Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO James Gorman wants the company's asset management unit to reach $1 trillion in client assets in the next five to seven years, Bloomberg News reports. The unit had $469 billion in assets at March-end, while rivals such Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have more than $1 trillion in assets under management, the report added.
On the M&A front, Philadelphia-based asset management firm FIS Group Inc. is buying Durham, N.C.-based Piedmont Investment Advisors LLC. The combined company expects to have more than $10 billion in assets under management by the time the transaction closes in the third quarter.
Coinbase Inc., which offers digital currency wallets and operates a digital currency exchange, has acquired Paradex, a cryptocurrency trading platform, Reuters reports. Coinbase, who will make some enhancements to Paradex's technology, is planning to launch the platform's services to customers outside the U.S.
In banking news, Minneapolis-based US Bank NA is set to add 400 new jobs in Cincinnati for the next five years, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. These jobs are part of a job creation credit package, where the U.S. Bancorp unit will receive 50% of the city earnings tax generated by the new employees for the next decade, the report adds.
And in regulatory news, the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ordered New York-based broker/dealer Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Financial Services LLC to pay a fine of $5.3 million over its inadequate anti-money laundering measures and other financial violations.
Two Canadian big banks posted year-over-year increases in earnings per share in the fiscal second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada's EPS rose to C$2.06 from C$1.85, while that of Toronto-Dominion Bank went up to C$1.54 from C$1.31.
In other parts of the world
Asia Pacific: US regulator fines ICBC; SeaBank M&A gets nod; CBA taps Citi for unit stake sale
Europe: Deutsche Bank to cut jobs in equities business; Turkish central bank hikes rate
Middle East & Africa: Deutsche Bank to cut South Africa ops; 2 Omani banks to weigh potential merger
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a mixed opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng was up 0.31% to 30,760.41, while the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.11% to 22,437.01.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 slid 0.01% to 7,787.43, while the Euronext 100 rose 0.44% to 1,080.45.
On the macro front
The jobless claims report, the Federal Housing Finance Agency house price index, the existing home sales report, the Energy Information Administration natural gas report, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City manufacturing index, the Fed balance sheet and the money supply report are due out today.
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