Risk

With some 3.5 million ATMs all needing to be converted Windows 10 at the same time, some credit unions are being proactive now to avoid the mad rush.

Identifying threats to a single bank or the financial system as a whole can be tricky, but there are steps bankers can take to protect themselves.

The Fed determined that Jacob Goldstein, who was also president of NBRS Financial Bank, improperly signed off on loans without telling the board that he would benefit from them. The bank failed in 2014.

Like similar bans on using credit cards to buy stock and derivatives, banks would rather people use credit cards for other purposes than buying bitcoin, writes Alfred Duncan, a lecturer at the University of Kent.

The one-notch downgrade, announced Wednesday, came in response to the Fed's unprecedented decision to halt asset growth at the embattled bank.

Regulators have repeatedly found that financial firms with more than $100 billion in assets can pose systemic risks.

This trend will continue until banks have addressed key vulnerabilities, according to John Gunn and David Vergara of VASCO Data Security.

Wells has tapped Sarah Dahlgren for a newly created position overseeing regulatory relations as the megabank tries try to remove the cloud of its phony-accounts scandal.

Data analytics provider RELX Group has agreed to acquire ThreatMetrix and its digital risk-assessment network for $816.5 million (580 million pounds) in cash.

Some bankers spread the religion of this year's feel-good World Economic Forum, but others were more circumspect. The list of potential threats remains lengthy — including trade wars and the bursting of the bitcoin bubble — and all pose risks to banks and the economy.

Financial firms have mostly shrugged off the government's budget woes, but Washington's gridlock might pose a bigger risk than they think.

The proliferation of wearable devices, their increasing sophistication, the uptick in wearable-optimized applications and the willingness of consumers to trade PII for convenience is converging to create a perfect storm of risk that has the potential to threaten commercial enterprises, writes Michael Lynch, chief strategy officer at InAuth.

The wave of sexual harassment claims has forced a very public reckoning in certain industries, but financial services firms had largely escaped the spotlight. The departure of a Bank of America executive could signal that the industry has problems lurking behind the scenes.

Wells may have settled with former employee Claudia Ponce de Leon because it wanted to avoid the "massive exposure" of a jury trial, an expert says. It is unclear how the agreement will affect Wells’ other cases.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions did not keep the rest of Washington apprised of his plan to rescind an Obama-era memo on pot. Now Fincen and other federal banking agencies are dealing with the backlash from that decision.

Breaches help crooks diversify, but stolen cards thrive in the black market, writes Angel Grant, director at RSA's fraud and risk intelligence unit.

The San Francisco bank said that Michael Loughlin's departure is unrelated to the sales scandal that has dogged the company for the last 16 months.

To date, the vast majority of security investment has focused firmly on keeping the bad guys out. It only ever works to a certain extent. This is because there is much greater impetus for the hackers to devise new methodologies to gain access and the security industry at large is only ever playing catch up, writes James Barham, chief commercial officer at PCI Pal.

The disclosure of a key part of Wells Fargo's exam rating is fueling speculation that further regulatory action may soon be taken against the megabank and raising renewed questions about its regulator's oversight.

While the intermediaries that record and verify transactions such as payments are removed, the remaining parties may not be ready for shifting responsibilities to guarantee transactions, writes Sebastian Venderzeil, a director at Cornerstone.