The Traderszone Network

Last December, the U.S. Federal Reserve proposed that eight of the largest U.S. banks would be required to hold an extra capital cushion and the firms will need more equity if they rely on risky types of debt. Officials from banks including Citigroup Inc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Bank of America Corp and Morgan Stanley raised concerns about the rule during a Jan. 7 meeting with Fed officials, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the gathering. The Fed rule relies on financial data compiled by the Basel Committee that is expressed in euros, which enables regulators to compare U.S.

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Standard Chartered Plc will shift its retail bank’s focus from mass market to affluent customers and urge more clients to go online as part of a broader restructuring, a senior executive told Reuters. StanChart’s retail business is one of the first divisions the Asia-focused lender has targeted with cuts, announcing last month it would ax 4,000 retail jobs or 5 percent of its global workforce and close 80-100 branches.

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HSBC admitted failings by its Swiss subsidiary that helped wealthy customers dodge taxes and conceal millions of dollars of assets.

The startup of two huge oil refineries earlier this year in the Middle East is set to shake up fuel markets from Asia to Europe, as the oil-producing region expands its influence beyond just exporting vast amounts of unprocessed crude.
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