, possibly investment-banking co-chief David Solomon and CFO Harvey Schwartz.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Heading out: Andrew J. Ceresney, director of the SEC's enforcement division, said he will resign at the end of the year after three years at the agency. His move follows that of his boss, SEC chairwoman, Mary Jo White, who last month announced her intention to leave.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Big brother: Credit Karma and Mint are ready to offer automated tax preparation services as part of new features "that will make them feel more like robotic financial advisers, tapping customers on the shoulder when they could make better financial decisions," as the New York Times puts it. Credit Karma said Wednesday it acquired AFJC Corp., an online tax preparation and filing company, and would begin offering its services, called Credit Karma Tax, in time for the 2017 filing season, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Paying the piper: Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan reiterated that the bank expects to spend tens of millions of dollars on investigations and other regulatory matters in the wake of its phony accounts scandal. "I think that seems reasonable today based on what we know. It's the upper end of our range from an efficiency standpoint," he said at a Goldman Sachs financial services conference Tuesday. He also said the scandal could affect the bank's retail banking results this quarter as well as its submission next year for capital returns under the Federal Reserve's stress test and capital-planning process.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Ho hum: World financial markets mostly shrugged off the results of Italy's constitutional referendum, which went down to defeat on Sunday, although the country's banks and its economy remain in serious trouble as a result. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Fintech Boost: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced a proposal Friday that would grant special limited-purpose banking licenses to financial technology firms that would give them "greater freedom to operate across the country without seeking state-by-state permission or joining with brick-and-mortar banks," as the Wall Street Journal described it. "The move could open the door to more competition between the old and new financial firms, and provide a bigger opening for some large tech companies to consider new ways to offer digital payments or other services."

Receiving Wide Coverage ...It's official: Wells Fargo has formally separated the roles of CEO and chairman under pressure from some large investors, including several state treasurers, according to the Financial Times. John Stumpf, the bank's former chairman and CEO, resigned in October following the bank's phony accounts scandal and was replaced by Timothy Sloan as CEO and Stephen Sanger as chairman. But on Thursday Wells went further, amending its bylaws to mandate the split. "Wells' decision is noteworthy in a sector that has largely resisted such demands, and some corporate governance experts said it should encourage other banks to do the same," the FT said. The heads of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs all hold both positions.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Mnuchin speaks: Steven Mnuchin discussed his views on regulatory and tax policies Wednesday after being named President-elect Trump's designated Treasury secretary. Speaking on CNBC, Mnuchin said he would focus on rolling back parts of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. "The number one problem with Dodd-Frank is that it's way too complicated and cuts back lending," he said, adding, stripping back part of the law "will be the number one priority on the regulatory side." He used similar words to describe the Volcker rule (see below).

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Wall Street ties: Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive, is expected to be named Treasury secretary by President-elect Donald Trump. "Mr. Mnuchin's Wall Street pedigree presents a contrast with the populist themes Mr. Trump struck in his campaign, railing against big banks and vowing to close tax loopholes that benefit hedge funds," the Wall Street Journal commented. "Mr. Trump also repeatedly attacked his rivals in the primary and general elections for their Wall Street ties, especially those connected to Goldman Sachs." Mnuchin, who also made millions as a Hollywood movie producer, was Trump's campaign finance chairman. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post, American Banker

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Differing views: The Wall Street Journal's editorial page had some strong words about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the "rogue" bureau "which has abused the law and whose structure was recently found unconstitutional. By all rights the bureau should be killed," it says, and "Mr. Trump should dismiss [Director Richard] Cordray on his first day as President." "Reform options short of a death sentence could at least restrain some of the bureau's abuses," it adds, if the GOP isn't successful in killing the agency.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Racing Stripe: The latest round of private funding for Stripe, a start-up that offers software and services that process payments for businesses, has boosted the value of the company to just under $9.2 billion, nearly double what it was worth less than two years ago and making it the most valuable U.S. fintech company, according to the Wall Street Journal. "Stripe's investors think the company can capitalize on the fast growth of online payments as consumers transfer more of their offline spending to internet retailers and as Stripe continues to expand internationally," the paper said. Stripe plans to use the new funds for acquisitions international expansion.

Holiday notice: Morning Scan will return on Monday, Nov. 28. Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...More risky: Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo pose greater systemic risks to the global financial system than they did last year and had their capital requirements increased by regulators. The Financial Stability Board, which ranks the most systemically important financial institutions annually, also said Industrial and Commercial Bank of China presented more risk than last year. But HSBC, Barclays and Morgan Stanley—which sold all or part of their riskier businesses or reduced the size of them—were all deemed to be less systemically risky and had their capital requirements reduced. Globally, 30 banks are considered systemically important and subject to extra capital requirements. Financial Times, New York Times

Wall Street JournalTighter grip: The OCC Friday unilaterally revoked parts of its recent regulatory consent order with Wells Fargo following the bank's phony accounts scandal. The agency ordered Wells to first seek its approval before changing its business plans, hiring or firing senior executives or revamping its board of directors. The bank was also banned from making golden parachute payments to departing executives without OCC approval.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Settled: JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $264 million and admit it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to resolve charges that it hired relatives of Chinese government officials and managers of state-owned companies to win business in China. But it may only be the first of many banks to do so. Several other U.S. and foreign banks are under investigation for similar practices, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, HSBC and UBS. "We do not expect this to be the last action resulting from that sweep," said Andrew J. Ceresney, the head of enforcement at the SEC.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Targets: House Republicans are looking to scrap rules on how brokers sell retirement investments, as well as interest rate limits and disclosures on payday lenders, once President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The push is being led by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, who is under consideration to become Treasury secretary. He asserts the rules were written by bureaucrats, not Congress. He also called for stripping the Financial Stability Oversight Council of its authority to designate nonbank financial institutions as "systemically important." Wall Street Journal, New York Times, American Banker

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Kid gloves: The Government Accountability Office released its review of the Federal Reserve's annual bank stress tests, which the Financial Times said "may pave the way towards gentler treatment" of banks. "The report recommended that the Fed share more information on the models it uses and its reasons for failing big banks, while working more closely with other agencies including the FDIC and the OCC."

Receiving Wide Coverage ...White to leave: Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Jo White said she plans to step down in January at the end of the Obama administration, "opening the door to a new Republican-appointed leader who could move to loosen rules on Wall Street and curb the aggressive enforcement approach Ms. White prosecuted," in the words of the Wall Street Journal. White is the first major Obama appointee to announce a departure after Donald Trump's victory last week, but White intended to leave regardless of who won the election. Other financial regulators are expected to follow her out the door. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post