North America

Macro and monetary policy factors are affecting some currencies more than traditional commodity triggers.

The rationale to accelerate cuts in its US investment bank is obvious, but an orderly withdrawal will be hard to execute.

JPMorgan is trying to advance its master plan for global fintech domination with a discipline that is often lacking in a sector better known for wildly over-promising than actually delivering practical solutions.

I am delighted to see two large sustainable bond issues from US banks already this year.

Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat.

$500 million bond for affordable housing and CDFI loans.

JPMorgan says that its new dollar stablecoins are collateralized against client dollar deposits but it also emphasizes its own strong balance sheet as surety.

Even though this business is notoriously sticky, Goldman Sachs’ entry into cash management business could shake up the industry.

Tired of paying what they view as exorbitant fees to the incumbents, some large US brokers, banks and financial services firms have now decided to take the US equity exchanges on at their own game. The names involved and the amount of order flow that they now control mean that – this time – it could just work.

In December last year, the SEC launched its transaction fee pilot, a landmark investigation into the effect of fee and rebate models on order routing, trade execution and general market quality. The pilot involves a test group of 1,460 securities.

Tired of paying what they view as exorbitant fees to the incumbents, some large US brokers, banks and financial services firms have now decided to take the US equity exchanges on at their own game. The names involved and the amount of order flow that they now control mean that – this time – MEMX could just work.

$4.3 trillion of loans and bonds are vulnerable to US rate rise or economic slowdown, stoking fears of a wave of fallen angels.

The proposed launch of a new US equities exchange may just be a shot across the bows of the incumbents, but it illustrates the anger within the industry at exchange revenues that have risen 5.4% annually since 2010.

President Donald Trump has pulled off the almost impossible task of making America’s banks look good, if not exactly great, again.

On January 25, after a record-breaking 35-day shutdown, a deal was finally struck to fund US government activity until February 15, but without another agreement, state agencies will again close down on that day. Equity capital markets bankers could face further disruption and precious few options for getting IPOs out of the door.

Equity capital markets bankers are having to get more creative with their advice to flotation candidates as the US government shutdown drags on.

Companies waiting to complete securities offerings while Washington remains deadlocked have few options – and more risk.

US bank taps European market for €1 billion deal.

Greenfield start-ups embedded within the core business might be the best way for banks to address their legacy infrastructure problem.

The deadline looms for SEC-regulated investors to report on the liquidity of individual bond positions, but the more pressing question is the accuracy of fund valuations.

With new voting FOMC members queuing up to proclaim their reluctance to raise rates further, it only remains to be seen how flexible the Fed will be on balance-sheet reduction.

Management is confident that its long-term positioning will serve shareholders well.

When a plan comes together, there is a danger that complacency can creep in at any bank.

Goldman aims to grow in consumer banking and corporate cash management.

The bank has gone from strength to strength and its tech firepower makes it hard to dislodge.

Like most of its big US peers, Citi had a strong run in 2018

With asset prices high, RBC has made a virtue of a focus on the organic build of its footprint, with tech as important as ever.

Collapsing equity and credit markets have little to do with a coming recession, but show a high and worrying correlation to the disappearance of the central bank bid.

To bring about fundamental change and to find long-lasting solutions, isn’t always pretty and it is certainly not always a win-win in the financial sense.

By under-investing the vast funds raised at big expense to their end clients and then delivering shrinking returns, private equity sponsors are prompting customers to demand new approaches.