Dudley’s warning on cutting capital rules: Goldman names strategy head

Receiving Wide Coverage ...
Leave it alone: As expected, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said its president, William Dudley, will step down in the middle of next year. But he apparently isn’t going quietly. On Monday, in a speech to the Economic Club of New York, he issued “a stark public warning against rolling back laws aimed at keeping large banks and Wall Street firms in check, the latest Fed official to voice concerns about a trend toward deregulation under the Trump administration,” in the words of the New York Times.

He urged that any changes to Dodd-Frank be made “with a paring knife, rather than with a meat cleaver,” specifically warning against easing bank capital rules. Wall Street Journal here and here, New York Times

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and American Banker each take an in-depth look at Fed chair nominee Jerome Powell.

Fed Chair-designate Jerome Powell with President Trump
Jerome Powell, governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve and President Donald Trump's nominee as chairman of the Federal Reserve, speaks as Trump, left, listens during a nomination announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017. If approved by the Senate, the 64-year-old former Carlyle Group LP managing director and ex-Treasury undersecretary would succeed Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Incubator: Goldman Sachs has named Stephanie Cohen its head of strategy “as it looks to incubate new businesses and find different sources of revenue,” the Journal says. She replaces Stephen Scherr, who will focus on running Goldman’s new consumer and commercial banking division.

“The move makes Ms. Cohen one of the highest-ranking women at Goldman, especially with the departure of Edith Cooper, head of human resources,” the paper says, noting the bank has been trying to promote more women. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times

Still pushing: Wells Fargo is launching a robo wealth advisory service, hoping to attract more of its retail banking clients to its brokerage unit.

The service, called Intuitive Investor, is targeted at existing customers and shows the bank is determined “to keep pushing new products in spite of the ‘cross-selling’ scandal that rocked the retail finance industry” last year, the FT notes. “Yet Wells says it has changed its ways and is keen to capture a bigger share of the small yet fast-growing market for digital investment advice.”

Wall Street Journal
Questions remain: Equifax’s chief attorney apparently isn’t home free yet for his role in approving the sale of stock by four company executives shortly after the data breach at the credit bureau was discovered. Last Friday, the company issued a report exonerating the executives who sold stock, saying they didn’t have knowledge of the hack. “But the report didn’t address the level of knowledge John J. Kelley, Equifax’s chief legal officer, had about the suspicious activity when his office approved the share sales,” the paper reports. The company is continuing to look into his role.

Role model: Barbara Duck, BB&T’s CIO, has been battling an aggressive form of breast cancer even as she continues to lead about 2,200 bank employees. Despite being in the middle of 19 rounds of radiation, she “is still engaged in the agenda of the business,” the paper says. “The opportunities that we will be able to offer our clients and associates through digital technology are amazing,” she tells the paper's CIO Journal.

Quotable
“We should not lose sight of the horrific damage caused by the financial crisis, including the worst recession of our lifetimes and millions of people losing their jobs and homes. We had a woefully inadequate regulatory regime in place, and while it is much better now, there is still work to do.” — Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley.

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Dodd-Frank William Dudley Jerome Powell Goldman Sachs Equifax BB&T
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