Tag: Banking News (Page 1 of 20)

The JPMorgan Spoofer Sentencing Has Now Been Delayed

Market News Daily - The JPMorgan Spoofer Sentencing Has Now Been Delayed.
Market News Daily – The JPMorgan Spoofer Sentencing Has Now Been Delayed.

The JPMorgan spoofer sentencing has now been delayed according to the latest Bloomberg report published on Thursday.

“A federal judge delayed until next week the sentencing of two former JPMorgan Chase & Co. gold traders convicted last year of spoofing, fraud and attempted market manipulation, so he can review issues raised by defense lawyers hoping to keep their clients out of prison.

Prosecutors had sought a sentence of five years behind bars for Michael Nowak, who ran JPMorgan’s precious-metals trading desk, and six years for Gregg Smith, the bank’s top gold trader.

But during a nearly three-hour hearing Thursday in Chicago federal court, attorneys argued over how to measure, in dollars, the harm to victims of deceptive trading by Nowak and Smith.

US District Judge Edmond Chang, who presided at their trial in August 2022, said he needed at least until next week to review the arguments and the law. New sentencing dates weren’t set, but the judge said the soonest would be next Wednesday.

The JPMorgan case was part of a crackdown by federal prosecutors on illegal spoofing, where traders place bogus orders to move prices up or down and then quickly cancel them before they can be executed. Smith and Nowak used the technique to manipulate gold and silver prices from 2008 to 2016.”

The case is US v. Smith et al, 19-cr-00669, US District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).

Also Read: JP Morgan Manipulated Gold to Keep Hedge Funds Happy

Ex-JPMorgan Gold Spoofers Update

Market News Daily - The JPMorgan Spoofer Sentencing Has Now Been Delayed.
Market News Daily – The JPMorgan Spoofer Sentencing Has Now Been Delayed.

Another person involved is Christopher Jordan, who was convicted of wire fraud affecting a financial institution by a federal judge in Chicago, the latest win for U.S prosecutors in their crackdown on illegal “spoofing” trades and market manipulation.

Jordan was found guilty Friday after a four-day trial in the same courthouse where two of his most senior colleagues on the JPMorgan precious metals desk were convicted in August of spoofing related charges for deceptive buy and sell orders.

Between 2008 and 2010, Jordan placed thousands of spoof orders, i.e., orders that he intended to cancel before execution, to drive prices in a direction more favorable to orders he intended to execute on the opposite side of the market. 

Jordan engaged in this deceptive spoofing strategy while trading gold and silver futures contracts on the Commodity Exchange (COMEX), which is a commodities exchange operated by the CME Group.

These deceptive orders were intended to inject false and misleading information about the genuine supply and demand for gold and silver futures contracts into the markets.

He is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. 

Four other former JPMorgan precious metals traders were previously convicted in related cases.

In August 2022, Gregg Smith and Michael Nowak were convicted after trial in the Northern District of Illinois of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, commodities fraud, attempted price manipulation, and spoofing.

In September 2020, JPMorgan admitted to committing wire fraud in connection with (1) unlawful trading in the markets for precious metals futures contracts and (2) unlawful trading in the markets for U.S. Treasury futures contracts and in the secondary (cash) market for U.S. Treasury notes and bonds.

JPMorgan entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement pursuant to which it paid more than $920 million in criminal monetary penalties, criminal disgorgement, and victim compensation, with parallel resolutions by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities Exchange Commission announced on the same day.

Also Read: JPMorgan is Facing a Second Big Lawsuit Tied to Epstein

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Market News Today - The JPMorgan Spoofer Sentencing Has Now Been Delayed.
Market News Today – The JPMorgan Spoofer Sentencing Has Now Been Delayed.

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Wells Fargo Branches Now Close by an Additional 37

Market News Daily - Wells Fargo Branches Now Close by an Additional 37.
Market News Daily – Wells Fargo Branches Now Close by an Additional 37.

Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) branches have now closed by an additional 37 across the U.S. as online banking competition sweeps new customers.

Daily Mail reports that Wells Fargo has filed to close an additional 37 branches across the US, further accelerating America’s transition to automated banking.

“Six bricks and mortar locations in California are set to be affected – along with four in Florida and Georgia respectively, three in Pennsylvania and others in a dozen more states, according to a bulletin published by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) this month.

All bank branch closures in the US must be cleared by the OCC, which oversees its records and evaluates the effect of those openings and closings on the communities affected.”

It was earlier reported that Wells Fargo was expected to close 23 branches this year, per Journal Now, however these number have only continued to grow.

This trend is not new — in late July, WFMZ News reported that Wells Fargo had made the decision to close its Flourtown, Montgomery County, branch as more and more customers have begun to switch to digital banking.

“Until then, customers can use each branch and bank with us as they always have.”

“This is not an easy decision or one we take lightly,” the bank said.

“Branches continue to play an important role in the way we serve our customers, and we continuously evaluate our branch network in light of changing customer needs, the increase in the use of digital banking and market factors.”

A spokesperson for the bank told DailyMail.com that although branches in many regions are closing, a smaller number are opening in a handful of successful markets.

‘While the total number of branches continues to decline, new branches are being opened in high growth neighborhoods of existing markets, allowing us to offer more branch convenience,’ they wrote. 

‘We may also open new branches where we combine two older existing branches into one better situated location. Additionally, customers use our wide range of digital capabilities for many of their banking needs and, as a result, more transactions are happening outside the branch,’ they added. 

Also Read: Bank of America is Freezing Accounts in New Scandal

More and More Banks Are Closing Physical Branches

Market News Daily - Wells Fargo Branches Now Close by an Additional 37.
Market News Daily – Wells Fargo Branches Now Close by an Additional 37.

Banks of America, Wells Fargo, PNC, and JPMorgan have all begun to close more physical branches.

In Philadelphia, Wells Fargo has closed 17% of its local bank branches since 2020.

PNC is not far behind, shuttering 15% of its branches in the Philadelphia area, per the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Bank of America has also followed suit, closing 5% of its physical locations in the region, as well.

In June, JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) said it will close 21 First Republic Branches by the end of the year amidst the bank’s latest layoffs.

“These locations have relatively low transaction volumes and are generally within a short drive from another First Republic office,” a spokesperson said.

About 100 employees who are affected by the branch closures will be offered six-month transition assignments, though it is not guaranteed everyone will receive a permanent and long-term job.

Big banks are closing branches in New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Washington, D.C., Illinois, and Michigan, as well as out west in Nevada, California, and Arizona, per The Street.

And according to the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Bureau (FDIC), large commercial U.S. banking locations have fallen from 8,000 in 2000 to 4,236 by 2021 and 4,194 by 2022.

“US banks closed 149 branches and opened 49 in March, resulting in a total of 78,588 active branches,” S&P Global Market Intelligence data reported on April 28, 2023.

If the trend of current bank branch closings continues there may be no bank branches left in 10 years.

Self Financial estimates the number of U.S. bank branches will fall from about 60,000 in 2023 to approximately 15,660 in 2030 – and continue falling until there are no bank branches left by 2034.

Also Read: Banks Are Now Closing Thousands of Accounts Daily

Why Are Bank Branches Closing?

banking news today - franknez.com.
Banking news today – Franknez.com.

Bank executives say consumer attitudes have changed with the times.

At Wells Fargo, the banking giant is reporting a plunge in face-to-face teller transactions. 

“Our branch network will continue to be the key to the business, but our customers expect us to provide them with increasingly digitized and seamless banking experiences across all channels,” President and CEO Charles Scharf noted on a recent quarterly earnings call.

“The banking industry is withdrawing from the most vulnerable communities in the country at an astounding clip despite the resumption of normal economic activity in mid-2021,” said Jason Richardson, director of research at the National Community Restoration Coalition.

“After using the initial lockdown phase of the pandemic to double the rate of branch closures, banks maintained that alarming pace in the past year.”

The fact is that more consumers are using competitive online banking platforms such as Ally Bank and Sofi, which provide high yield savings programs.

As more and more people begin to move their money away from traditional banks, the more these big bank branches continue to close.

Also Read: Analysts Make Painful Decision to Downgrade Big Banks

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Market News Today - Wells Fargo Branches Now Close by an Additional 37.
Market News Today – Wells Fargo Branches Now Close by an Additional 37.

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UBS Will Now Pay Whopping $1.44bn for Defrauding Investors

Market News Daily - UBS Will Now Pay Whopping $1.44bn for Defrauding Investors.
Market News Daily – UBS Will Now Pay Whopping $1.44bn for Defrauding Investors.

