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☆ London pub name-dropped in Taylor Swift's new album forced to turn people away as Swifties arrive in force, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Black Dog pub in London has had an influx of visitors since Taylor Swift's new album was released. AdvertisementThe Black Dog pub in south-west London, named in Taylor Swift's new album, was forced to turn away customers after so many of the singer's fans descended on the pub, reports say. "The Black Dog" is the title of track 17 of Swift's widely acclaimed album, "The Tortured Poet's Department," released Friday. Related storiesThe staff at The Black Dog pub mentioned the rumors in a viral TikTok video, which has clocked more than 400,000 views as of Sunday. We can now say we were in The Black Dog on the day of its release."

Persons: Taylor, —, Taylor Swift's, Joe Alwyn, Matty Healy, Matty, Joe, Amy Cowley, We've, It's, Cowley, Taylor Swift, Robert Kamau, MailOnline, Jordan Ludwig, Katelyn Anziano, Kylee, Katelyn, It'll Organizations: Service, Poet's Department Locations: London, London's Vauxhall, British, New York City

☆ New Federal Rule Caps Most Credit Card Late Fees at $8
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Millions of Americans could soon see lower credit card bills after a federal rule that caps late fees at $8 a month was finalized on Tuesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which estimates that the change will save households $10 billion a year. Late fees have become a major profit source for credit card issuers, generating more than $14 billion in 2022, according to bureau data. A 2010 rule imposed by the Federal Reserve aimed to cap the charges, but allowed adjustments for inflation — a provision card issues have used to raise their fees far beyond the actual costs they incur when payments arrive late, the bureau said. That allowed credit card companies to “harvest billions of dollars in junk fees from American consumers,” said Rohit Chopra, the bureau’s director. It applies only to large issuers that have more than one million open accounts, but the agency estimates that the rule will cover 95 percent of outstanding credit card balances.

Persons: ”, Rohit Chopra, “ Organizations: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Reserve

☆ He Grew Up in the Shadow of the ‘Wolf of Wall Street.’ Then He Got Into Debt Settlement.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Stacy Cowley | Emma Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the early 1980s, 19-year-old Jordan Belfort — who would go on to become known as the Wolf of Wall Street, a title he bestowed on himself in a tell-all memoir — had a fortuitous encounter on Jones Beach, on Long Island, with another teenager selling ice cream named Stephen Drescher. The two became friends. Prosecutors would later note their shared hustling spirit, a drive for entrepreneurialism that curdled into a drive for grift. Within a few years, Mr. Belfort started building a pump-and-dump stock-scam empire. Mr. Drescher went down not long after, convicted of securities fraud and sent to federal prison for nearly four years.

Persons: Jordan Belfort —, —, Stephen Drescher, Belfort, Drescher, Martin, Mr Organizations: Prosecutors Locations: Jones, Long, Martin Scorsese’s

☆ Edward E. Crutchfield, 82, Banker Whose Deals Reshaped the Industry, Dies
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His death was confirmed by his son, Elliott Crutchfield, who said his father had dementia. When Mr. Crutchfield graduated from business school in 1965, he took a job as a credit analyst at First Union bank in Charlotte, N.C. It was the lowest-paying job he was offered but he thought he could move up faster at a smaller bank. He sensed opportunity, he told his family and colleagues, at the bank and in the region. The decision empowered Mr. Crutchfield, by then his bank’s chairman and chief executive, to gobble up rival banks and failed thrifts, transforming First Union into a super-regional bank with thousands of branches throughout the Southeast.

Persons: Edward E, Crutchfield, Eddie ”, Elliott Crutchfield, hunches, ” Organizations: Charlotte, First Union, Union, New York Times Locations: North Carolina, Vero Beach, Fla, Charlotte, N.C, “

☆ Consumer Bureau Proposes Overdraft Fee Limits for Large Banks
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Stacy Cowley | More About Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday proposed a rule that would sharply limit overdraft charges at America’s largest banks and credit unions, a change that the agency estimated could save households up to $3.5 billion a year in fees. The proposal, which must go through a comment period and would not take effect until at least late 2025, aims to end the $35 overdraft fee that has become the standard at many banks. The bureau’s rule would give banks a few options for setting a lower fee. They could charge a break-even fee — based on the individual bank’s own costs — or a benchmark fee determined by the bureau. Alternatively, the banks could treat overdrafts as a line of credit and provide the disclosures required by the Truth in Lending Act, including interest rates.

