Tough Talk from Lawsky's Successor

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

No boots: She might not be "Clint Eastwood," but she's about to get pretty familiar with the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to banking.

Maria Vullo, the top financial regulator in New York, warned the banking industry Wednesday that she has no intention of going "easy on serious misconduct." The comments were part of her first public remarks since assuming the role, after being confirmed by the state Senate earlier this month.

While she emphasized a strict stance, Vullo made clear she's going to do it her own way.

"I'm not Clint Eastwood. When they asked me if I'm the new sheriff I told them I don't wear boots," said Vullo, a former corporate lawyer, according to the Financial Times.

At the same time, she signaled that she would be softening a proposal on "transaction monitoring" introduced last year by her predecessor Benjamin Lawsky, who earned a reputation for aggressively pursuing harsh penalties against banks that broke the rules. The proposal would make executives potentially liable if an institution is found to have violated anti-money laundering or terrorist financing policies.

The new regulator also flagged ongoing problems with some financial institutions that have already settled misconduct claims with the state in the past, Reuters reports.

Round 2: House Republicans grilled Fed Chair Janet Yellen Wednesday on whether bank regulation is restricting economic growth, among other policy battles. Wall Street Journal, New York Times

Wall Street Journal

That's a lot of zeros: Bank of America is in talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission over a settlement that could reach nearly half a billion dollars over concerns that the bank failed to properly safeguard consumer accounts and retail brokerage funds. It could prove to be one of the largest agreements the regulator has made with an institution.

Tighter protections: The Financial Stability Board has issued recommendations that would limit mutual fund withdrawals during times of crisis – the move could impact asset managers that oversee trillions of dollars in investor funds. The paper's Heard on the Street column concludes: "Fund managers rightly escaped designation as too big to fail, but they should back the main thrust of these proposals to help ensure safer markets for all."

More trouble? The Justice Department is reportedly investigating the Israeli operations of Credit Suisse over fresh worries about tax evasion, two years after the bank pleaded guilty to helping customers avoid U.S. taxes.

Financial Times

Cross-border experiments: Seven banks, including Santander, CIBC and UniCredit, have successfully used blockchain technology to move money across international borders with the help of a startup called Ripple. New York approved Ripple's application for a digital currency license earlier this month.