Editor’s Note: Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), PNC Financial Services (NYSE:PNC), HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HBC), Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB)
Financial Sector Most Active, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) (PRCarbon)
Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) long term Issuer Default Rating was reaffirmed by Fitch Ratings with a Stable Rating Outlook at ‘A’, upgraded the Viability Rating to ‘a-’ from ‘bbb+’ and reaffirmed short term IDR at ‘F1′. Fitch also affirmed the Support Rating Floor at ‘A’ and Support Rating at ’1′. Shares of Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) rebounded to a record high as strength in the housing markets and economy spurred buyers. The renowned US lender also reported three straight years of record profit including 18.9 billion US dollars in 2012, supported by a rebound in home prices and sales. The 2008 purchase of Wachovia also helped in driving strong results which added East Coast branches, a retail brokerage and an investment banking unit.
Greece’s Piraeus hire banks to advise on share issue-sources (Reuters)
Greece’s second-largest lender Piraeus Bank has hired four international investment banks as advisers on its 7.33 billion euro ($9.4 billion) share issue, two bankers close to the procedure told Reuters on Saturday. “Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), Barclays, Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC)-Merrill Lynch will be acting as advisers,” one of the bankers said. Greece’s top four banks, including Piraeus, need a total of 27.5 billion euros to repair their solvency after losses on sovereign debt writedowns and bad loans, in hopes of regaining interbank access to fund the economy out of its deep six-year slump.
Big Bank Phobia: Glass-Steagall Would Be Folly (TheStreet)
Bringing back the complete separation of investment banks from commercial banks would not strengthen the U.S. financial system, but it would make future bailouts more likely. …In part one we discussed the prospects of simply breaking up the six largest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). The easiest way for politicians to achieve that goal, rather than passing legislation directly to break them up, would be to increase the capital ratio requirements for the big six banks so high that their shareholders would conclude breaking up would be the only choice.
Why Your Facebook Account Is More Secure Than Your Bank Account (DailyFinance)
Earlier this month, federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging several men with bank theft on massive scale. According to prosecutors, the thieves loaded stolen account data onto magnetic stripe cards, which they then used to steal $45 million from ATMs around the world. …Javelin Strategy & Research, which consults for the financial services industry, surveyed the top 25 largest financial institutions and found that just eight let users set up “out-of-band” authentication on their phones. While that list includes large institutions like Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Citibank, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and PNC Financial Services (NYSE:PNC), that still leaves another 17 banks that haven’t gotten on board, including Capital One, HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HBC) and TD Bank.
Bank of America Corp : Bank of England’s King sends message to successor Carney (4-Traders)
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has urged successor Mark Carney not to bring to Britain his trademark policy of spelling out how long interest rates will remain low. King also said the bank could not be run as “a one-man show,” a sign of concern at high expectations that the arrival of the Canadian will lead to a quick fix for Britain’s slow economy. In an interview with Sky News television broadcast on Sunday, King praised Carney, saying Britain was fortunate to have him. “I think everyone will admire what he will achieve,” he said before sending a message to his successor.
