Investors appear to have lost confidence in diversified cross-border banking models, forcing banks to decide what they do best.
Americas
Latest articles from US
Fee criticism brings costs quandary for US retail banks
February 1, 2012With traditional revenue streams taking a hit as a result of new regulations, retail banks in the US face a predicament. Should they risk losing customers by increasing their fees to cover costs, or is there another strategy that will appease shareholders and customers alike?
Politics can still trump prudence
February 1, 2012Regulators are making much of macroprudential tools to prevent future bubbles. But regulatory capture remains an obvious risk.
Are emerging market banks more transparent?
December 21, 2011
Banks in emerging markets appear to run greater risks to achieve greater returns. But they may just be more conservative in assessing their risks.
Mind the GAAP on bank leverage
December 8, 2011
US GAAP accounting standards may offer a misleading picture of leverage among five of the largest American banks relative to their European counterparts, because US banks net out derivatives exposure when calculating total assets.
CFTC commodity rules divide financial world
December 1, 2011The US's Commodity Futures Trading Commission's new rules were passed by a slim majority of three to two and met with much chagrin as those opposing the changes threatened legal action. But with its position limit levels set wide, how will the reforms actually affect investment banks?
BAML CIB co-head takes comfort in deal dominance
December 1, 2011Revenues may be down but market share is up for Bank of America Merrill Lynch's corporate and investment banking division. This is giving its global co-head, Christian Meissner, cause for optimism going into 2012, despite the tough markets in Europe and Asia.
High-yield bonds battered but still resilient
November 1, 2011Junk bonds have suffered badly since the start of June, with investors being quick to sell off what is one of the riskiest fixed-income asset classes. But bankers point to the market’s underlying strengths and insist it will only get bigger in the long term.
How to reboot bank funding markets
November 1, 2011Deep uncertainty over sovereign debt exposures and new regulation has locked many banks out of the senior unsecured funding markets, leading to a frantic search for solutions.
Dodd-Frank Act's long arm is felt around the world
August 1, 2011On the one-year anniversary of Dodd-Frank, much may have been achieved, but almost as many rule-making deadlines have been missed. More importantly, there are growing industry concerns that lack of agreement about how to apply the extraterritorial reach of US regulation is a problem that just will not go away.