Organizations: Consumer Financial Locations: America’s

☆ Biggest U.S. Banks Earn Billions, Even After Insurance Bill
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Emily Flitter | Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The nation’s largest banks are churning out profits as interest rates remain high, even though the lenders have had to set aside billions of dollars to replenish a deposit insurance fund that was heavily depleted by a crisis among midsize banks last spring. Citigroup, which is in the midst of a global restructuring, reported a net loss of $1.8 billion for the quarter, compared with a profit of $2.5 billion a year earlier. In the last quarter of 2023, JPMorgan earned $9.3 billion, or $3.04 per share, compared with $11 billion a year earlier. A special assessment by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had reduced per-share earnings by 74 cents, the bank said. Analysts had been expecting per-share earnings of around $3.32, so investors considered the bank’s performance to be a win once the F.D.I.C.’s one-time bill of $2.9 billion was taken into account.

Persons: Jane Fraser Organizations: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Locations: Wells, Russia, Argentina

☆ How Millions of Borrowers Got $127 Billion in Student Loans Canceled
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Stacy Cowley | More About Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When the Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s $400 billion plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for 43 million borrowers, the prospect of substantive debt relief appeared to vanish. But then millions of borrowers received surprise notices that their federal student loans were being eliminated through other government relief programs. The Biden administration has wiped out loans totaling $127 billion for 3.6 million borrowers — the biggest wave of student debt cancellation since the government began backing educational loans more than 60 years ago. The Education Department is the largest lender for Americans who borrow for higher education, and 43 million borrowers currently owe the government $1.6 trillion. Here are the four largest programs being used to eliminate loan debts — and how five borrowers benefited from them.

Persons: Biden’s, Biden Organizations: The Education Department, Education Department, —

☆ Consumer Bureau Seeks to Supervise Digital Payment Apps
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Stacy Cowley | More About Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to extend its watchdog powers to cover digital wallets and payment apps run by companies like Apple, Google, PayPal and Block, which do not have traditional banking operations. The bureau proposed a rule on Tuesday that would subject large companies — those that process more than five million financial transactions per year — to the same supervisory examinations the bureau conducts on banks and credit unions. “Payment systems are critical infrastructure for our economy,” said Rohit Chopra, the bureau’s director. “Today’s rule would crack down on one avenue for regulatory arbitrage by ensuring large technology firms and other nonbank payments companies are subjected to appropriate oversight.”The proposed rule could take effect as soon as next year. One of the payment industry’s largest trade groups, the Electronic Transactions Association, had a fairly mild response to the proposal.

Persons: ”, Rohit Chopra, “ Organizations: Consumer Financial, Apple, Google, PayPal, Electronic Transactions Locations: United States

☆ Cyberattack Disrupts Mortgage Payments for Millions of Mr. Cooper Customers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Stacy Cowley | More About Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Cooper, one of America’s largest nonbank mortgage loan servicers, suffered a cyberattack last week that disrupted loan payments and other transactions for millions of customers. The company, based in Coppell, Texas, said in a regulatory filing last week that it was attacked on Oct. 31. A notice on its website said Mr. Cooper “took immediate steps to lock down our systems” — which prevented customers from making online loan payments or gaining access to their account information. The company said Monday afternoon that it had restored its system for accepting online payments. The notice also pointed customers toward options for making payments by phone, mail, Western Union or MoneyGram.

