Finance

Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser is nearing the end of her organizational overhaul after deciding to cut loose retail-banking operations in Mexico. She will make the case at an upcoming investor day that the company is on the verge of producing stronger shareholder returns.

Auto loans, credit cards and corporate lending all showed strength in the fourth quarter, and the San Francisco bank predicts more consumers and businesses will borrow this year.

Following the recent resignations of the San Francisco bank’s co-CEO and chief operating officer, executives sought to project stability during an earnings call Friday. Employee morale is strong, and finding a leader who’s the right fit is more important than filling the job quickly, they said.

Shares fell sharply Friday after the company said spending increased 14% in the fourth quarter and will climb by another 8% in 2022. But CEO Jamie Dimon said the investments in marketing, technology and talent are necessary to ward off threats from traditional banks and upstart fintechs.

Overall the company reported fourth-quarter profits of $3.17 billion, which fell short of analysts' forecasts as borrowing declined on Citi-branded cards, fixed-income trading tumbled and one-time charges mounted.

Despite that year-over-year decline, the company beat analysts' expectations with fourth-quarter net income of $5.8 billion. Stronger commercial lending and lower expenses cushioned the blow in consumer credit.

The company's fourth-quarter trading revenue declined notably more than analysts had expected, while its business and consumer lending each dropped 1% year over year.

Mizuho Financial Group, the large Japanese bank, has agreed to buy U.S.-based Capstone Partners to expand in the business of helping private equity firms raise funds.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Chief Executive Bharat Masrani said additional share repurchases would be a possible use of the lender’s excess capital if it doesn’t deploy those funds in a major acquisition.

The payout will help the Delaware bank recover legal costs that stemmed from its 2010 purchase of Christiana Bank & Trust. It expects a 23-cent boost to earnings per share in the most recently completed quarter.

The government-sponsored enterprise also unveiled two new tranche slices for investors to purchase.

On Sep. 30, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

The Secured Overnight Financing Rate has benefited — amid the phaseout of Libor — from positive comments by regulators. Is a multirate environment, which some banks would prefer, still possible?

Germany’s finance watchdog fined Deutsche Bank 8.66 million euros ($9.8 million) over its handling of submissions for Euribor, a reference rate at the heart of a scandal that rocked the industry.

Analysts expect loan growth and higher interest rates to drive up equity prices next year, even in the face of the omicron variant and other risks.

Average per-loan charges last year were little changed despite the addition of a new temporary fee for refinancing. Those for loan-to-value ratios above 80%, home-purchase financing and adjustable-rate mortgages only rose slightly.

Standard Chartered has been handed a record fine by the U.K.’s top banking regulator after a spreadsheet error resulted in the emerging markets-focused lender overestimating its access to U.S. dollar funding.

Just three months ago, U.S. banks were still using the expiring benchmark rate for the vast majority of their new loans. But regulators said Friday the transition to alternative rates has accelerated ahead of a year-end cutoff.

The Alabama bank is buying Clearsight Advisors to add to its booming capital markets division.

The funding is tied for the second-largest crypto- or blockchain-related venture capital deal of the year with FTX Trading’s $1 billion round in July, after Robinhood Markets' $3.4 billion raise in January, according to PitchBook data.