Know What's Happening in Banking
Know What's Happening in Banking
Banking Pulse
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
U.S. regulators warn banks about Anthropic’s powerful new AI model
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Fed Chair Jerome Powell met with CEOs of Bank of America, Citi and Wells Fargo to flag cyber‑risk from Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview. The model can uncover software vulnerabilities that human developers miss, raising concerns that malicious actors could exploit the insights.
Also developing:
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a statement confirming it will not pursue enforcement against the Bank of England after receiving a staff no‑action letter. The letter, from the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, affirms that the BOE’s practices meet U.S. securities‑law standards, especially regarding cross‑border offerings and disclosure duties. The SEC highlighted its collaborative approach with foreign regulators to maintain market integrity. The announcement was posted on April 10, 2026.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s staff issued a no‑action letter confirming that the Bank of England’s proposed regulatory framework for cross‑border crowdfunding does not conflict with U.S. securities law, provided specific disclosure and investor‑protection safeguards are met. The letter...
Kenya’s central bank left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 8.75% after ten consecutive cuts, citing rising inflation risks from higher global oil prices. Inflation edged up to 4.4% in March, while private‑sector activity contracted, ending a six‑month growth streak....
UK retail banking has become overwhelmingly digital, with 88% of adults—about 48 million people—using online channels for everyday transactions. While neobanks like Monzo and Revolut have set new service standards, traditional banks still lose customers; 265,000 switched banks in Q3 2025, and...
The Indian rupee appreciated to 92.41 per U.S. dollar in early trade on Friday, later opening at 92.57, driven by the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) directive to curb banks' overnight dollar positions and heightened geopolitical risk in West Asia....
De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has released a quantitative model that translates nature‑related shocks into financial risk parameters for banks and insurers. The tool converts events such as extreme weather, ecosystem collapse, and biodiversity loss into probability‑weighted loss estimates that can...
Zelle processed $1.2 trillion in 2024, a 20% year‑over‑year increase that dwarfs rivals Venmo and Cash App. Despite this scale, the service still lacks core peer‑to‑peer features such as recurring payments, favorite payees, and group splits. Because Zelle is accessed through...
NCR Atleos Corp., a leading ATM and payment‑services provider, announced its support for a new New York law that obligates retailers and food establishments to accept cash for in‑person transactions. The legislation, effective March 21, bars businesses from refusing cash and...
The European Banking Authority (EBA) issued a Decision that standardises how national competent authorities (NCAs) report SEPA‑related data to the European Commission. By routing all information through a single EBA channel, the measure removes duplicate reporting steps and lowers the...
Gloria Hill has filed a federal lawsuit against U.S. Bank Home Mortgage, alleging the bank foreclosed on her Nebraska home without providing any of the required notices or loss‑mitigation outreach. Hill claims she never missed a payment on her $181,550...
European banks are poised for a modest hiring surge as AI reshapes their workforces, with Bloomberg Intelligence forecasting a 4% average headcount increase across top lenders. The growth stems from a trade‑off: routine middle‑office roles are being trimmed while demand...
Guernsey's financial regulator fined Utmost Worldwide's island branch £1.96 million (about $2.5 million), the largest penalty it has ever issued. The fine stems from a decade‑long underestimation of financial‑crime risk in its life‑assurance business, especially the use of unregulated brokers in South...
AXA Mansard announced a renewed partnership with the Herconomy 2026 Conference to expand funding and support for women‑led businesses in Nigeria. The insurer will headline the conference’s Enterprise Challenge, offering prize money up to N1.5 million (≈$3,300) and showcasing its “AXA She Is In Charge” program that...
Catalyst Bancorp Inc. signed a definitive agreement to purchase Lakeside Bancshares Inc. for $19.58 per share, totaling about $41.1 million. The all‑cash merger is expected to be more than 180% earnings‑accretive and will create a combined entity with roughly $627 million in...