Persons: Cooper, Cooper “, “ Mr, ” Organizations: Western Locations: Coppell , Texas, Western Union

☆ Former Wells Fargo Executive Avoids Prison in Sham Accounts Scandal
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Stacy Cowley | More About Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A former top Wells Fargo executive avoided prison time for her role in the bank’s sham accounts scandal, after a federal judge on Friday instead sentenced her to six months of home confinement and three years of probation. She is also ordered to pay a $100,000 fine and perform 120 hours of community service. The former executive, Carrie L. Tolstedt, who was head of retail banking at Wells Fargo, was the only high-ranking executive at the bank to be criminally charged for its misdeeds. She plead guilty this year to one criminal charge of obstructing a bank examination. Prosecutors had sought a 12-month prison sentence, saying in a legal filing that imprisoning Ms. Tolstedt, 63, would be a “general deterrence to other executives who might find themselves tempted to skirt the truth.”Ms. Tolstedt’s lawyers had pressed for probation, citing similar sentences in other cases and invoking Ms. Tolstedt’s “lifelong charitable works.” Both the prosecution and the defense also cited Ms. Tolstedt’s health issues, the details of which had been redacted from the public versions of legal filings, as a factor favoring leniency.

Persons: Carrie L, Tolstedt, Prosecutors, Ms, Tolstedt’s Organizations: Wells Locations: Wells Fargo

☆ BMW will invest $750 million to keep making the Mini in Oxford
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —BMW announced Monday that it would invest £600 million ($750 million) in building two new electric versions of the Mini in the United Kingdom. The commitment by the German automaker will secure the future of Mini production in Oxford, where the original classic version of the small car was born 64 years ago. Almost a year ago, BMW told the Times newspaper that it planned to shift all Mini production from Oxford to China for efficiency reasons. “Mini has always been aware of its history — Oxford is and remains the heart of the brand,” Stefanie Wurst, head of the Mini brand at BMW, said Monday. Robots work on the Mini production line at the BMW plant in Cowley, near Oxford.

Persons: London CNN —, Mini Cooper, ” Stefanie Wurst, Tolga Akmen, Susannah Streeter, Hargreaves Lansdown, Rishi Sunak, ” Organizations: London CNN, London CNN — BMW, Swindon, BMW, Times, Oxford, Government, Getty, Tata Group, Rover, Hargreaves Locations: United Kingdom, Oxford, China, Leipzig, Germany, Cowley, AFP

This spring, Clive Kabatznik, an investor in Florida, called his local Bank of America representative to discuss a big money transfer he was planning to make. Rather, a software program had artificially generated his voice and tried to trick the banker into moving the money elsewhere. Mr. Kabatznik and his banker were the targets of a cutting-edge scam attempt that has grabbed the attention of cybersecurity experts: the use of artificial intelligence to generate voice deepfakes, or vocal renditions that mimic real people’s voices. The problem is still new enough that there is no comprehensive accounting of how often it happens. Another large voice authentication vendor, Nuance, saw its first successful deepfake attack on a financial services client late last year.

Persons: Clive Kabatznik, Kabatznik Organizations: Bank of America Locations: Florida

☆ Analysis Says Biden’s New Student Debt Plan Could Cost $475 Billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Stacy Cowley | More About Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden’s new repayment plan for federal student loans will cost the government $475 billion over the next decade, according to a new economic projection. The updated income-driven repayment plan would surpass the $400 billion cost of the debt forgiveness plan that the Supreme Court rejected last month. But a new and revised plan, which the administration has named Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, is vastly more generous. That means the government, not borrowers, will ultimately pay a bigger share of the recipients’ educational costs. Economists for the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model, a nonpartisan research group, estimate that payment reductions in the $1.6 trillion in outstanding federal student loans will cost the government $200 billion.

Persons: Biden’s, —, University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Organizations: Education Department, Valuable Education, University of Pennsylvania’s, Budget

☆ Bank of America Reports Big Profit Jump on Higher Interest Rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Stacy Cowley | More About Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The NumbersBank of America reported a profit of $7.4 billion last quarter, up nearly 20 percent from the year before. Revenue grew more than 10 percent, to $25.2 billion in the second quarter. Customer spending on credit and debit cards rose 3 percent, to $226 billion, the bank said. Notably, the lender’s investment-banking business rebounded in the second quarter, after a sharp drop in deal-making had cast a chill over the industry. Last week, Bank of America was fined $150 million by two federal regulators for charging its customers improper fees and denying them promised sign-up bonuses.

