OCC backs off arbitration rule; bitcoin knockoff set to trade

Receiving Wide Coverage ...
Let Congress do it: Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika said he wouldn't try to delay the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rule that prohibits banks from mandating arbitration in customer disputes. Rather, he said he will defer to Congress to take action; Republican lawmakers are seeking to repeal the rule using the congressional Review Act. Noreika, who has claimed that the rule could threaten the safety and soundness of the financial system, had been considering asking the Financial Stability Oversight Council to temporarily halt the rule. Wall Street Journal, Reuters, American Banker here and here

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Cash cow: HSBC, which announced an additional $2 billion of stock buybacks on Monday on the heels of the $3.5 billion it announced last year, may have even more to give. The Wall Street Journal's Heard on the Street column calls the bank "a cash machine with plenty left to give."

The Financial Times notes that Monday's announcement shows that the "long, hard slog" chairman Douglas Flint and CEO Stuart Gulliver have been on since they took over leadership of the bank at the end of 2010 "now seems to be finally paying off."

Wall Street Journal
Let's be friends: The 40% decline in second quarter fixed-income trading has "rattled" executives at Goldman Sachs, "sparking a charm offensive designed to showcase a more customer-friendly Goldman, focused on solving clients' problems rather than steering them into trades that benefit the firm's bottom line."

I Can't Believe It's Not Bitcoin!: Bitcoin Cash, a new version of the digital currency bitcoin that is scheduled to be launched on Tuesday, "is causing confusion as exchanges and brokerages scramble to deal with the new currency," the Journal reports. The development is "the latest twist in a political quarrel for control over the network that controls bitcoin's trading."

From CIO to CEO: Tim Buckley, Vanguard Group's chief investment officer, was recently named president of the mutual fund giant and is expected to be named CEO early next year. He talks to the Journal's CIO Journal about how his background as the company's former chief information officer prepared him for his new roles.

"My time as chief information officer at Vanguard provided a unique vantage point of just how technology can solve business issues and drive value," he said. "Our digital experience, cyber safeguards and IT systems are the backbone of how we do business."

Financial Times
Going robotic: JPMorgan Chase will soon be using "first-of-its-kind" robots to execute trades in its global equities algorithms business, the FT reports. A recent test of the bank's new artificial intelligence system in Europe found it was more efficient than traditional trading methods.

Exit toll: Expenses at British banks will increase by as much as four percent and their capital requirements will rise by up to 30% because of Brexit, according to the Oliver Wyman consulting firm. "The findings will make grim reading for [the firm's] bank clients, many of which are struggling with low profitability," the FT commented.

Bright move: Brighthouse Financial, MetLife's soon-to-be spun-off consumer business, will be joining the S&P 500. The company, which will focus on life insurance and annuities, is scheduled to be spun off after the market closes on Friday and begin trading as a separate company on August 7. Brighthouse will replace auto retailer AutoNation on the index.

Quotable
"Given that Congress is considering use of the congressional Review Act to overturn the CFPB's final rule, I will not petition the FSOC to stay the effective date of the rule." — Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika on his decision not to try to block the CFPB's rule prohibiting mandatory arbitration in customer disputes.