Bank channel

Dubai, which teetered on the brink of default in 2009, is cracking down on misconduct at its financial center to safeguard its position as a business hub.

During the first half of the year, bank insurance brokerage units generated $3.37 billion in fee income, down 13.2% from $3.89 billion a year earlier.

Bank of America exceeded $15.06 yesterday, the price on the day before Brian T. Moynihan became chief executive officer almost four years ago.

Government officials believe ever-intensifying regulatory requirements will force the largest banks to shrink and simplify to the point they are no longer a threat to the financial system. But bankers see a different future.

The firm added two family wealth advisors in New York and Boston.

The $8.5 billion settlement reached with Bank of America gave mortgage-bond investors more than twice what they would have recovered through litigation and was an “easy decision,” an attorney for the trustee who negotiated the deal said.

The pairing of Rockville Financial in Connecticut and United Financial in Massachusetts would create a $5 billion-asset bank that can get more efficient yet invest in growth. More deals like it have been happening around the country this year.

The credit rating agency cut its ratings on four of the biggest U.S. banks after deciding the government would be less likely to help them repay creditors in a crisis.

Javier Martin-Artajo, the former JPMorgan Chase banker accused of helping hide trading losses that eventually surpassed $6.2 billion, told a Spanish judge he opposes extradition to the U.S.

The firm is seeking regulatory approval to make financial advisors dual employees of its bank subsidiary in addition to the broker-dealer as it increases mortgage lending, a person briefed on the matter said

Recent legal settlements have compounded big banks' fears about pursuing M&A, U.S. Bancorp chief Richard Davis says.

Banks and credit unions are rewarding their advisors with higher payouts for fee-based business, ranging from 40% to 50%.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management made two senior hires in Boston and San Diego that are part of its recruiting campaign to increase its sales force by 50% by the end of next year.

The Financial Stability Board lowered the proposed surcharge on globally systemically-important banks for Citigroup and Bank of New York Mellon, leaving JPMorgan Chase as the only U.S. institution to face the highest 2.5% capital buffer.

The bank nabbed the assistant research director of GE Asset Management to lead the U.S. equity portfolio team.

The company lost money in the third quarter as it aggressively looked to build assets. At least one investor urged management to take a break from acquisitions during a quarterly call to discuss results.

Bank of America should pay the maximum penalty of $863 million for selling defective loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, given the egregiousness of the fraud, U.S. prosecutors told a federal judge.

The new directors will oversee business development in Pittsburgh; Westport, Conn.; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

“We’re not maniacally focused on how many advisors we have affiliated with the firm,” says Scott Curtis, president of Raymond James Financial Services.

A former JPMorgan Chase banker who managed Bernard Madoff’s account said the con man was on track to receive a $200 million loan less than a month before his arrest if the request hadn’t been dropped.