UBS will now pay a whopping $1.44bn settlement to the Department of Justice for allegedly defrauding its investors who bought bonds backed by mortgages before the financial crisis.

“The case is the last among more than a dozen DOJ prosecutions against banks and other financial institutions over securities backed by subprime loans, the agency said.

Including the UBS case, the DOJ said it reached more than $36 billion in all via settlements with banks including Bank of America, Citigroup and HSBC. Credit Suisse, now owned by UBS, paid $5.3 billion in 2016,” states WSJ.

“You dance with the devil and sell your soul,” an employee wrote about doing business with one of the lenders.

Another described a pool of loans as a “bag of s—.”

UBS initially had argued that it also was a big loser on mortgage-backed bonds and related assets, but failed in an effort to get the lawsuit dismissed.

The bank had to be bailed out by the Swiss government in 2008, largely because of losses related to those mortgage bonds.

UBS in 2018 said it invested $100 billion in the assets and lost more than $45 billion, including nearly $900 million on the deals in the DOJ complaint. 

“Subprime mortgage securities helped to fuel a housing boom and bust that sent the economy into its deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

In 2012, the DOJ put together a task force of federal and state agencies to prosecute banks and other involved parties,” said WSJ.

UBS stock is currently up more than +24% this year-to-date.

Also Read: Credit Suisse is Now Getting Sued Over a Margin Call

[stock_market_widget type=”chart” template=”basic” color=”#5679FF” assets=”UBS” range=”1mo” interval=”1d” axes=”true” cursor=”true” range_selector=”true” display_currency_symbol=”true” api=”yf”]

UBS/Credit Suisse Faced $388m in Fines Just Weeks Ago

Market News Daily - UBS Will Now Pay Whopping $1.44bn for Defrauding Investors.
Market News Daily – UBS Will Now Pay Whopping $1.44bn for Defrauding Investors.

UBS and Credit Suisse faced a whopping $388 million in fines in late July according to the latest financial reports and data.

Credit Suisse has been issued fines totaling $388 million for “significant failures in risk management and governance between 1 January 2020 and 31 March 2021”.

The fines are the result of a co-ordinated investigation between the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and the US Federal Reserve.

UBS Group AG says it will pay $269 million to the Federal Reserve and a further $119 million to the PRA.

The latter fine was reduced from $160 million for the bank’s co-operation in resolving the issue.

The issue arose out of Credit Suisse’s dealings with the former US asset management firm Archegos Capital Management, to which it provided prime brokerage services and engaged in equity total return swaps (TRS).

However, when the asset management firm imploded in March 2021 after defaulting on its margin calls, it left Credit Suisse with losses totalling $5.1 billion, with the PRA stating that it resulted in “significant financial and reputational damage” for the bank, reports Fintech Futures.

The PRA says that the ensuing investigation found that the bank’s risk management oversight and corresponding practices “fell well below the regulatory standards required” and that it presented “an unsound risk culture within the business line that failed to balance considerations of risk against commercial reward appropriately”.

Sam Woods, deputy governor for prudential regulation and CEO of the PRA, says: “Credit Suisse’s failures to manage risks effectively were extremely serious, and created a major threat to the safety and soundness of the firm.

“The seriousness and widespread nature of those failures has led to today’s fine, which is the largest ever imposed by the PRA.”

Also Read: Analysts Make Painful Decision to Downgrade Big Banks

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Market News Today – UBS Will Now Pay Whopping $1.44bn for Defrauding Investors.

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Bank of America is Freezing Accounts in New Scandal

Market News Daily - Bank of America is Freezing Accounts in New Scandal.
Market News Daily – Bank of America is Freezing Accounts in New Scandal.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) is either freezing bank accounts or closing accounts linked to Coinbase according to a number of customers in the bank’s latest scandal.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong took conducted a poll after a user said their Bank of America account had been closed for no apparent reason after a 15-year run.

The Bank of America customer stated that they do Coinbase transactions directly from the bank.

“This is a war on Bitcoin & crypto”, they said on Twitter.

At the time of this publication, more than 1,400 users voted to have been affected by a similar or same occurrence.

“Closed my account with them in 2010 after 10yrs. Worst bank I ever had,” said one user.

“Following the recent lawsuits by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against major crypto players Binance and Coinbase, banking institutions have grown cautious about engaging with these firms,” says Coinpedia.

