* JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay $5 million to fathers who claim they were denied the opportunity to take additional paid parental leave as primary caregivers. The proposed class settlement resolves a discrimination charge
* U.S. District Judge Manish Shah in Chicago dismissed a lawsuit against Cboe Global Markets Inc. that claimed the Chicago-based exchange operator allowed anonymous traders to exploit its signature "Fear Gauge" to their benefit. The federal judge ruled that the plaintiffs failed to show that the exchange owner intended to manipulate the market when it established its Volatility Index, or VIX, and the products that are based on it.
* Reeves County Teachers CU CEO James Dutchover pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud for arranging a $10,000 loan from the Pecos, Texas-based credit union for the benefit of former state Sen. Carlos Uresti, the San Antonio Express-News reports.
* West Florida Banking Corp., a newly formed company, is acquiring Clearwater, Fla.-based Flagship Community Bank in a deal
* In Minnesota, St. Cloud Financial Credit Union and Starcor CU are merging. The merged credit unions will operate under the St. Cloud Financial name, with approximately $200 million in assets, and serving more than 21,000 members with six branch locations.
* After raising about $116.2 million in a private placement, New York-based
Grasshopper Bancorp Inc. unit
Grasshopper Bank NA
opened for business on May 13. The
bank
* Wesley Bricker, chief accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is set to leave the agency in June, after taking over the role in 2016. Sagar Teotia, who is the agency's deputy chief accountant, will become acting chief accountant upon Bricker's departure.
* Customers at JPMorgan are withdrawing their money and transferring it to competing banks that offer higher interest rates, leading to a decline in the bank's deposit growth, Reuters reports, citing JPMorgan Co-President and COO Gordon Smith. Smith, however, said that many of the customers will still retain JPMorgan as their main banking institution as interest rates are just part of what customers require from the institution.
In other parts of the world
Asia Pacific: IDBI Bank's Q4 net loss narrows YOY; Fitch lowers Canara Bank ratings
Europe: Metro Bank probes launched; Commerzbank faces fine; VTB, Alpha Bank profits down
Middle East & Africa: Bank of Kigali in talks to buy insurer; Standard Bank climate risk plan rejected
Now featured on S&P Global Market Intelligence
Global i-banks see weakest Q1 in three years with revenue drops across the board: A sector index released by research firm Coalition showed that first-quarter revenues at the 12 leading global investment banks fell for the first time in three years as all major business divisions recorded lower revenues than a year ago.
Fed weighs rethinking inflation strategies to bolster recession toolbox: The Federal Reserve, like other major central banks, is grappling with the "new normal" of an aging population and other longer-term factors that have pushed down interest rates globally.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng was down 0.79% to 26,901.09, and the Nikkei 225 fell 1.63% to 20,601.19.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was down 0.92% to 7,151.63, and the Euronext 100 was down 1.58% to 1,014.46.
On the macro front
The personal income and outlays report, the Chicago PMI, the consumer sentiment report, the farm prices 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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