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January 27, 2021 Bank of America scrapped a proposed bonus policy this week after it provoked the ire of high-earning traders and dealmakers, some of whom could have missed out on a big chunk of their compensation. By year-end, revenue per employee at the Charlotte, N.C.-based lender had fallen 8%, which translated to more modest bonuses even as lower-paid staff got extra payments of $750. [Extracted from the article]

Incoming Dem chair says banking panel will put "workers" over Wall Street January 07, 2021 WASHINGTON - Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, pledged to focus on "workers" and "their families" when he becomes chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, on the same day he called for President Trump's removal. Brown released a statement Thursday congratulating Sens.-elect Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, whose victories in Tuesday's Georgia runoffs cemented a Democratic Senate majority. [Extracted from the article]

By Bloomberg News December 16, 2020 Citigroup will soon offer workers the ability to take a 12-week sabbatical as part of a bevy of new employee perks in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Staffers also will be able to buy as many as five extra vacation days annually starting next year, and the bank is debuting a program that will allow employees to work pro bono with a charitable organization for as much as four weeks while still receiving 100% of their base pay. [Extracted from the article]

CONSUMER BANKING November 17, 2020 PayPal's U.S. workers will be able to get paid faster under a deal the company reached with Even Responsible Finance. Mark Hansen, a PayPal customer-support agent in Omaha, Nebraska, said when he started at the company a year and a half ago, his family was living paycheck-to-paycheck, leading him to seek help from the company's emergency fund. [Extracted from the article]

The article profiles U.S. Democratic Representative from Massachusetts Barney Frank who was selected as Lifetime Achievement Honoree in this periodical's 22nd annual Best in Banking Awards. Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and supported the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act as well as the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Frank's perception of himself as a free-market economist who wants to help the poor is noted.

The article profiles Huntington Bancshares chief executive officer (CEO) Stephen Steinour who was selected Banker of the Year in this periodical's 22nd annual Best in Banking Awards. Steinour's growth strategy for the Columbus, Ohio company, which included small business lending and talent recruitment, is noted among his achievements as CEO. Steinour mentions he was raised in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

February 19, 2021 Citigroup told employees in Texas they could take shelter in the firm's offices as the state grapples with the effects of a snow and ice storm earlier this week. The New York-based bank has about 8,500 employees in Texas. [Extracted from the article]

January 29, 2021 American Express told employees they can keep working from home through the U.S. Labor Day holiday in September as New York City continues its slow distribution of coronavirus vaccines. Amex would be willing to help the city distribute vaccines to its employees, similar to how it has offered flu shots, Chief Executive Stephen Squeri said during an event hosted by Bloomberg on Thursday. [Extracted from the article]

December 14, 2020 Deutsche Bank is considering moving some of its 4,600 Manhattan staff to other hub cities across the U.S., but there are no concrete plans as yet. "I'm optimistic that New York remains, to a degree, a hub", Riley told the FT. [Extracted from the article]

December 14, 2020 As the coronavirus pandemic shook the world, workplaces were subject to a rapid technological evolution that many financial services organizations were underprepared for, despite advancements made in fintech. Organizations that lean into this on-demand, employee-led workplace will discover new opportunities for value creation and competitive advantage. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), an interagency council given authority by the U.S. Dodd-Frank finance reform law to reduce systemic risk. Treasury Department undersecretary for domestic finance Mary Miller comments on the FSOC's recommendations for reforming the money market mutual fund industry. The article notes the FSOC will submit a final recommendation to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The article focuses on the Basel III capital requirements plan for financial institutions, a report from Federal Financial Analytics Inc. which managing partner Karen Shaw Petrou discusses, the outlook for Basel III to be implemented in the U.S., and the Financial Stability Board's authority to try to force countries to comply with the Basel III international standards for banks.

The article reports on the controversy surrounding the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC's) appointment of David Wilson as the agency's senior deputy comptroller. Wilson, whose spouse Elizabeth Wilson is a Bank of America executive, recused himself and was given a different position because of ethical issues related to possible conflict of interests and the idea that regulators are too close to the companies they supervise.

The article reports on the tenure of U.S. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) commissioner David Stevens with a focus on emails between him and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The emails were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and suggest Stevens was too friendly with the MBA lobby group.

The article reports on the banking career and 2010 retirement of chief executive William R. Rhodes of Citigroup Inc. A discussion of an April 2010 conference which was held to honor Rhodes and his banking career is presented. The impact that Rhodes had on Citigroup Inc. and on the international banking community is discussed.

Wells Fargo is applying internal rules aimed at preventing insider trading to a larger slice of its workforce, citing regulatory scrutiny and the challenges in tracking which workers may come into contact with potentially market-moving information. Wells Fargo spokesperson Hannah Sloane said the company's program to combat insider trading meets regulatory expectations and is consistent with policies at peer institutions. [Extracted from the article]

Wells Fargo employees are being targeted with a phishing attack that uses innocent-looking calendar invitations as the clickbait. Hackers have been sending Wells staffers emails that look like they're coming from the company's security department, according to Abnormal Security, a cybersecurity research firm that says it discovered the attack. [Extracted from the article]

During a quarantine, when managers can't walk around and observe workers, banks, like all companies, rely on technology to monitor employees as best they can. Part of the reason for this, he said, is that the financial services companies were the least prepared to have their employees move to working from home because they were too concerned employees might commit fraud. [Extracted from the article]

Mnuchin backs designating financial sector workers as "essential" WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that he supports federal guidance identifying financial services workers as "essential critical infrastructure workers" with a unique responsibility to continue operations during the coronavirus pandemic. "The American people need access to financial sector services, and State and local governments must ensure the continuity of critical financial sector functions", Mnuchin said in a statement. [Extracted from the article]