But this isn’t Bank of America’s first rodeo in violating its customers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday that an investigation found that Bank of America harmed hundreds of thousands of customers across multiple product lines over a period of several years through a series of illegal practices.

Bank of America is paying a whopping $250 million fine for double charging insufficient fund fees and opening new accounts without customer’s knowledge or consent.

While not everyone may be experiencing Bank of America freeze or close their bank accounts relating to crypto, it’s undoubtly a mess for those who are.

Related: How to Invest in Cryptocurrency for Beginners

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Latest Bank of America News

Market News Daily - Bank of America is Freezing Accounts in New Scandal.
Market News Daily – Bank of America is Freezing Accounts in New Scandal.

A new study shows Bank of America is leading in market cap losses compared to its peers this year.

Dow Jones market data shows Bank of America has suffered a -$36.9 billion drop in market capitalization since March 8 of this year.

In second place is U.S. Bancorp with -$20.11 billion, followed by Truist at -$17.49 billion.

Wells Fargo earns fourth place with a market cap loss of -13.91 billion and PNC in fifth with -$8.69 billion in losses.

Regulators have said that the banking system is safe and that deposits have stabilized after record outflows across the system in the first quarter.

Many banks still posted solid first-quarter profits because they were able to charge more interest on loans than they paid to depositors, per WSJ.

However, investors and customers remain on alert.

A report in June showed that Americans pulled $472bn from big banks in the first quarter, more than the $100 billion previously reported.

The $472 billion outflow in deposits outpaced the drop that banks saw following 2008 financial crash shattering a 29-year record,” says Boston Business Journal.

Investors dumped banks after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March which sparked a crisis of confidence in the system and led short sellers to take advantage of the volatility.

Now banks are bracing for more turmoil heading into the third quarter this year.

Bank of America stock is down more than -11% this year-to-date.

Also Read: Analysts Make Painful Decision to Downgrade Big Banks

[stock_market_widget type=”chart” template=”basic” color=”#5679FF” assets=”BAC” range=”1mo” interval=”1d” axes=”true” cursor=”true” range_selector=”true” display_currency_symbol=”true” api=”yf”]

Largest US Banks Are Now Seeing Record Plunge in Deposits

The 25 largest US banks are now seeing a record plunge in deposits according to the latest study conducted by the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED).

According to the FRED data, between July 5 and the most current reading on July 26, the 25 largest U.S. banks saw a plunge of $174 billion in deposits.

Deposits at the 25-largest domestically-chartered U.S. commercial banks peaked at $11.680 trillion on April 13, 2022, according to the updated H.8 data maintained at the Federal Reserve Economic Database.

As of the most current H.8 data for the week ending on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, deposits stood at $10.709 trillion at those 25 commercial banks, a dollar decline of $970 billion and a percentage decline of 8.3 percent.

In fact, small banks have performed better than big banks in terms of inflow.

Despite all of the misleading news reports about depositors seeking out the perceived safety of the largest banks since the banking crisis in the spring, it’s actually been the smaller banks that have staged a comeback on growing deposits since the week of April 26,” says Wall Street on Parade.

“This breakdown does not give the American people a quick pulse beat on the dangers lurking in the U.S. banking system – a system that imploded in 2008 and was on its way to imploding again this spring until the Fed stepped in with another bailout program. In the span of seven weeks this spring, running from March 10 to May 1, the second, third, and fourth largest bank failures in U.S. history occurred.

In order of size, those were: First Republic Bank (May 1), Silicon Valley Bank (March 10) and Signature Bank (March 12). The largest bank failure in U.S. history, Washington Mutual, occurred in 2008 during the financial crisis.

Because there are only four domestically-chartered commercial banks in the U.S. with more than $1 trillion in deposits – JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup’s Citibank – it behooves Americans to closely monitor what is happening at these four banks, which hold such a highly concentrated share of the banking system’s deposits and assets.

That is especially true given that one of those four banks, Citigroup, blew itself up in 2008 and received the largest Fed and Treasury bailout in U.S. banking history.”

Also Read: Money Expert Warns Government May Freeze New Bank Withdrawals

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Market News Today - Bank of America is Freezing Accounts in New Scandal.
Market News Today – Bank of America is Freezing Accounts in New Scandal.

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