Bankers from Citigroup were partying with clients one night in May 2018 at a downtown Manhattan hot spot called Catch.

The two megabanks have agreed to release a ratio that measures their level of financing for low-carbon energy versus fossil fuels. The banks' moves follow pressure regarding climate change from entities associated with New York City's local government.

Barclays has long faced questions from investors about the viability of its Wall Street operations because the investment bank consumes more capital than other, higher-returning divisions across the firm.

The megabank, which is eliminating about 5,000 jobs in a first round of restructuring, said that it's paused its annual review of racial and gender pay gaps. Citi will conduct a 2023 review sometime later this year, a source said.

The average annual cash bonus fell 2% to $176,500 in 2023, the lowest since 2019. The drop was far less dramatic than it was in 2022, when the average bonus slumped 25%.

Truist has made about 20 hires including bankers, traders, and sales personnel from Wells Fargo, Hilltop Securities and T. Rowe Price, to build up its muni team.

The hiring of Viswas Raghavan as Citi's head of banking is the latest move by the global bank to attract talent from rivals. His departure set off more leadership tweaks at JPMorgan Chase.

Amid an upturn in deposits, banks are searching for ways to put this new cash to work. The traditional option — boosting lending — is hard to do right now. That's left banks to park more money in high-quality securities that they believe will boost returns without heaping on too much credit risk.

The revamp would be the latest effort by CEO Bill Winters to improve Standard Chartered's returns. The bank's shares have languished under the 62-year-old CEO and currently trade about 40% below where they traded when he took the reins in 2015. 

The megabank recently received three notices of matters requiring immediate attention, and it also failed regulatory exams, Reuters reported. Since 2020, Citigroup's regulators have been pressuring the company to clean up its risk management systems.

The company is considering whether to cut 51 roles across its wealth business in London as the division's new chief looks for ways to boost the returns generated by the unit, according to a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg

An increase in deposits in recent months is prompting banks to seek out high-quality fixed-income assets to deploy money, market watchers say. The return of Wall Street buyers has pushed spreads well below year-end levels, jump-starting CLO creation and ginning up demand for loans.

The megabank failed to adequately protect and reimburse customers who were victims of wire-transfer fraud, according to a lawsuit by the New York Attorney General. Citi said that it follows all relevant laws and regulations.

The bank didn't unveil any new climate commitments, but mapped out the changes it sees as necessary to decarbonize the heavy-emitting industries it still finances.

As companies downsize and restructure, American Banker is tracking these decisions to help our readers understand how their industries are adapting.

Financial institutions, led by the biggest U.S. banks and regional lenders, have dominated high-grade issuance, making up over 60% of the $149 billion that has priced so far this month.

Now that leveraged loan markets have calmed down — and interest rate cuts are on the horizon — investment banks want to get some of the business back.