Jeanine Skowronski

Receiving Wide Coverage ...UBS' Restructuring Efforts: An internal memo reviewed by the New York Times revealed UBS' plan to combine its currency, interest rates and credit trading businesses into a single unit. The move, confirmed by the bank, is part of UBS' ongoing efforts to "to shrink its investment bank and shift focus away from riskier trading activities to its wealth management and retail operations," Dealbook notes. The bank also plans to buy back bonds to cut borrowing costs and shrink its balance sheet ahead of ahead of more stringent Basel capital rules, the FT reports.

Banks shouldn’t feel forced to place all their bets on one platform or another. In the shorter term, successful future models of banking will be hybrids.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Questioned: The Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up its probe into Wall Street's foreign hiring practices. Anonymice are telling their favorite news outlets that Citigroup and Morgan Stanley have both received letters requesting information to determine whether the banks violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Scan readers will recall that, back in August, JPMorgan Chase revealed the regulator was investigating whether the bank habitually hired the children of prominent Chinese officials to win business. Sources told the FT the new requests "did not amount to a formal investigation and that multiple banks had been contacted with similar questions in the wake of the JPMorgan allegations."

A Baby Boomer who has banked with the same small financial institution for more than 37 years hardly fits the mobile profile. But look below the surface and this mom is actually a prime candidate.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...A Battle over Board Member Bonuses: A small bank holding company has set the stage for a battle over whether activist hedge funds should be allowed to pay preferred board members bonuses. More specifically, Institutional Shareholder Services (of "dethrone Jamie Dimon" fame) is calling on shareholders to vote out three Provident Financial Holdings directors after they unilaterally approved a bylaw barring investor-paid incentives. The vote is indicative of larger tensions that have resulted after several hedge funds tried to compensate certain directors. Law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz recommended companies adopt bylaws prohibiting any third party from paying board members for their service. The activists argue that their bonuses link pay to performance and help companies attract better board members. But critics think the incentives are actually more like bribes and create decided conflicts of interest. Calmer heads suggest a compromise is in order: let hedge funds, for instance, compensate their directors for campaign expenses or allow directors' incentives based on the company's results, not the hedge funds'. Wall Street Journal, New York Times

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Co-op Bank Probe: The U.K. Treasury has launched a probe into Co-operative Bank that will examine how the bank was run (and regulated) in the years leading up to its current crisis. Scan readers will recall that the bank is in the middle of bailing itself out largely by ceding control to institutional investors. The Journal says the inquiry "may prove uncomfortable for Britain's politicians, particularly in the opposition Labour Party, some of whom championed Co-op Bank as a model of responsible lending following the financial crisis." The U.K.'s Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority are also mulling inquiries. Late last week, former Co-op chairman Paul Flowers was arrested as part of a drug investigation.

"I would use this," Mom said, "if there was a place nearby that accepted it." Mobile adoption confronts the classic chicken-or-egg conundrum.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Ring Fenced: Credit Suisse has begun to wall off its Swiss banking business from riskier investment banking operations in the U.S. and U.K. in order to address regulators' concerns over "too big to fail." The plan includes combining two London subsidiaries and transferring its U.S. derivatives business to its U.S. subsidiary. (The unit currently operates out of London.) UBS similarly announced plans to ring fence its banking operations last month. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Downgraded: Moody's downgraded four major U.S. banks — JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Bank of New York Mellon — Thursday, after the rating agency concluded that the government has become less likely to bail out big firms. "The lower credit ratings could raise the cost of capital for the banks, many of which were already downgraded by Moody's following another major review undertaken last year," the FT reports. Wall Street Journal, American Banker

