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Wells Fargo adds mortgage staff; Texas banks in deal; Fed finalizes new rules

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Wells Fargo adds mortgage staff; Texas banks in deal; Fed finalizes new rules

Editor's note: Today's edition of the Daily Dose was published late due to technical issues. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Wells Fargo & Co. is set to hire more employees in its mortgage division to prepare for an expected surge in mortgage loans on the back of lower interest rates, particularly in Des Moines, Iowa, and Minneapolis, Reuters reports, citing a company memo. The bank just laid off hundreds of mortgage employees in these cities last year to cut costs. Other big banks that made a similar headcount reduction in 2018 might do the same, sources told the news outlet.

A team of three executives at OUR MicroLending, a community development financial institution in Hialeah, Fla., has applied with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to form a bank, to be called OUR Community Bank, that would focus on Hispanic and Latino customers in low- and moderate-income communities, American Banker reports, citing a filing. The planned bank's organizers reportedly plan to raise at least $20 million in initial capital. The bank would become a unit of OUR Bancshares and offer loans between $50,000 and $250,000, according to the news outlet.

The Federal Reserve finalized Oct. 10 its new regulatory framework for banks with at least $100 billion in assets. This includes easing liquidity requirements for regional banks and making the submission of some banks' "living wills" less frequent, or every two years, instead of the usual every year. The new framework creates four categories of banks based upon their size and complexity, and the eight U.S.-based global systemically important banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., will face the toughest requirements and see few changes to the way they are regulated. The Fed held its stance on whether to subject local branches of foreign banks to stricter liquidity rules, preferring to first consult other countries' regulators on the issue.

Amid an increasing number of family offices or private investment funds in Hong Kong and Singapore, JPMorgan Chase has set up its first Asia trust company in Singapore, according to Reuters. The unit will offer wealth management services to high-net-worth individuals in Asia.

In Texas, Dallas-based Oakwood Bancshares Inc. intends to acquire Snyder-based Community Bank of Snyder, according to a Federal Reserve release. As of June 30, Oakwood Bancshares had total assets of $328.6 million and Community Bank of Snyder had total assets of $109.3 million, based on S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

After a similar lawsuit against it in April 2018, Newport Beach, Calif.-based Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC faces another gender and racial discrimination charges from a female employee, Pensions & Investments reports. The new lawsuit was filed Sept. 23 by Andrea Martin Inokon, an African-American attorney at the firm, who claimed that she was unfairly bypassed for promotions in favor of male colleagues. The company's managing directors Rick LeBrun and David Flattum are also defendants in the case, according to the report.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is extending for another two years until Jan. 1, 2022, the current temporary coverage threshold of 500 open-end lines of credit under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The new rule was subjected to public comment as a proposal in May.

In other parts of the world

Asia-Pacific: JPMorgan sets up Singapore firm; China fines 4 banks; Vietcombank in Australia

Europe: Tullett Prebon fined £15.4M; Brexit 'pathway'; Euronext eyes revenue growth

Middle East & Africa: National Bank of Kuwait's Q3 results out; partial sale of UAE's Najm explored

Now featured on S&P Global Market Intelligence

North Carolina loses more than 1% of total branches in September: U.S. banks and thrifts closed 226 branches and opened 80 in September for a net 146 closures, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Margin pressure threatens to crunch earnings in Q3 reports for US banks: Pressure on bank net interest margins intensified in the third quarter as front-end rates fell with Federal Reserve cuts and the yield on 10-year Treasurys briefly dropped below 1.5% on fears over the economic outlook.

Banks offer more visibility into CECL's effects: Investors and analysts are getting a better idea of how a new accounting standard will affect banks' balance sheets and deal metrics.

The day ahead

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

In Asia, the Hang Seng climbed 2.34% to 26,308.44, and the Nikkei 225 rose 1.15% to 21,798.87.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.60% to 7,210.66, and the Euronext 100 was up 0.83% to 1,085.79.

On the macro front

The import and export prices report, the consumer sentiment report and the Baker-Hughes Rig Count report are due out today.

Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.

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