Persons: Mr, Borthwick, Takeaways Brian Moynihan, “, ”, “ That’s, Alastair Borthwick, “ We’ve, that’s, Wells Fargo, Banks, Goldman Sachs, They’ll Organizations: Bank of America, Revenue, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Western Alliance Locations: U.S

Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chief executive, has deep political connections, and his prognostications on the economy are scrutinized in some circles as closely as a central banker’s musings. The U.S. economy “continues to perform better than many had expected,” said Charles W. Scharf, the bank’s chief executive. Unlike the other banks, Citigroup reported a fall in second-quarter profit, although the decline was not as severe as analysts had predicted. The U.S. government debt-limit standoff in April and May was also reflected in the banks’ results, with Citi citing anxiety during the negotiations as pushing investment-banking clients to the “sidelines” during the second quarter. What’s NextIn the next week or so, a slew of other banks will report quarterly earnings.

Persons: Jamie Dimon, Dimon, didn’t, ”, Wells, “, Charles W, Scharf, Jane Fraser, Goldman Sachs Organizations: JPMorgan, Treasury, Citigroup, Citi, Western Alliance and Comerica Locations: U.S, Wells Fargo, Republic

☆ Wells Fargo Beats Expectations but Sets Aside Money for Loan Losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Stacy Cowley | More About Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Why It MattersWells Fargo is one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders, and analysts watch its results for signs of economic stress. The bank’s soured loans in its commercial business grew, but its consumer business held fairly steady, with a slight rise in credit-card defaults offset by a drop in losses on auto loans. Commercial real estate, especially loans on office space, are a pain point, and the bank set aside nearly $1 billion more for losses. Commercial deposits have stabilized, while on the consumer side, “what’s driving the decline is, largely, people spending their money,” said Michael P. Santomassimo, the bank’s chief financial officer. What’s NextLike the other big banks, Wells Fargo keeps bracing for a recession — but not seeing one just yet.

Persons: Wells, “, ”, Charles W, Scharf, what’s, Michael P, Santomassimo, Mr, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Federal Reserve, Bank of America Locations: U.S, Wells, “

☆ Education Department Cancels $39 Billion in Student Debt for 800,000 Borrowers
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Stacy Cowley | More About Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 800,000 borrowers will have $39 billion in federal student loan debt eliminated under a government effort to remedy years of mistakes by the loan servicers that collect payments on the government’s behalf. The relief will go to those with federal loans owned directly by the Education Department and who enrolled in income-driven repayment plans. Under those plans, borrowers must make payments for a term that is typically 20 or 25 years. More than eight million people use income-driven repayment plans, but for decades, many of the companies that bill borrowers made extensive mistakes in tracking payments and in guiding borrowers through the payment process. “For far too long, borrowers fell through the cracks of a broken system,” Miguel Cardona, the education secretary, said on Friday.

Persons: ” Miguel Cardona Organizations: Education Department

Last week, the Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s sweeping plan to cancel billions of dollars in student loan debt. Stacy Cowley, a finance reporter for The New York Times, explains what the decision means for borrowers now facing their first payments since a coronavirus pandemic-related pause and how an alternative plan could still ease their burden.

Persons: Biden’s, Stacy Cowley Organizations: The New York Times

CNN —An 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man were killed and 28 others injured in a mass shooting at a Baltimore block party, officials said. Nine people were transported from the scene to hospitals and 20 people walked into hospitals in the area. The 18-year-old was pronounced dead on the scene and the 20-year-old was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. Police received multiple calls after 12:30 a.m., and arrived to find one woman dead and another nine people suffering from gunshot wounds, according to Baltimore Police Acting Commissioner Richard Worley. There is no information on suspects or a motive at this time, but investigators are “working an extensive crime scene,” Worley said.

Persons: Adams Cowley, Michael Schwartzberg, Richard Worley, ” Worley, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, ” Scott, “, ”, CNN’s Victor Blackwell, Amara Walker, Scott, ” “ Organizations: CNN, Adams Cowley Shock Trauma, University of Maryland Medical Center, University of Maryland Medical, Police, Baltimore Police, Baltimore Mayor Locations: Baltimore, Brooklyn

Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Not everyone with debt would have been covered under the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan. The Supreme Court has barred the Biden administration from carrying out its plan to extinguish up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt, and millions of borrowers will continue to struggle under the weight of their loans. Ms. Schmidt owes $64,000 in student debt, more than half of which is for her graduate work in nursing. But she’s already contemplating how she’ll finance her dream of becoming a civil rights lawyer, which typically requires an additional six figures in student debt. Yet her mother is still paying down student debt of her own.

