Receiving Wide Coverage ...
Citizens Split: Royal Bank of Scotland filed an initial public offering for U.S. retail business Citizens Financial Group on Monday, part of the British bank's plan to rebuild its troubled finances. Citizens, which is based in Providence, R.I., has 1,370 branches, operating in New England, the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest. RBS previously said it would sell about one quarter of its U.S. business by the end of this year, and would exit it entirely in 2016. The deal is expected to raise roughly $100 million. New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times
Wall Street Journal
The Justice Department's efforts to prosecute Credit Suisse may soon kick off a wave of bank settlements, say anonymice. That could include several big deals with Bank of America and Citigroup over the handling of mortgage-backed securities leading up to the financial crisis.
Too big to be poor? A new analyst study finds no link between shareholder returns and top officers' pay, but does find one between the size of an institution and executive compensation.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac relaxed guidance on mortgage put-backs Monday, a move that could reduce lender concerns and help expand credit.
Financial Times
Barclays lobbied the Fed more actively over the Dodd-Frank law, including new capital requirements, than any other foreign bank and even some major U.S. institutions, according to a new analysis of bank visits to the regulator since 2010.
New York Times
The Federal Reserve is facing a historic shortage of board members, with Governor Jeremy Stein slated to depart near the end of the month. Nominations are pending in the Senate to fill two of the empty seats, but for now, the scarcity of top officials is straining the resources at the regulator to conduct oversight and make key decisions.
Annual meetings have become a headache for major banks fielding grievances from small shareholders, who have been known to ask sticky questions and even yell at executives.
Washington Post
The stress of living near a foreclosed home is found to be linked with a rise in blood pressure, particularly when the house is seized by the bank and remains vacant, scientists have discovered.