WASHINGTON - A Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plan to offer staff voluntary buyouts has been put on hold due to coronavirus concerns, a spokesperson said. The FDIC spokesperson said the agency will not halt plans to reorganize field offices, which will include closing facilities in Tulsa, Okla.; Gainesville, Fla.; Hopkinsville, Ky.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Cincinnati, Ohio. [Extracted from the article]

Joust has relaunched its digital banking app for freelancers and the self-employed, upgrading features based on early adopters' usage habits. The Joust app dashboard has also been upgraded. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses John Reich, director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, promoting the federal banking agency's charter. The charter is similar to most other ones allowing nationwide branching, strong preemption powers, and streamlining oversight its institution and its parent under one agency. Reich believes what sets his Office's charter apart from others is that they are widely marketing and promoting the thrift charter to new institutions.

The article reports on how banks are profiting by serving nonprofit organizations. Some of the benefits that servicing nonprofit organizations bring are opportunities to cross-sell products and services, boost deposits and cultivate ties with an organization's board members. Getting charity organizations business has become highly competitive. Kathleen Kavanagh of UnionBanCal Corp. discusses the differences in policy making for nonprofit organizations.

The article focuses on Department of Housing and Urban Development assistant secretary Brian D. Mongtomery, who has implemented reforms at the Federal Housing Administration which are making its mortgage insurance program more effective and relevant by increasing loan limits, adopting risk-based pricing and eliminating minimum down payments.

How Rabobank turned employees into bot-creating "citizen coders" Rabobank has embraced robotic process automation technology, in the process turning many of its employees into so-called "citizen coders" who design bots to automate their least-favorite tasks. It's the result of a three-year effort led by Steven van Uffelen and Bart Groenewoud at Rabobank, who collaborated on robotic process automation tech using software from Kofax. [Extracted from the article]

Focuses on Chase Alumni Association, an organization of 3,000 people who once worked for Chase Manhattan Bank. Founders of the organization; Organization as a opportunity for former officers at Chase to network; Comments from members.

Presents a listing of the best personnel in their respective fields. Indication of the companies that they work for; Information on their performance.

Mastercard said its third quarter profit rose 11% over last year's comparable quarter to $2.11 billion as net revenue increased 15% to $4.47 billion. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin "is open to loosening financial crisis-era regulations that have stiffened liquidity rules for big banks to relieve possible cash crunches in short-term funding markets.". [Extracted from the article]

U.S. Bancorp is eliminating thousands of branch workers as it adjusts to changing customer preferences, according to a person briefed on the decision. In a memo seen by Bloomberg, Chief Executive Andy Cecere said U.S. Bancorp "made the difficult decision to eliminate their jobs because customer behaviors have changed." Snyder said the firm will begin hiring client-relationship consultants and business-banking development consultants among other new roles to work in the branches. [Extracted from the article]

WASHINGTON - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced Wednesday it will offer employees parental paid leave starting in 2020. The FDIC'S introduction of parental paid leave was the result of an agreement between the agency and the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents the FDIC's workforce. [Extracted from the article]

WASHINGTON - The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Friday that it reached a resolution with a woman who had accused former agency Director Mel Watt of sexual harassment. Simone Grimes, a special adviser at the agency, alleged that Watt had abused his power and made inappropriate advances when she tried to discuss professional concerns related to a job promotion. [Extracted from the article]

The founders of Kabbage, a fintech specializing in small business lending, announced Monday that they've formed a new startup focusing on helping small businesses connect with influencers and gig workers. The intent is to help small businesses grow and find new customers, provide part-time work, and eventually provide a pipeline of small businesses that Kabbage can lend to. [Extracted from the article]

People who work but don't receive a salary - Uber drivers, entrepreneurs, owners of very small businesses, freelancers - fall through the cracks of traditional financial services for obvious reasons. Yair says the company has hundreds of small-business customers but would not give an exact figure. [Extracted from the article]

A deal can create anxiety among a seller's employees and put extra pressure on those who work at the buyer to deliver on forecasts. Those were some of the big takeaways from a recent panel discussion at the University of Mississippi's annual banking symposium involving three seasoned bank buyers. MIHOK: If you look at 2007 to 2017, there were about 15 deals where credit unions bought banks. [Extracted from the article]

To improve a bank's efficiency ratio, invest in digital technology - and your employees And while nearly all banking executives consider improving productivity and performance top priorities, the survey data shows that based on current efficiency ratios, there are still extensive gains to be made. Digging deeper into the data uncovered surprising insights about how banks perceive their efforts to increase productivity - what's working, where they are falling short, and how effectively implemented technologies can accelerate productivity and change the way banks think about an optimal efficiency ratio. [Extracted from the article]

TD partnered with iRelaunch, a Boston-based career re-entry firm, to develop the program, which will run for 16 weeks beginning in January. Her firm helps companies design re-entry programs for people who have been out of the workforce for any number of reasons. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses how managers can help companies learn in advance how to address intergroup conflict. Topics discussed include ways in which human resource policies can bar employees from behaving in certain ways, how groups with cultural, political, gender, and age differences collaborate in a cohesive way, and the use of a whiteboard to categorize the problems that are expressed and involvement of all parties to brainstorm solutions.

The article reports that technology company Apple, Inc. has expanded the use of a digital-first credit card with investment banking company Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. to iPhone maker's U.S. retail employees. Topics mentioned include the launch of an internal beta program for the Apple Card with Apple retail employees, Apple's meeting with financial regulators about its expansion into Europe, and the number of Goldman employees working on the product from its headquarters.