Editor's note: Morning Scan will not publish on Monday, January 20 in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. We'll be back on Tuesday, January 21.
Receiving Wide Coverage ...
Want Respect? Earn It: The Wall Street Journal focused on Citi, observing that poor financial results may have stolen some of CEO Michael Corbat's mojo with investors who want him to be more aggressive with cost-cutting and revenue generation. Heard on the Street states that Citi needs to break the habit of disappointing investors. The publication also took a quick look at Goldman Sachs. The Financial Times focused on investor pessimism over earnings at Goldman and Citi, noting that trading revenues underwhelmed.
Wall Street Journal
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency debuted risk-management standards for financial institutions with more than $50 billion in assets. The plan puts more responsibility on directors to make sure the rules are followed, while requiring banks to have independent audit and risk-management officers. Our coverage of the proposal can be found here.
The data breach at Target appears to be part of a broader hacking campaign against the retail industry, according to a public report from iSight Partners, a cybersecurity firm, and a private memo from the Department of Homeland Security. An executive at iSight declined to tell the Wall Street Journal any specifics of the attack.
The Sacramento Kings want to become the first major sports team to accept Bitcoin. The basketball franchise hopes that, by March 1, fans can use the alternative currency to buy anything from concessions to tickets. You can also read about it in American Banker.
Financial Times
Moelis & Co., a boutique investment bank that has Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group among its investors, is planning to go public. The firm is taking advantage of the JOBS Act, which allows it to confidentially register with securities regulators.
Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota warned that the Fed has been complacent in how it handles inflation, highlighting concerns elsewhere about deflation. "We're running the risk of being content with inflation running consistently below our target. That's inappropriate," he said in an interview. "Right now we're sitting with an outlook for inflation that even by 2016 ... is not getting back to 2%."
New York Times
The publication takes a close look at reserves banks set up to address mortgage settlements and other types of litigation. Specifically, the article takes aim at the lack of disclosures about those reserves.
And there was another send off for departing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. The retrospective came after Bernanke's talk at the Brookings Institution.
