Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Trader Sneak Peek Ending: Thomson Reuters will suspend providing a select group of investors with advance results of an important consumer confidence survey from the University of Michigan. The financial information company pays the school more than $1 million a year for the privilege of being the exclusive distributor of the report and releases the data two seconds early to about a dozen clients, who pay a hefty fee. Legal experts claim that the arrangement does not violate insider trading laws, the New York Times says. Thomson Reuters is a not a government agency, so it can distribute information as it sees fit as long as it discloses the practice. But New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman began investigating in April to see if the advance look violates state securities-fraud law. Thomson Reuters "is fully cooperating with the N.Y. Attorney General's review and made this change voluntarily at the request of the Attorney General," the company said in a statement, according to the Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal, New York Times

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Eye on Auditors: You know it's a slow day in the U.S. banking world when the only story that qualifies as "receiving wide coverage" is about proposed legislation that would prevent the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board from forcing companies to periodically rotate their auditors. Late Monday, the House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would block the PCAOB from requiring companies to change auditors — an idea that was first proposed by the agency's chairman, James Doty, in 2011. The House vote is a victory for public companies, which have long argued that mandatory auditor rotation would not improve quality because it takes years for auditors to fully understand the companies they cover. The bill's sponsors said the legislation was meant to send a message to European regulators, who are considering auditor term limits. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Beyond Basel: U.S. regulators proposed Tuesday that the nation's biggest banks adhere to a 5% leverage ratio with their FDIC-insured bank subsidiaries subject to a 6% ratio, double the requirement set by Basel III. The Journal calls the proposal "the first in a series of steps regulators plan to take to address ongoing concerns that banks remain so large, complex and interconnected that they could require another government bailout in the event of a future crisis." The FT notes "the U.S. plan could refocus pressure on other jurisdictions where banks continue to operate with relatively low leverage ratios." Several news outlets cite a Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysis that shows only two of the eight firms affected by the U.S. proposal — Bank of America and Wells Fargo — currently meet the new threshold. Under the plan, banks facing capital shortfalls "have until the end of 2017 to comply with the higher requirements," the Times reports, but the article notes regulators' "latest push could meet fierce resistance, however." In fact, the proposal has already garnered criticism. "On one side are some top regulators, including Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig, and some lawmakers on Capitol Hill who argue the plan does not go far enough," reports American Banker's Donna Borak. "On the other are bankers and their representatives who contend the proposal is excessive."

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Talking Rates: More communication and more interpretation. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks at a conference Wednesday and the release of the minutes of the central bank's June policy meeting delivered two major themes. Like other officials recently, Bernanke sought to decouple tapering of the Fed's asset purchases, which could begin later this year, from views on its policy rate, saying that "the overall message is accommodation." Meanwhile, the minutes showed divisions among the Fed's regional presidents and board members, with one block inclined to end the asset purchases by yearend and another inclined to wait for a stronger outlook for the labor market. Markets, which appear to have been trading as though the Fed's posture on asset purchases says something about its posture on the path of short-term rates, didn't move much, with the Dow ending the day about flat. According to the Journal, Bernanke said he would not have changed his previous comments. "The market volatility of the past six weeks could have been much worse if he had kept silent on their plans for winding down the program, misleading investors into thinking the bond-buying could go on forever, Mr. Bernanke said."

Breaking News This Morning ...JPM Earnings: JPMorgan Chase's profit rose by 31% in the second quarter, thanks, in part, to gains in its investment banking business. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg

Breaking News This Morning ...Citi Earnings: Citigroup profit rose 42% in the second quarter, due, in part, to cost-cutting and growth in emerging markets. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, American Banker

Breaking News This Morning ...Goldman Earnings: Goldman Sachs doubled its profit in the second quarter, thanks, in part, to strong trading revenue. Wall Street Journal, New York Times

Breaking News This Morning ...BAC Earnings: Bank of America's profit rose 63% in the second quarter, due largely to strong trading revenue and cost-cutting. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, American Banker

Breaking News This Morning ...Morgan Stanley Earnings: Morgan Stanley's profit rose 66% in the second quarter due largely to strong trading revenue. The firm also announced it is buying back $500 million worth of its own stock. Wall Street Journal, New York Times

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Here Come the Regulators: A few Times articles echo a sentiment the FT's Tom Braithwaite alluded to earlier this week: A healthy earnings season may serve as the go-ahead for more big bank regulation in the U.S. "In recent weeks, the Treasury Department, senior regulators and members of Congress have stepped up efforts intended to make the largest banks safer," a Dealbook article notes. "The banks have warned that more regulation could undermine their ability to compete and curtail the amount of money they have to lend, but the strong earnings that came out over the last week could undercut their argument." Economist Simon Johnson believes that high profits signal danger for the megabanks. "In Europe, regulation remains weak, and the banks are floundering," he writes in a Times column. "In the United States, the rules are tightening, and the big banks are doing great. Once American politicians and regulators reflect further on exactly why the banks have become so profitable, this will only reinforce the latest push for more reform." Elsewhere, the Journal profiles the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which slapped Barclays with a big fine for alleged energy market manipulation earlier this week and is currently negotiating a settlement in a similar case against JPMorgan Chase. "Some people familiar with its enforcement operations think the commission is just getting started as it scrutinizes the once obscure world of electricity trading," the paper reports. Dealbook, meanwhile, notes that the industry-financed Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is moving to determine whether high-frequency trading firms pose a threat to the stability of financial markets. Finra "sent letters to 10 high-speed trading firms this week, asking them for more information about their trading programs and the steps they have in place to avert 'market disruptions,'" the paper reports.