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FTX's implosion has heightened the need for more trustworthy, regulated cryptocurrency players, and big banks see an opportunity to pick up business, Mathew McDermott, Goldman's head of digital assets, told Reuters. Goldman is doing due diligence on a number of different crypto firms, he added, without giving details. HSBC (HSBA.L) CEO Noel Quinn, meanwhile, told a banking conference in London last week he has no plans to expand into crypto trading or investing for retail customers. Goldman Sachs has also together with MSCI and Coin Metrics launched data service datonomy, aimed at classifying digital assets based on how they are used. The firm is also building its own private distributed ledger technology, McDermott said.

NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The biggest U.S. banks are bracing for a worsening economy next year as inflation threatens consumer demand, according to executives Tuesday. "Those things might very well derail the economy and cause this mild to hard recession that people are worried about," he said. Consumers have $1.5 trillion in excess savings from pandemic stimulus programs, but it may run out some time in mid-2023, he told CNBC. Major banks' shares fell sharply on the day after a lineup of top bankers outlined the risks for the economy. "Economic growth is slowing," Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said at the same conference.

☆ IPO market nearly paused, but exchange leaders expect 2023 boost
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( John Mccrank | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., November 15, 2022. Proceeds raised by IPOs this year are down around 93% versus 2021, said Lynn Martin, president of Intercontinental Exchange Inc's (ICE.N) New York Stock Exchange. "The reason companies aren't coming to market isn't because the public market currency isn't strong," she said in an interview on Wednesday. Increased scrutiny over the accounting practices of Chinese companies listing in the United States has been another factor in the slowdown in IPOs. "I am quite confident that the IPO market activity will return very quickly in the new year," she said.

☆ After FTX collapse, pressure builds for tougher crypto rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX was the biggest in string of big crypto-related failures this year. Some crypto investors share these concerns. "Regulators could have posted a lot more guidance for crypto," said Brian Fakhoury at crypto venture capital fund Mechanism Capital. India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the collapse of FTX underscored the need for greater visibility on often-anonymous crypto transactions. The FTX collapse "shows the importance of a well-framed regulation," Sitharaman said, "so that countries can be clearly aware of by whom, for what for these transactions are happening.

☆ U.S. CFTC chair to be questioned over FTX collapse by lawmakers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The hearing, entitled "Lessons Learned From the FTX Collapse, and the Need for Congressional Action", will take place at 10am Eastern Time (1500 GMT). The committee, which oversees the CFTC, could also press Behnam on meetings between the commodities regulator and FTX staff, including founder Sam Bankman-Fried. The CFTC had “many meetings” with FTX over its application to directly clear customer trades, Behnam said Monday at a Financial Times event. Offices for Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the Democratic chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, along with its Republican ranking member Sen. John Boozman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Many Senate Agriculture Committee members have previously agreed with Behnam that the CFTC should take on a larger role.

☆ Morgan Stanley making 'modest' job cuts, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] James Gorman, Chairman and Chief Executive of Morgan Stanley, speaks during the Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit in Hong Kong, China November 2, 2022. REUTERS/Tyrone SiuNEW YORK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (MS.N) is making modest job cuts across the globe, Chief Executive Officer James Gorman said in an interview during the Reuters NEXT conference, as Wall Street comes under pressure with dealmaking slowing down due to the central bank's monetary tightening. "We're making some modest cuts all over the globe. That has put pressure on investment banks like Morgan Stanley, which earned billions of dollars in advisory fees amid unfettered market optimism last year. Other Wall Street firms, including investment banking powerhouse Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and major lender Citigroup Inc , have also cut jobs this year.

NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The volatility and market uncertainty have hit the initial offerings market hard, driving down proceeds by 93% this year, Lynn Martin, president of the New York Stock Exchange said on Wednesday. "There is a lot of uncertainty and there's a lot of different forces that are impacting markets," said Martin during an interview at the Reuters NEXT conference. Martin said companies "very much want to go public," but they are just all waiting for the volatility in the market to calm down. She also spoke about the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, pointing out FTX lacked a central counterparty for clearing its trades, which is why their bankruptcy is "a bit murky." "The FTX situation may have added a layer of complexity to to the crypto markets in general," Martin said.

☆ Silicon Valley leaders welcome Elon Musk's management of Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley leaders welcomed Elon Musk's management of Twitter, with Netflix (NFLX.O) co-founder Reed Hastings going so far as to call the billionaire "the bravest, most creative person on the planet." Meta Platforms (META.O) CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday said he was keen to see how Elon Musk's management of content moderation on Twitter would fare, arguing it was good for platforms to take different approaches. "I would guess that not everything is going to work, but I think some things might work," he said. Hastings said Musk has a different management style than his own but added: "I'm 100% convinced he's trying to help the world with all of his endeavors." "It's not how I would do it, but I'm deeply respectful," said Hastings.

☆ Meta's Zuckerberg says some of Elon Musk's Twitter content approach 'might work'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday he was keen to see how Elon Musk's management of content moderation on Twitter would fare, arguing it was good for platforms to take different approaches. "You can agree or disagree with what Elon is doing, or how he's doing it, but I do think it's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out," said Zuckerberg, speaking at the New York Times Dealbook conference. "I would guess that not everything is going to work, but I think some things might work," he said. Reporting by Carolina Mandl and Lananh Nguyen in New York and Katie Paul in Palo Alto; Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried says he 'didn't ever try to commit fraud'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"I didn't ever try to commit fraud," Bankman-Fried said in the hour-long interview, adding that he doesn't personally think he has any criminal liability. The liquidity crunch at FTX came after Bankman-Fried secretly moved $10 billion of FTX customer funds to Alameda Research, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. At least $1 billion in customer funds had vanished, the people said. Bankman-Fried told Reuters in November the company did not "secretly transfer" but rather misread its "confusing internal labeling." Bankman-Fried said he was speaking from the Bahamas and that the interview was against the advice of his lawyers.

The FOIA request sought, among other things, communications between SEC Chair Gary Gensler and various stakeholders involved in retail stock trading. Cifu has said Virtu may sue the SEC over potential rule changes Gensler outlined in June. Agencies legally have 20 days to respond to FOIA requests, but are not required to provide all responsive documents within that time frame. FOIA requests do not always yield substantive responses and can have lengthy waiting periods. Virtu is represented by law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, where Cifu previously worked as a lawyer.

☆ Citi Mexico suitor Mifel enlists Apollo, ADIA to fund bid -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | David French | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON/NEW YORK, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Mexico's Banca Mifel has lined up investors including Apollo Global Management and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) to fund a bid for Citigroup Inc’s (C.N) Mexican retail bank, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The debt financing could attract more investors to join in Mifel's bid to buy Citibanamex, although there is enough funding already in place to fully support Mifel's proposal, one of the sources said. The competition to buy one of Mexico’s biggest banks has narrowed to two bidders, with smaller rival Mifel, led by Daniel Becker, battling billionaire German Larrea's conglomerate Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX). The two remaining bidders are now conducting further due diligence on the business, also known as Banamex, the sources said. Representatives from Mifel and Grupo Mexico did not immediately respond to emails and phone calls requesting comment.

☆ Bank regulators tell Citigroup to take urgent action to fix resolution plan
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The regulators gave Citi a January 2023 deadline to submit its plan to address the shortcomings, while giving the all clear to seven other large banks that submitted resolution plans. The problems related to earlier concerns the Fed had identified with Citi’s data quality and data management in an October 2020 enforcement action against the bank. Eric Compton, a banking analyst at Morningstar, said regulators often highlight data management issues at banks because they can be interrelated, potentially having wide-ranging impact. “Citi is not the first bank to have its resolution plan dinged," he said. Those problems related to the banks' abilities to produce data in stressed conditions to implement their resolution plans.

