Latest banking news

October 7, 2022 4:00 PM

Scroll through to see what you might have missed this week in banking, payments, M&A and more.

Mastercard offers guidance for crypto regulation

Gabby Jones/Bloomberg

With cryptocurrency rules and laws in flux, Mastercard has debuted Crypto Secure, a service designed to keep card issuers advised on new and changing regulations that affect digital assets. Using technology from CipherTrace, a cryptocurrency security firm Mastercard acquired in 2021, Crypto Secure will allow firms to assess the risk profile of cryptocurrency exchanges and other firms that sell digital assets. Mastercard's cryptocurrency strategy includes several fronts, such as supporting payments for stablecoins, providing services tied to crypto and engaging with governments on a potential role for central bank digital currencies. — John Adams

Amazon's checkout-free tech expands to Los Angeles arena

David Ryder/Bloomberg

Crypto.com Arena, the home of the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers and Kings, has added two Amazon Grab and Go locations. Consumers insert their payment card at entry gates and select food and beverages. As they exit, the card inserted at the gate is charged for the items. The concept is similar to Amazon Go stores, which use sensors to identify items, then automatically charge shoppers e-commerce accounts upon leaving. Checkout-free retail has existed for several years, and is entering a stage in which the technology is being deployed in legacy settings, placing a premium on minimizing upgrades — the arena locations still use a card for check-in and do not require cameras to detect images. Sports and entertainment facilities are often early adopters of new checkout technology. —John Adams

Bank of America wants to give consumers more access to wealth advisors

Exterior of Bank of America Merrill Lynch building.

Bank of America's wealth unit rolled out a digital program that matches consumers with an advisor to meet rising demand for financial guidance. The firm's Merrill Wealth Management business launched Merrill Advisor Match to capture new consumers looking for help investing and managing their money. "We want to make it easier and simpler for individuals who are seeking financial advice to find a financial advisor," said Jen Auerbach, Merrill's head of client acquisition, retention and strategic growth initiatives. "It is more important today with market volatility, inflation, rising costs, geopolitical risks and people's lives coming out of the pandemic — which continue to be more complex." The bank is aiming the program at newly affluent consumers, those with at least $250,000 of investable assets, according to Auerbach. A third of those wealthy Americans are the first generation in their family to work with a financial advisor, which is even more the case for diverse communities that face higher barriers to entry, she said. The match program will be available on mobile devices and desktops for all consumers, even outside Bank of America. Ultimately a match would require users to keep some of their money with the bank and pay a fee for the services. Over 5,000 advisors opted into the new offering and are ready for pairing, Auerbach said. — Katherine Doherty, Bloomberg News

Home Federal to buy fellow Louisiana bank Northwest

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Home Federal Bancorp of Louisiana in Shreveport agreed to buy Northwest Bancshares in Benton, Louisiana, for $10 million in cash. Northwest Bancshares has $81.7 million of assets, $52.1 million of loans and $65 million of deposits, Home Federal said. "First National provides a natural expansion of our franchise within our home market," James Barlow, chairman and CEO of Home Federal, said in a press release. The $590 million-asset Home Federal expects the acquisition to be about 20% accretive to its earnings per share. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023. — Jim Dobbs

Capital One hacker to serve no additional prison time

A judge sentenced Paige Thompson, a former Amazon Web Services engineer convicted in June for downloading data on more than 100 million Capital One users, to five years of probation. Thompson had spent five months in prison following her arrest in July 2019, which U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik considered time served for one of the seven counts on which she was convicted. Lasnik said during Thompson's sentencing hearing on Tuesday that additional time in prison would be particularly difficult for Thompson because of her mental health and transgender status. — Carter Pape

HSBC hires Credit Suisse's Chua for top Asia M&A role

Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

HSBC Holdings has hired Christopher Chua from Credit Suisse Group to help oversee its mergers and acquisitions business in Asia, people with knowledge of the matter said. Chua, a Hong Kong-based managing director and deputy head of M&A for Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse, has resigned from the bank, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. A representative for Credit Suisse couldn't immediately provide comment, while a spokesperson for HSBC didn't respond to requests for comments. Chua declined to comment. Credit Suisse has become a poaching ground for rivals in recent times, with the Swiss bank struggling to contain the fallout of a series of scandals and flagging performance. It's due to unveil a strategic review this month that is expected to include a large-scale investment-banking retreat. HSBC, meanwhile, has been adding to its ranks of top dealmakers in Asia. Earlier this year, the UK lender hired Sandeep Pahwa from Barclays for a senior role in South Asia. — Vinicy Chan, Joyce Koh and Manuel Baigorri, Bloomberg News, with assistance from Dinesh Nair.

Coinbase hires former Goldman executive for derivatives push

Michael Nagle/Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloo

Usman Naeem on Wednesday announced he's leaving his role as managing director at Goldman Sachs Group to join Coinbase Global's institutional arm for its derivatives efforts. Naeem will serve as global head of derivative sales and agency trading at Coinbase, led by Brett Tejpaul, according to a LinkedIn post by Naeem. Based in London, he spent eight years at Goldman, most recently in equity derivatives. He also worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch from 2009 to 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile. A Coinbase spokesperson confirmed the appointment with Bloomberg. Coinbase has been laying the groundwork to expand into derivatives for months. In January, Coinbase announced its acquisition of the futures exchange FairX, which is registered with U.S. regulators. It is awaiting approval for its futures commission merchant license to offer futures directly to U.S. users. In June, Coinbase extended a hiring freeze and laid off 18% of staff as the market downturn worsened. Individuals from major financial firms such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock, were among those who had employment offers rescinded by Coinbase. The company has since renewed some hiring, including for its overseas expansion. — Yueqi Yang, Bloomberg News

Citizens Financial corporate affairs head leaves for Commerce Dept.

Kelvin Ma/Bloomberg

Barbara Cottam, a 28-year veteran of Citizens Financial in Providence, Rhode Island, has accepted a new position as senior advisor for external affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce, according to the Providence, Rhode Island, bank. Cottam has stepped down from her role as head of corporate affairs at the $226.7 billion-asset bank to help administer the bureau's Internet for All initiative. Citizens has promoted Michelle Hecht from head of communications to replace Cottam. — Jordan Stutts

PNC invests more than $17 billion in its communities

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

PNC Financial Services Group in the first six months of the year deployed about 20% of the $88 billion it has promised to spend on community reinvestment initiatives in its markets — nearly $17.4 billion, in the form of residential mortgages and home equity loans, small-business loans and community development loans. The Pittsburg-based company said it has also opened four branches and added mobile branches to serve customers in underbanked neighborhoods. The commitment to spend $88 billion over four years, which was negotiated in the spring of 2021 with the nonprofit National Community Reinvestment Coalition, was made as PNC awaited approval to acquire the U.S. operations of the Spanish banking giant BBVA. That deal closed in June of last year. — Allissa Kline

First Interstate in Montana names chief banking officer

Vitalii Vodolazskyi - stock.adob

First Interstate BancSystem, the holding company of the $32 billion-asset First Interstate Bank in Billings, Montana, said it has hired Ashley Hayslip to be the subsidiary's chief banking officer. Hayslip most recently was executive vice president of community and business banking for Umpqua Bank in Roseburg, Oregon. Hayslip will officially start her new job Nov. 28. She succeeds Russell A. Lee, who plans to retire at the end of the year. — Frank Gargano