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Oh, JPM: JPMorgan Chase has officially cancelled its terrible idea/Twitter takeover with vice chairman Jimmy Lee after the open invitation to #AskJPM questions on the social media site backfired. Profusely. ("Right when the engagement numbers were through the roof?!" tweeted Forbes' Alex Konrad in response to the cancellation.) "The original idea — which had been kicked around the firm over the last few weeks … was to come up with an out-of-the-box way to use social media," anonymice tell Dealbook. "The target audience was students, with Mr. Lee expected to focus on career advice." Instead, the bank was bombarded with questions about foreclosures, religion and Jamie Dimon's pet preferences, among other, oft-NSFW things on Wednesday. "JPMorgan's misstep is the latest example of how marketing on social media can go wrong," the FT explains in what is, perhaps, an understatement. "As companies from banks to supermarkets embrace the medium as an effective way of building strong relationships with customers, many are finding it tricky to keep control of the conversation." Dealbook notes that no one is expected to lose their job over the kerfuffle. The failed Twitter experiment isn't the only negative press for JPM this morning, demonstrating exactly how bad of an idea it really was. The Journal updates the status of JPM's now possibly defunct billion-dollar settlement with the DOJ over mortgage-backed securities. "No announcement yet," executive Michael Cavanagh said during a banking conference, though the bank does have "a desire to move forward." (Does Eric Holder take one lump or two? #AskJPM," tweeted financial columnist James Saft.) And Dealbook's got some new details on JPM's "fruitful ties" to China's elite (the subject of another government probe into the bank) after reviewing confidential documents and interviewing anonymice. The article reveals that JPM contracted Wen Ruchun, "the only daughter of Wen Jiabao, who at the time was China's prime minister, with oversight of the economy and its financial institutions" for $75,000 a month. (Are you involved in a massive corruption scandal in China? #AskJPM," tweeted Slate blogger Matt Yglesias with a link to the Dealbook article.)

To avoid incurring a customer's wrath or a lawsuit, banks should make sure new fees carry a clear value exchange, offer something new (ahem, mobile) and are easily avoided. Resist any temptation to set fee traps.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Unveiled: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued detailed guidelines for bank consultants, or "Wall Street's shadow regulators" (hmmm, where have we heard that term before?) on Tuesday. The guidelines require, among other things, that banks "disclose all work a consultant performed for the institution over the past three years" and "document disciplinary actions taken against the consultant and the resources the firm has to complete an assignment" in an attempt to prevent conflict of interests. Bank consultants have come under scrutiny over the past year, thanks largely to a botched foreclosure review (which saw them paid $4 for every $1 to homeowners) and a one-year ban from consulting for New York banks on Deloitte, courtesy of Benjamin Lawsky, who alleged the firm violated banking law when it reviewed Standard Chartered's anti-money laundering practices. Lawsky has also subpoenaed Promontory Financial and PricewaterhouseCoopers in connection with their work on money-laundering cases. "The scrutiny, while it might not erode the consulting industry's profits, could cost consultants individual assignments and undermine their credibility in Washington and on Wall Street," the Times notes.

Big, flashy rewards are often too broad, too niche, or too complicated for consumers. Banks should follow Capital One's lead and switch to more straightforward (and sustainable) rewards programs.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...HSBC Discloses Probe During Earnings: HBSC reported a 28% rise in third quarter net profit on Monday largely related to falling loan charges. The bank also became "the latest to admit that it was the subject of an investigation by several authorities into its conduct in the foreign exchange market," Dealbook notes. Per the Journal, "HSBC had not suspended anyone in connection with the probe and ... none of the traders named by regulators still work at the bank." Financial Times

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Sued Over Libor: Fannie Mae is suing nine banks for an estimated $800 million in losses it incurred as a result of alleged manipulation of benchmark interest rates, including Libor. Defendants include Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Rabobank, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS. Fannie is also suing the British Bankers' Association. Fannie's counterpart, Freddie Mac, filed a similar lawsuit against more than a dozen banks in March. The Journal dubs Fannie's suit "the latest legal salvo by the mortgage-finance giants." Earlier this week, Rabobank CEO Piet Moerland stepped down following a $1.07 billion settlement over Libor rate-rigging allegations. UBS, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland have also reached settlements with global regulators. But Times columnist Floyd Norris argues the hefty fines associated with these settlements have done little to fix the system. "Unfortunately, nothing fundamental is being changed," he writes. "Libor lives on. Regulators who wanted to change that … have been outmaneuvered by those who did not want to risk damaging one of the biggest and most lucrative markets around." Washington Post, New York Times

Receiving Wide Coverage ...B of A Lawsuit Looming? And the financial crisis reckoning continues. Bank of America disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday that a U.S. attorney's office (no word on which one yet) plans to recommend the Justice Department file a civil lawsuit against the bank over bad mortgage-backed securities. The bank also said it has raised its estimate of potential losses from litigation to $5.1 billion, from $2.8 billion. News of a potential lawsuit shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. American Banker's Rob Blackwell and Kate Berry predicted B of A would face the hatchet next, following reports of JPMorgan's (now possibly defunct) $13 billion mortgage-related settlement. According to the FT, "the threat of new civil action is fuelling speculation that B of A will seek to settle U.S. government mortgage cases against it in one hit, like rival JPMorgan."