Genesis is owned by Stamford, Connecticut-based venture capital company Digital Currency Group. The contagion concerns stem from Genesis' prominence in crypto, its links to troubled firms and broader reach into the financial world. "It's a signal of worse outcomes" for the crypto market, particularly since Genesis also deals with brokers, family offices and money managers. Last year, Genesis extended $130.6 billion in crypto loans and traded $116.5 billion in assets, according to its website. Crypto.com, an exchange, and Tether, which operates the world's largest stablecoin, on said Wednesday they had no exposure to Genesis.

The valuations of listed financial technology firms have plunged 70% in 2022, analysts at Jefferies Group said in a note last week. The Columbus, Ohio regional bank is scouring for more targets after it bought Torana, a payments fintech, in May. PNC Financial Services Inc (PNC.N) in September bought Linga, a fintech focused on restaurant operations and sales. The slide in fintech valuations coincides with banks earning more from traditional lending businesses as interest rates rise. Fintech deals enable banks to buy new technology or products instead of developing them in-house.

Nov 16 (Reuters) - Crypto lender Genesis Global Capital suspended customer redemptions on Wednesday, citing the sudden failure of crypto exchange FTX, while court papers showed FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried faces legal action. After a flurry of tweets and interviews by Bankman-Fried, FTX said he "has no ongoing role" at the company and does not speak on its behalf. LEGAL ACTIONMeanwhile, U.S. court filings showed Bankman-Fried is facing legal action in the United States from investors alleging the company's yield-bearing crypto accounts violated Florida law. U.S. and Bahamian authorities were discussing the possibility of bringing Bankman-Fried to the United States for questioning, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Elsewhere, crypto exchange Binance said it had not contributed to FTX's collapse, in a response to a hearing on the crypto industry by a British parliamentary committee.

☆ U.S. Treasury's Yellen says crypto markets need better oversight
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that crypto markets need more robust oversight, days after cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed. "The recent failure of a major cryptocurrency exchange and the unfortunate impact that has resulted for holders and investors of crypto assets demonstrate the need for more effective oversight of cryptocurrency markets," Yellen said in a statement, without directly naming FTX. Treasury and other regulators had identified risks in crypto markets over the past year including "comingling of customer assets, lack of transparency, and conflicts of interest," which were "at the center of the crypto market stresses observed over the past week," Yellen said. Consumer protections should be rigorously enforced in crypto markets and the federal government and Congress need to move quickly to fill any regulatory gaps, Yellen said. While the damage has mostly been contained within crypto markets, its links to the traditional financial system "could raise broader financial stability concerns," she said.

☆ Wells Fargo starts small-dollar loans amid overdraft scrutiny
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Lananh Nguyen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) introduced small-dollar loans to customers online, the bank said Wednesday, as overdraft fees draw greater scrutiny in the United States. The loans are for $250 or $500 with a flat fee of $12 or $20, respectively, to eligible customers, the bank said. The loans are already available in a limited number of markets and will be offered nationwide by year-end. The Biden administration has pledged to crack down on so-called surprise "junk fees" such as overdrafts that can catch customers off guard. Some major banks have responded by scrapping overdrafts altogether, reducing charges or changing policies to allow customers to opt in or out of the services.

☆ Banking giants and New York Fed start 12-week digital dollar pilot
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Lananh Nguyen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Global banking giants are starting a 12-week digital dollar pilot with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the participants announced on Tuesday. Citigroup Inc , HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L), Mastercard Inc (MA.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) are among the financial companies participating in the experiment alongside the New York Fed's innovation center, they said in a statement. The project, which is called the regulated liability network, will be conducted in a test environment and use simulated data, the New York Fed said. The pilot will test how banks using digital dollar tokens in a common database can help speed up payments. Earlier this month, Michelle Neal, head of the New York Fed's market's group, said it sees promise in using a central bank digital dollar to speed up settlement time in currency markets.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's sudden turn from white knight to washout
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But as traders rushed to withdraw funds from FTX, Bankman-Fried was in denial and told investors he was convinced the business would be rescued, according to a source familiar with the situation. Bankman-Fried also quickly became one of the largest Democratic donors in the United States, contributing $5.2 million to President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign. He amassed a fortune, estimated as high as $26.5 billion by Forbes a year ago, by taking advantage of the price differences in bitcoin in Asia and the United States. Bankman-Fried eventually started crypto trading firm Alameda Research in 2017 and founded FTX a year later. "I thought we would fail," Bankman-Fried said at a June conference weeks before FTX and Alameda extended lifelines to two struggling crypto platforms.

