Corporate finance

The beleaguered bank has suffered from attrition since a fake accounts scandal rocked the firm in 2016.

The bank has been slashing expenses, but executives acknowledged they remain high. Between having to hire thousands of compliance employees and waiting on the next CEO to be named, investments in new technology or other long-term growth are limited.

A new report asks whether the products have the potential to spark another crisis despite being created at the urging of the SEC to reduce risk.

Many relatively straightforward products have boosted their holdings of lower-rated bonds and emerging markets to juice returns.

There is growing disquiet among those who run and invest in the products about potential problems that might be caused by rate cuts from the Fed.

Expenses have outpaced or matched revenue growth during the past four to five years, while aggregate fees declined almost 20%, a study found.

The No. 1 IBD has stopped offering the higher-yield funds in its automated bank deposit programs, but it notes they’re easily accessible in investment accounts.

More than 25% of the products were sold with shorter or static maturities in the first quarter, compared with only 10% for the same period last year.

Players on both sides of the fence are being forced to rethink past practices.

Following two recent mega-mergers in the bullion space, the fight to secure dominance is intensifying.