RIAs

Wells Fargo joins Bank of America, Citi and Charles Schwab in stepping away from its DEI policies.

Citi's head of wealth said the firm is already working with a quarter of the billionaires in the world through its private bank. Now it just needs them to entrust it with managing more of their money.

The big payday comes after a year in which the bank made progress toward the removal of a federally imposed asset cap.

The avalanche of cases announced Friday included charges against a no-longer registered advisor and firm accused of misappropriating more than $20 million from clients.

Nicholas Takahashi and his team are accused of deliberately trying to poach the clients of a former colleague managing hundreds of millions in assets and producing more than $1 million a year in revenue.

The South Carolina-based bank considers itself a buyer, but has put the 17 months since announcing its last acquisition to good use, reassessing multiple business lines and upgrading technology.

Researchers wonder if similar regulatory attention could eventually hit the bottom lines of independent broker-dealers and RIAs.

Like its Wall Street rival Morgan Stanley, Citi sees a path to trillions in client assets in its workplace division.

The latest appointment comes amid Citi's continued overhaul of its executive ranks and wealth business.

The banking giant nonetheless saw strong growth in net new assets in the first quarter and a 14% jump in returns from asset management fees.