☆ Explainer: Crypto industry spends millions on U.S. midterm elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Crypto companies are eager to back industry-friendly political candidates. The election comes at a time of turmoil for the crypto industry. FTX's CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has far outspent all others in the crypto industry. WHAT IS THE CRYPTO INDUSTRY LOOKING TO GET IN RETURN? Crypto companies such as Circle want lawmakers to create a framework for stablecoins to help mature the industry and codify consumer protections.

HONG KONG, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street major Morgan Stanley (MS.N) is expected to start a fresh round of layoffs globally in the coming weeks, three people with knowledge of the plan said, as dealmaking business takes a hit due to rising inflation and an economic downturn. One of the sources said the bank's 30-plus technology investment banking team in Asia Pacific will also be affected by the cuts. Morgan Stanley last month reported a 30% slump in third-quarter profit, missing analysts' estimate as a slowdown in global dealmaking hurt its investment bank business. Gorman is currently in Hong Kong at a high-profile financial summit aimed at re-opening the city to international investors after nearly three years of strict COVID restrictions. Reporting by Kane Wu and Julie Zhu in Hong Kong, Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Lananh Nguyen in New York; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Richard PullinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Wealthy families are migrating to the U.S. South and UBS is following them
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Lananh Nguyen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The new structure for the world's largest wealth manager signals a big push into the southern United States alongside competitors such as Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, which has boosted its presence in Florida. "We’ve seen our clients do well in the last decade in terms of their investment outcomes," said Jason Chandler, head of UBS wealth management in the United States. High net worth families are taking advantage of greater flexibility to live and work in different locations, he said. Ultra-high net worth families are moving from northern to southern states and are settling in multiple locations, and some financial advisers have followed suit by splitting their time across multiple offices, UBS said. The bank's top markets for wealth management include Atlanta, Colorado, Florida and Texas, alongside traditional hubs in the Northeast like New York and Boston.

☆ Google veteran launches 'digital family office' backed by Betsy Cohen, Eric Schmidt
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Arta Finance, a fintech that aims to replicate the family office experience for a wider audience through artificial intelligence, debuted on Wednesday with $90 million in funding from investors who include Betsy Cohen and former Google (GOOGL.O) chief Eric Schmidt. While family offices cater to those with hundreds of millions in assets, Arta is targeting those with $100,000 to several million dollars in investable assets, Sengupta said. BNY Mellon's (BK.N) Pershing will serve as Arta's broker and custodian and offer credit lines to eligible investors. "We're actually really trying hard to scale as much as we can to get to as many people who we can serve," said Sengupta. Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing by Lananh Nguyen and Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Apollo holds crypto for clients as it expands in digital assets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 31 (Reuters) - Apollo Global Management Inc (APO.N) has begun holding cryptocurrency on behalf of its clients through a partnership with digital asset platform Anchorage Digital, in a major push by one of the world’s largest asset managers to bring crypto to institutional investors. "It's the validation of this incessant drumbeat that [crypto] is here to stay," said Diogo Mónica, president of Anchorage Digital, a crypto firm that holds a national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Apollo, which declined to disclose what types of crypto assets it holds, said its relationship with Anchorage dates back to the middle of last year, when the firm first began exploring how best to safeguard its clients' crypto assets. "As we explore creative ways to apply blockchain technology across Apollo’s business, we look forward to collaborating with Anchorage for the safekeeping of client assets," said Adam Eling, chief operating officer of Apollo's digital assets team. Mónica said Anchorage is also engaged with discussions about how to potentially further expand its relationship with Apollo in the future.

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