HDFC Bank’s part‑time chairman stepped down, prompting a sharp sell‑off of its U.S.‑listed ADRs that fell over 5% on the first day and more than 7.5% across two sessions. The episode illustrates how the long‑standing premium on large‑cap Indian ADRs...
The Reserve Bank of India’s abrupt limits on banks’ daily currency positions have forced a $30 billion unwind of arbitrage trades, sending foreign investors fleeing Indian sovereign bonds. The rupee rallied more than 2% to 92.66 per dollar, but banks face...
Fitch Ratings' April 10 analysis finds Indian banks remain relatively resilient as credit pressure builds across South and Southeast Asia. The agency warns of margin compression of 20‑30 basis points and a liquidity surplus that has slipped to just 0.5%...
Uzpromstroybank reported a 36% jump in first‑quarter 2026 profit, even as its loan portfolio slipped slightly. At the same time, Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGas raised its domestic procurement share to 93% and launched a new Register of Domestic Manufacturers, underscoring a broader...
Tokenized real‑world assets are moving from concept to core market infrastructure in 2026, propelled by institutional demand and the advocacy of Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire and Digital Currency Group founder Barry Silbert. The shift promises to embed tangible value on...
Lenders are increasingly using automated underwriting systems (AUS) to originate jumbo mortgages, aiming to cut complexity while meeting tighter investor overlays. Borrowers face stricter debt‑to‑income ratios and higher rates, though some jumbo pricing can dip below conforming levels when secondary‑market...
In 2018 British bank TSB migrated a core platform without retaining sufficient internal expertise, triggering widespread outages for its 5.2 million customers. The botched rollout cost the Banco Sabadell‑owned bank over €200 million (≈$218 million) and led regulators to levy combined fines of...
On 8 April 2026 the European Commission adopted two Delegated Regulations amending the Market Abuse Regulation. The first regulation revises disclosure rules, exempting intermediate steps in protracted processes and establishing a non‑exhaustive list of final events that must be disclosed promptly, while...
On 8 April 2026 the Financial Conduct Authority released a detailed report on firms’ customer due‑diligence (CDD) processes. The FCA highlighted best‑practice policies that clearly separate enhanced due diligence (EDD) from standard CDD and outline risk‑based controls, especially for politically exposed persons....
Revolut, the fintech with over 70 million users, has secured an Organisation Authorisation from Peru’s Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and AFP. The licence permits the company to formally incorporate as a bank and move toward a mandatory supervisory inspection for a...
Hong Kong’s monetary authority granted its first two stablecoin issuer licences to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, a Standard Chartered‑led joint venture. The licences are the inaugural approvals under the Stablecoins Ordinance that took effect in August 2025, following an assessment...
Embedded finance embeds payments, lending and banking features directly within the software platforms businesses already use, while Banking as a Service (BaaS) provides the API‑driven infrastructure that connects those features to regulated banks. The article explains that the former is...
Revolut has rolled out an AI-powered assistant called AI by Revolut (AIR) to UK customers, embedding spending insights, portfolio checks, subscription control and travel budgeting into its app. The feature, launched on April 9, 2026, uses natural‑language conversation to act as a...
The integration of digital wallets like Apple Pay forced banks to abandon traditional, siloed software projects and adopt an ecosystem‑first approach. By 2025 Apple Pay alone handled roughly $9‑9.5 trillion in transactions for over 800 million users, illustrating the massive scale and...
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are mandatory filings that alert law‑enforcement to potential money‑laundering or terrorist‑financing activity. U.S. banks must file a SAR for any transaction aggregating $5,000 (or $2,000 for money‑services businesses) or when structuring is suspected. Structuring involves breaking...
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has unveiled a package of proposals that would cut roughly half of the data points required in EU supervisory reporting, even as new obligations for IFRS 18, ESG and the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book...
