DENVER - (12/21/05) -- Financial processing giant FirstData Corp. said last week it plans to layoff 3% of its workforce,or about 1,000 people, by year-end, as it seeks to cut costs. Mostof the layoffs will be in the company's Card Issuing Services unit,which First Data is trying to sell. The company expects to takeadditional actions aimed at further reducing overall operatingcosts prior to the end of 2005 that would result in additionalcharges during the quarter.
With Robinhood Chain now live, the company is pushing into tokenized equities, stablecoin lending and international markets.
Industry experts say regional banks have roughly a two-year window in which to merge, before they risk the clock expiring on the Trump administration's M&A-friendly policies.
The order covers the European units of JPMorganChase, Goldman, Citi and Morgan Stanley, and previews what U.S. regulators may eventually demand.
The proposal calls for banks to make their compliance programs "risk-based" and pledges to emphasize "systemic" flaws with anti-money laundering programs rather than "isolated" shortcomings.
As JPMorganChase, Wells Fargo and others chase a potential $15 billion deal to buy Fiserv's Star network, experts say the growth of AI-powered transactions and competition among bank technology firms will make debit routing a hot commodity, portending more M&A and placing pressure on traditional card networks.
A $160 million deal to merge Hometown Financial Group subsidiaries and Primary Bank will lead to consolidation under a single brand name of TruNorth.