Persons: Biden, Gina McDavitt, weren’t, Pell, “, ”, McDavitt, ” Ms, Ms, Monica Schmidt, Schmidt, Kevin Serna, Dorien Rogers, Rogers, Asha Anthony, she’s, —, Anthony, Mr, don’t, Joanna Leiserson, Brian Kaiser, “ I’m, Leiserson Organizations: Georgetown University, Biden, College of San, San Francisco State University, The New York Times, University of Phoenix, Northern Illinois University, Public, Schaun, Tax, Howard University, Salisbury University, The New York, Republicans Locations: Washington ,, College of San Mateo, Bay, Vallejo , Calif, Genoa, Ill, Germantown, Md, Credit, Montgomery County, Mesa, Maryland, Spokane, —, forbearance

your moneyThere are still plenty of ways to get your student debt wiped away. That’s because the Supreme Court’s disapproval of the plan does not change laws and regulations that already give many federal student loan borrowers an escape hatch. What follows is a list of ways to eliminate your federal student loan balance aside from paying in full. If you know someone who is struggling with student loan debt, suggest that the borrower review every last option. Bankruptcy DischargeYes, you can discharge your student loan debt by filing for personal bankruptcy.

Persons: Biden’s, —, It’s, Biden, Tara Siegel Bernard, Ann Carrns, Ann, Donald J, Trump, Tara Organizations: U.S . Department of Education, Education Department, Public, Westwood College, Corinthian Colleges, DeVry University, ITT Technical Institute, Social Security Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs Locations: forbearance

☆ In an Unsteady Banking Industry, First Republic’s Problems Stood Out
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It may seem a strange question to pose after the collapse of First Republic Bank, the second-largest such failure in U.S. history, but many industry experts say that its problems were unique to the once high-flying lender. Investors have also appeared to reach that view: As First Republic hurtled toward collapse, with its stock dropping precipitously, financial markets were far calmer than in mid-March, when the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank provoked a panic that engulfed the industry. The S&P 500 stock index rose in the hours after, as did shares of JPMorgan. The moves in smaller banks’ shares, which were shaken by the turmoil in March, were largely muted. Echoing the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, First Republic collapsed after depositors and investors abandoned the institution, pulling their money and selling their shares in droves.

☆ Smaller U.S. Banks Say the Crisis Is Contained but Fears Persist
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Jason Karaian | Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The abrupt collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank threw the entire industry into turmoil and exposed fissures in the financial foundations of some smaller banks. A month later, the nation’s biggest banks are raking in billions and will likely keep doing so even if the economy softens. Deposits are falling and the cost of keeping customers is rising, eating into profits. And fears remain about the value of investments and loans, especially ones backed by real estate. One of the banks attracting the most concern among investors, First Republic, is set to report its results on Monday after the markets close.

If you have federal student debt, you’re probably anxiously waiting for the Supreme Court to decide on whether the Biden administration has the authority to cancel up to $20,000 of those loans. It’s been more than three years since most borrowers have had to make loan payments, which were paused at the start of the pandemic. But once the highest court issues its ruling, which is expected by the end of June, monthly payments are likely to resume within a few months. The uncertainty has left millions of borrowers in a state of limbo and with lingering questions. What sort of repayment plans are available?

☆ New York Times employees launch 24-hour strike in newspaper's first major staff walkout in 40 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK — Hundreds of journalists and other employees at The New York Times began a 24-hour walkout Thursday in what would be the first strike of its kind at the newspaper in more than 40 years. But New York Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha said in a statement that they were still in negotiations when they were told that the strike was happening. The NewsGuild also said the company told employees planning to strike they would not get paid for the duration of the walkout. Members were also asked to work extra hours get work done ahead of the strike, according to the union. The New York Times has seen other, shorter walkouts in recent years, including a half-day protest in August by a new union representing technology workers who claimed unfair labor practices.

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