In public, finance industry leaders have bailed on a key Saudi Arabian investment conference next week. Behind the scenes, dealmakers bringing in the hard cash are fretting — and still going.

Regtech — the intersection of regulatory compliance and financial innovation — is still taking shape in the U.S with some pushing for "tech sprints" to speed the development of new tools, while some see new threats and opportunities looming in the space. Following is a look at hot-button topics at American Banker's RegTech summit.

The chief executive officers of HSBC and Credit Suisse became the latest top bankers to abandon an investment conference in Saudi Arabia as pressure grows on the kingdom amid allegations it killed a dissident journalist.

Slower-than-expected lending and "lackluster" trading could be concerns; new CEO David Solomon sets his sights on fixed income.

HSBC will pay $765 million to settle allegations that it sold defective residential mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis, resolving one of the London-based bank's last significant legal challenges with the U.S. government.

Several other recent hires may have been an attempt to refute charges it can’t attract top talent; rising rates have helped banks, but a reckoning awaits.

Britton has an important job now, supporting the CIO for one of HSBC's most important regions, but she hopes to someday be a regional chief operating officer, or perhaps even a CEO.

Facial recognition technology and a person-to-person payments app are just two innovations that have sprung from a workplace that fosters creative thinking and welcomes ideas from across the organization.

HSBC's Julia Britton and Diane Reyes share the best advice they have for emerging leaders looking to work their way up to the senior ranks.

Bouazza has taken major steps to restructure the executive teams at HSBC’s offices in Latin America, identifying high-achieving bankers — many of them women — who had been previously overlooked for promotion to senior positions.

HSBC’s Diane Reyes has spent much of the past year spreading this message to the roughly 10,000 employees she leads: Conduct counts.

Wells Fargo CEO tackles cost-cutting, job cuts and rumors he’ll be replaced; banks put up millions to keep uber-rich as depositors.

Goldman's lending and deposit-taking division gets a new chief, while its EMEA head take's responsibility for Goldman's business outside North America; SunTrust's website and mobile app down for second day.

Nine of the world's biggest banks won dismissal of a lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to rig bonds issued by government entities and institutions like the World Bank, after a federal judge said the investors who sued didn't show how the alleged collusion led to higher prices for the securities.

JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are among foreign lenders protesting a Russian central bank plan that would drastically reduce their ability to move funds from local units to their parent companies outside of Russia.

The Minneapolis company said Wednesday that Richard, a senior executive in its risk management office, will succeed Bill Parker in October.

U.S. authorities are forced to take action on some shady dealings up north; the Systemic Risk Council says weaker capital rules could deflate bank equity.

The unnamed customer, who was on a list of suspects involved with weapons of mass destruction, used an HSBC credit card to make 12 payments in the second quarter, the company told shareholders Monday.

With Blankfein retiring, the JPM chief will be the last crisis-era big bank CEO still in charge; earnings and big payouts are boosting bank equity prices.

Federal bank regulators consider roughly a dozen new rules; firms tout tools to help financial institutions bank legal marijuana-related businesses; Mick Mulvaney defends CFPB enforcement powers; and more from this week's most-read stories.