BankThink

With the anti-globalism sentiment growing in parts of Europe and the U.S., a "my country first" approach to international bank regulation will hurt financial institutions and their local economies.

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.

Gen Z is coming fast on the heels of millennials. For e-commerce, payments and financial services, they have an even shorter attention span.

Citi's Debby Hopkins is retiring at the end of this year and Fidelity's Abigail Johnson is taking over for her father as its new chairman. Beth Mooney, Morgan Cambern, Claire Calmejane, and other execs talk about the impact fintech has had in their jobs and why technology should be embraced and not feared. Meanwhile, Citi faces a suit from a former trader over its alleged "Bro's Club" practices.

The smallness of in-store branches used to be a liability, but with the industry's changing landscape, strategically placed "alternative branches" make more sense today.

Some regulatory agencies appear ripe for criticism or curbs to their authority in the incoming Trump administration, but the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is in position to have its authority expanded.

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).

Banks tend to respond to ATM and payment breach risks after an incident. They need to get more proactive.

Consumers' providing bank credentials to third-party services is akin to handing over their house keys. To mitigate screen-scraping risks, banks and fintech companies must first address issues related to security, transparency and control.

Post-crisis regulations were not only costly but may have undermined executive accountability by turning CEOs into compliance managers instead of drivers of business decisions.