Editor’s Note: Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC)
Bank of America Exiting China Bank Stake (The Wall Street Journal)
Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) is selling its entire remaining stake in China Construction Bank Corp. 0939. for up to US$1.5 billion, marking the end of an era for the Wall Street banks that piled into major Chinese banks in the last decade in hopes of having an edge in China. Bank of America is the last of the major American banks that are selling out of the big Chinese banks they bought into before those banks went public in Hong Kong, a time when China, and these lenders, were booming. These banks, most recently Goldman Sachs Group Inc., have been disposing of their Chinese bank stakes since the financial crisis five years ago, raising billions of dollars in the process, while reducing the effects on their balance sheets from financial holdings.
JPMorgan Hires Ex-Nomura MD Ando to Head Capital Market Advisory (Bloomberg)
JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) said it hired Naohisa Ando, a former managing director at Nomura Holdings Inc. (8604), as head of its new Japan capital market advisory department to boost its fundraising business. Ando, 49, who helped lead equity capital markets operations at Nomura Securities Co., joined JPMorgan Securities Japan Co. last week, Yukako Yoshino, a Tokyo-based spokeswoman for the U.S. firm, said in a telephone interview today.
Wells Fargo salutes N.C. teachers on ATM screens (Charlotte Business Journal)
Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) will recognize two of North Carolina’s top educators on the bank’s ATM screens. Wells on Tuesday said it will begin featuring North Carolina’s Principal and Teacher of the Year on its ATMs across the state. All month, most of Wells Fargo’s 674 ATMs in North Carolina will feature a screen congratulating 2013 Principal of the Year Dale Cole and Teacher of the Year Karyn Dickerson.
Ex-Bank of America Executive Starts Dubai Advisory Boutique (Bloomberg)
Former Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) executive Ziad Awad is setting up an independent consulting firm in Dubai as corporate activity picks up in the Persian Gulf and investment banks scale back in the region. Awad, who also worked at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) in the Middle East, will become chief executive officer of Boardroom Metrics Arabia in Dubai, offering merger and acquisition advisory, corporate governance and marketing services, he said today in a telephone interview from the city.
JP Morgan Case Tests U.S. Law on Buying Influence Abroad (DealBook)
Reports that JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) hired scores of children of powerful government officials throughout Asia have put the bank squarely in the sights of the United States government for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The investigation will test how broadly the law applies to almost commonplace conduct by firms seeking any small advantage over rivals to win business from foreign governments. DealBook reported last week that JP Morgan adopted a program called “Sons and Daughters” that initially sought to avoid the appearance of favoritism for the offspring of officials but morphed into a means to lower the hiring requirements.