Receiving Wide Coverage ... Moving forward: Citigroup said it hoped to return at least $60 billion to shareholders over the next three years while eventually earning more than $20 billion annually. "We're firmly on track to improve the return on, and the return of, capital," CEO Michael Corbat said at the bank's first investor day since 2008.
"The presentation marked an effort to open a new chapter for Citigroup following years of restructuring in the wake of the bank's near-death experience during the financial crisis," the Wall Street Journal commented. "Our restructuring is over," Corbat asserted. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, American Banker
Not so fast: The Securities and Exchange Commission said companies that raise money by selling their own electronic tokens for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin or (more typically) ether may be subject to federal oversight, including being required to get SEC approval. Initial coin offerings, as they have been dubbed, have become popular of late as a financing tool among startups, with more than $1 billion raised by more than 70 different companies. The prices of several digital currencies fell sharply on the news, with bitcoin falling 10% and ether down 12%.
Meanwhile, a brewing civil war among advocates of the leading digital currency has broken out into the open. A group of investors and entrepreneurs announced plans to create a bitcoin offshoot called Bitcoin Cash. "The plan would seal a divorce between opponents in a long-simmering feud over what bitcoin should be," the New York Times reported. "The bitcoin divide is part of a wider splintering of the world that has sprung up around virtual currencies."
Wall Street Journal First in line: Varo Money is the first financial technology startup to apply for a national banking charter and deposit insurance after the Trump Administration last week endorsed the idea of granting such charters to fintech companies. Varo, which currently partners with banks to provide services for its mobile banking app, said it wants "to be a full-service bank," according to CEO and founder Colin Walsh, a former executive at Wells Fargo and American Express. The company is backed by private-equity firm Warburg Pincus. (Also: American Banker)
Overrule the rule: The Journal's editorial board supports Congressional efforts to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rule that would bar financial firms from requiring arbitration in customer disputes. The rule, it says, is a sop to trial lawyers and doesn't help consumers.
Big decision: President Donald Trump said he is considering renominating Janet Yellen as Federal Reserve chair but is also considering National Economic Council director Gary Cohn for the position. "He doesn't know this, but yes he is [a candidate]," the president said in an interview with the Journal. He said he has "a lot of respect" for Yellen, whose term as chair ends next year. Trump said he was also mulling "two or three" others.
New York Times HUD scolded: The Department of Housing and Urban Development failed to follow the rules properly when it sold 108,000 distressed mortgages to private equity firms and hedge funds, the Office of Inspector General said. The agency said HUD failed to give the public a chance to comment on the program when it sold the loans over a seven-year period during the Obama administration.
The program "raised concerns that the sale of soured mortgages simply hastened the foreclosure process for tens of thousands of cash-strapped borrowers," the Times said. But the inspector general's report "may present a new legal avenue for some affected homeowners to try to stave off a pending foreclosure."
The Charleston-based company agreed to pay $267 million to acquire Piedmont Bank in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. It's United's 34th deal, but the first since 2021.
The Puerto Rico-based company's board of directors has given an additional title to COO Javier Ferrer, naming him president as of May 9. His career path closely resembles that of his boss, CEO Ignacio Alvarez.
Truist Financial completes the sale of its remaining stake in Truist Insurance Holdings; City National Bank has hired Rick Bechtel as executive vice president and head of mortgage and residential lending; Associated Bank names Chun Schiros as its first chief analytics officer; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.
Max Levchin, CEO of the buy now/pay later lender, said recent tests show young adults prefer interacting with intelligent chatbots over phone-based agents, but the company doesn't foresee major cost savings from generative AI for a few more years.
When the Trump tax cuts expire next year, the White House will ask for higher corporate taxes and a buyback tax as Congress enters one of its biggest economic fights of the decade, which will have major implications for bankers.