trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/dadtukkwp4ccvt6jfxhmxq2 content esgSubNav
In This List

California treasurer wants 4 Wells directors gone

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future

Podcast

Street Talk Episode 87

Blog

A New Dawn for European Bank M&A Top 5 Trends

Blog

Insight Weekly: US banks' loan growth; record share buybacks; utility M&A outlook


California treasurer wants 4 Wells directors gone

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. government's plan to borrow an estimated $1 trillion in 2018 would not have an impact on the market, Bloomberg News reports. The government is planning to increase the sales of notes and bonds in order to fund the rising budget deficits that was partly affected by the U.S. tax reforms. "The debt markets are one of the most liquid markets in the world and are reacting very well," Mnuchin said.

Meanwhile, banking experts have mixed reactions to the Federal Reserve's move to sanction Wells Fargo & Co. and cap its asset size. Bartlett Naylor, a financial policy advocate at Public Citizen, said it is "arithmetically impossible" to successfully manage such a large company and that the regulator should have sought to break up the bank. Meanwhile, George Mason University professor J.W. Verret said it was a "bad approach" for the Fed to punish shareholders by restricting the company's growth.

Speaking of Wells Fargo, California Treasurer John Chiang had given the company a list of directors he wanted gone, the San Francisco Business Times reports. Chiang notified the company that he intends to attend its April shareholders meeting to forcefully argue that Lloyd Dean, John Baker II, Federico Peña and Enrique Hernandez Jr. be fired. Chiang said he intends to attend the meeting and "raise holy hell about the board's composition." If the board members are gone, however, he will refocus on "getting Wells Fargo to cease using an unfair arbitration clause."

U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan dismissed a lawsuit alleging Citigroup Inc. of gender discrimination, Reuters reports. Erin Daly, a former financial adviser of the company, accused the bank of reducing her into a "glorified secretary" because of policies that favored male bankers. Sullivan said most of her claims did not belong in federal court because she had agreed to arbitrate them. He also added that Daly took a long time to accuse Citi of firing her for whistleblowing activity.

And payment processor Total System Services Inc.'s unit, ProPay Inc., has launched ProPay Payment Network, a suite of services that allows software-as-a-service platforms to facilitate the movement of money.

In other parts of the world

Asia Pacific: CBA H1 profit falls; ICICI Securities gets IPO nod

Europe: Profits rise for RBI, ABN AMRO; Hannover Re ups 2017 net income target

Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia's NCB posts YOY rise in Q4'17 profit; Kenya eyes 1st green bond

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, the Hang Seng fell 0.89%% to 30,323.20, while the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.16% to 21,645.37.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 rose 0.69% to 7,190.61 and the Euronext 100 climbed 0.65% to 1,003.85.

On the macro front

The MBA Mortgage Applications report and the EIA Petroleum Status report are due out today.

The Daily Dose is updated as of 7:30 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription.