Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

The bank is likely to tout asset management at its upcoming investor day; credit union assets have exceeded banks' growth in the past decade.

The number of fintech startups has declined rapidly; several banks are using customer data to help customize retail offers.

The bank’s top shareholders want the chairman to quit if he won’t support the CEO; HSBC expected to go forward with job cuts while searching for permanent boss.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Wow, what a morning. Scan is still trying to decide whether today's confluence of events out of Washington and Wall Street is poetically just, ironic or just plain spooky. A flood of headlines centered on finalization of the Volcker Rule, a congressional budget deal and the fifth anniversary of Bernard Madoff's arrest. That's a big agenda, but, for brave readers and those who had to get their kids to school early, let's have at the most important matters:

Receiving Wide Coverage ...What's Another $2 Billion at This Point? Paul Volcker and his eponymous rule have been hogging the financial headlines for far too long this week. Time for JPMorgan Chase to take back its usual place at the center of the spotlight, today with news that it's nearing yet another multi-billion-dollar payout to government authorities. This one involves jailed Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff and a deferred-prosecution agreement for actual criminal charges against JPMorgan for turning a blind eye to Madoff's scam as it banked him, anonymice tell the papers.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Efforts to Cool Bitcoin Fever: The European Banking Authority, which has previously raised concerns with risks tied to virtual currencies such as Bicoin, issued a statement on Friday warning of the possibility of "violent fluctuations in electronic currencies" value and the danger of "digital wallets" being hacked. European authorities argue that consumers should be aware the industry is unregulated and will not be protected. The warning comes after the Bank of China last week restricted its own financial institutions from using Bitcoin as a currency. Financial Times, New York Times

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Yes, Virginia, There is a Volcker Rule: Columnists on both sides of the pond spent the weekend parsing the true meaning of the Volcker Rule, now that U.S. regulators have finalized it. Echoing a piece in American Banker last Tuesday, Gretchen Morgenson concludes in the New York Times that with so many aspects of the measure still open to interpretation — like, um, is this activity an endeavor in approved market making or a thinly veiled attempt at proprietary trading — the success or failure of Volcker "will depend upon the appetite of financial regulators to regulate." So how hungry are the regulators, exactly? That remains unclear. For now, Morgenson argues, Volcker's real gift is a "long overdue" discussion about regulatory accountability. Over in the FT, meanwhile, John Authers opines that having "more qualitative judgement by regulators should work far better" than the useless prescriptions of Basel II (see: 2008 global financial crisis). But that's if regulators can avoid being "outfoxed" by their more handsomely compensated counterparts in the banking sector, he notes.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Downsizing After Volcker: In what the Journal pegs as an "unforeseen consequence" of the recently released Volcker Rule, more than a dozen small and regional banks will likely need to sell collateralized debt obligations. Case in point: Zions Bancorp, which said it would take a $387 million charge to get rid of a large CDO portfolio, as a result of the Volcker Rule's treatment of CDOs comprised of trust preferred securities. "The unexpected announcement by Zions … is an indication that the impact of the Volcker Rule will not just be felt at traditional Wall Street firms but at other kinds of banks as well," echoes Dealbook. JPMorgan Chase, meanwhile, is selling an Asia-based principal investment business, valued at more than $1 billion. Potential buyers include Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR. According to the FT, "while the operation … does not directly fall foul of the new Volcker rule restricting proprietary investments, bankers at JPMorgan say it is only a matter of time before regulators may decide it is a risk-taking business." The FT also reports that Citigroup and Santander have sold $1 billion of trade finance assets in a securitization, though that sale is attributed primarily to new Basel capital rules, which "hurt the profitability of assets that banks would have typically held."

Receiving Wide Coverage ...JPM Lawsuits, Etc.: JPMorgan Chase sued the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Tuesday for over $1 billion, alleging that the regulator did not honor its obligation to cover legal claims against Washington Mutual. JPM, of course, acquired WaMu in a hastily drawn-up deal at the height of the financial crisis. (We're saying "hastily drawn-up" here, since the agreement apparently lacks specifics over who exactly is liable for what.) JPM is not seeking restitution for the landmark $13 billion mortgage settlement it reached with the Justice Department in November, because, you know, as part of that settlement, it agreed not to. The bank is, however, looking for the FDIC receivership to cover damages from "24 suits brought by a variety of investors, for which it said it should not have to take responsibility," reports the FT. The bank includes settlements paid out to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over bad loans they purchased from WaMu. Spokespersons from both sides are declining to comment. The Journal notes that JPM's "confrontation with one regulator comes as the bank faces a host of other legal headaches and investigations into everything from its overseas hiring practices to its trading operations." In fact, just yesterday, the bank was sued by Mississippi's attorney general over its credit card debt collection practices. And, in case you haven't had your fill of JPM news this morning, a new report, per the Journal, has found JPM "is the least likely among 15 big U.S. commercial banks to return large amounts of excess capital to shareholders over the next three years."

Receiving Wide Coverage ...The Taper: The Federal Reserve announced it will begin cutting back on bond purchases next month, sooner than many economists expected. While this is generally viewed as a vote of confidence in the economy by departing Chairman Ben Bernanke, the central bank cautioned it would keep short-term rates near zero until "well past" when unemployment falls below 6.5% (it was 7% last month). The decision to "taper" asset purchases is one less thing for Janet Yellen to worry about when she succeeds Bernanke next month, but she'll still have a full plate, according to a sidebar in the Journal (which focuses exclusively on monetary policy issues and doesn't mention bank regulation, which presents a whole other set of challenges). In an op-ed in the FT, economics professor Barry Eichengreen calls the taper announcement a "non-event": "These changes are inconsequential by the standards of the dramatic and unprecedented developments in monetary policy that we have seen since 2008; $10bn of [reductions in] monthly securities purchases are a drop in the bucket for a central bank with a $4tn balance sheet. … It is a way for the Fed to signal to its detractors that it hears their criticisms of its unconventional monetary policies, and that it shares their desire to return to business as usual. … But, at the same time, the central bank has also signalled that it is not prepared to return to normal monetary policy until a normal economy has returned."