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.

The bank sees its global reach as an advantage in supporting evolving business customer needs.

At 4 feet tall and with a child's voice, Pepper won't replace tellers, but it can help bank customers interested in applying for a credit card or having issues with an ATM.

HSBC is the first bank in the U.S. to deploy SoftBank's lifelike Pepper robot in a branch to help customers learn about bill pay, remote check capture and even ask the weather — but in Pepper's current iteration, it won't take deposits or payments.

HSBC worked with Maritz marketing to tap AI to predict which categories of rewards—travel, merchandise, gift cards or dining—consumers were most likely to use, factoring in their seasonal tendencies and past behavior.

The bank's $17 billion investment in growth businesses is not seen as a game changer; Synchrony working with retail partners to make credit decisions on the fly.

Fixing HSBC's troubled U.S. division will be one of the "most challenging" parts of the lender's new $17 billion strategy, Chief Executive Officer John Flint said.

Banks are extending maturities and making loans to riskier credits to boost volume; banks cut their muni holdings as tax rates drop.

Mary Kate Loftus spearheaded a $131 million digital initiative to improve the customer experience, deepen relationships and attract more of HSBC’s target consumer segments. She was one of our Digital Banker of the Year finalists for 2018.

Europe's PSD2 data-sharing standards are meant to foster cooperation in the market, but banks are getting more competitive as they seek to plug a revenue drain the new rules threaten.

The move is part of a larger trend to provide enterprise customers with tech capabilities available to retail customers.

Costs rose at the global bank, profit in North America fell 16% and questions are mounting for new CEO John Flint ahead of the release of his strategic plan.

The bank’s head of global capital markets is joining a private equity firm; Jefferies mortgage bond trader is freed from prison.

Overseas firms have been subject to nonpublic versions of the Federal Reserve reviews, but observers say some foreign banks may be tripped up by the public version.

HSBC Chief Executive Officer John Flint and Chairman Mark Tucker are considering shrinking the bank's global imprint even further as part of a plan set to be revealed over coming months, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

HSBC agreed to pay $100 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit by over-the-counter investors, including the city of Baltimore and Yale University, who claimed they were harmed when they bought securities tied to rigged Libor.

HSBC is letting artificial intelligence software predict the types of reward offers card customers prefer. It's driving up response rates in marketing tests, but the process raises privacy and other issues.

The gap, already more than three times the national average, will widen to 60% this year, the company said in a report Thursday.

Despite past missteps in the U.S. mortgage business, the bank is giving it another go, bringing servicing in-house and catering to millennials and international clients here, says HSBC’s Raman Muralidharan.

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is reportedly considering leaving by the end of this year; American Express plans to reduce its merchant fees to stay competitive.