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Sins of Financial Crises Past: The year of crisis-era legal reckoning may indeed be upon us. According to the Wall Street Journal, regulators have brokered another settlement with a financial firm over allegations it sold bad mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac leading up to the financial crisis. No, we're not talking about JPMorgan Chase, but Ally Financial, which said on Tuesday it will take a $170 million charge in the third-quarter related to settlements with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. As for JPM and its widely known, but still unresolved, $13 billion mortgage-related settlement, well, that may not happen at all. The Journal reports that, per its anonymice, the settlement is "at risk of collapsing because of disagreements related to a criminal probe of the bank and its effort to get penalties reimbursed by a government-controlled fund." We're going to echo The Guardian's Heidi Moore here and say that it may be best, at this point, given all the twists and turns, not to talk about the JPM deal until, you know, it's actually a done one. Meanwhile, across the pond, regulatory relations aren't much better. Following a string of disclosures regarding future legal problems from foreign banks during earnings season, Dealbook concludes: "European banks still face years of effort and billions of dollars in legal charges before they can restore their reputations and reconcile accusations of past wrongdoing." This FT column notes: "The bad news for the sector … is that the regulatory storm shows no sign of abating." Case in point: Barclays announced on Wednesday it was reviewing its foreign exchange trading operations after receiving inquiries related to an ongoing probe of currency market manipulation from global regulators.

Mobile banking can alleviate friction and save time for underserved, low-income consumers, but face-to-face interaction is critical to serving their financial needs.

Breaking News This Morning ...Rabobank CEO to Resign: Anonymice tell the Journal that Rabobank CEO Piet Moerland is poised to step down Tuesday as the bank reaches a $1 billion settlement with global regulators over rate-rigging allegations. The expected settlement would be the second largest Libor settlement to date, behind UBS's $1.5 billion agreement last December.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...JPM Settlement(s) Update: In case you missed it, late on Friday, JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $5.1 billion in a deal with the Federal Housing Finance Agency to settle allegations it sold bad mortgages to Fannie and Freddie in the years leading up to the financial crisis. The deal is part of the broader, reported $13 billion mortgage-related settlement the bank has been trying to broker with federal regulators and the Justice Department over the last month or so. Negotiations, however, over that broader settlement have stalled after the DOJ asked the bank to agree not to pass liabilities from the failed Washington Mutual, which JPM bought back in 2008, to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The stakes over the ultimate outcome here are high. "Wall Street executives and some lawyers warn that if [JPM] is found liable for the WaMu bonds, otherbanks will think twice before buying failed rivals," Francesco Guerrera of the Wall Street Journal explains. "But if [JPM] prevails and gets the FDIC to pay, it could wipe out most of the $2.7 billion reserved for bondholders and other WaMu investors." The FHFA deal, meanwhile, represents a kind of, sort of victory for JPM. A provision in the settlement essentially allows JPM to try to recoup about $1 billion from the FDIC. The bank was also not required to admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement. "The results show that, even as [JPM] is facing an onslaught from the government, the bank is seeking to contain the fallout — and is succeeding on some fronts," Dealbook notes. "The government may be split over how to punish the bank for misrepresenting the quality of mortgage securities it sold to investors before the 2008 financial crisis." A Journal review of the FHFA settlement, meanwhile, concludes thatJPM's subprime troubles ran deep: "The bank dealt with some of the biggest subprime lenders of the time, including Countrywide Financial Corp., Fremont Investment & Loan and WMC Mortgage Corp., a former unit of General Electric." And JPM's legal woes are far from over. The bank still faces, among other things, a criminal investigation of its role in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme and a probe into its Chinese hiring practices. Financial Times, American Banker