Lake Shore Bancorp (LSBK) remains a Buy as its 2025 earnings surged to a record $7.3 million and tangible book value per share climbed 56.4% to $18.10. The bank expanded net interest margin by 52 basis points, improved efficiency ratios, and...
The U.S. Treasury summoned CEOs of major banks, including Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, to discuss the cyber risks associated with Anthropic’s newly released Claude Mythos AI model. Anthropic warns the model poses unprecedented cybersecurity threats, such as generating sophisticated phishing...
Japanese lawmakers and the Financial Services Agency have raised alarms that Chinese mobile‑payment platforms such as Alipay and WeChat Pay can settle transactions outside Japan’s banking system. They fear the practice could hide revenue from tax authorities and create avenues...
Rakuten has introduced a new American Express‑network credit card, issued by fintech Imprint and First Electronic Bank, that adds an extra 4% cash back on Rakuten‑partner purchases and a total 10% on Rakuten Dining. The card carries no annual fee and...
RedCompass Labs reports that 44% of banks worldwide are off schedule for the ISO 20022 structured‑address migration deadline in November 2026. The lag is especially pronounced among large institutions, with one in five banks holding assets over $250 billion calling the deadline unrealistic....
Turkey reshuffled the top ranks of two state‑owned banks, appointing new leadership at Halkbank and moving its outgoing chief executive to Vakifbank. Halkbank named Chairman Recep Suleyman Ozdil as chief executive officer and board member Meltem Taylan Aydin as chairwoman,...
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell convened an urgent meeting with CEOs of the nation’s largest banks to warn of cyber‑risk from Anthropic’s newly unveiled Mythos AI model. Anthropic says Mythos can locate and exploit...
The Reserve Bank of India has floated a discussion paper proposing a mandatory one‑hour cooling period for person‑to‑person UPI and IMPS transfers exceeding ₹10,000 (about $120). The delay targets high‑value P2P payments while merchant transactions remain instant, and a whitelisting...
The ceasefire in the Gulf has lifted expectations that UK mortgage costs could ease. Capital Economics forecasts average rates for borrowers with 25% deposits falling from about 5% now to roughly 4.3% by January 2027, trimming monthly repayments by around £100...
Kevin Gallagher and Rebecca Ray: "Given that financing from the World Bank and its counterparts has remained stagnant since the 1990s, China has helped fill widening infrastructure gaps across the Global South. That’s the good news. The bad news is...
South Korea’s four leading financial holding companies are expected to post a record first‑quarter net profit of 5.3 trillion won (about $4 billion), a 5.8% year‑on‑year rise, even as household loan balances fell 0.31%. The gain is driven by higher corporate loan...
A lot of lending to small/midsize companies is for a term of 5 to 7 years. A great deal of debt issued 3/2020 to 9/2021 is therefore coming due these days. UST interest rates were near zero in that issuance...
OCC Rescinds Recovery Planning Guidelines for Large Banks, Citing Regulatory Burden | https://t.co/KTVJGVwr3F https://t.co/psr1VbrzvW https://t.co/pu8tK1oJ7I
First Bancshares reported a record $1 billion in annual revenue and $345 million net income for 2025, highlighted by a $87 million Q1 profit of $0.8055 per share. The bank posted a top‑quartile 1.8% return on assets and a disciplined 49% efficiency ratio....
Unstoppable https://t.co/oDDWykTjkX "Overall, there are 47 TPAP wallets accounting for 97.1% of UPI volume and 44 bank wallets accounting for just 2.9% of volume." Nice data point from Jeremy. https://t.co/Lz96XQDV8M
When the Agent Gets It Wrong, Who Pays? The rails for autonomous finance are live. The liability architecture for those rails is being written right now, by the institutions and regulators willing to commit to an answer. https://t.co/fHnMD6byH6 https://t.co/ejtLZek5s3
Initiatives like the Data Act, the Digital Markets Act, and the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) reflect a broader shift towards opening up data-driven markets to new entrants https://t.co/3koMS2B5Ui
Bloomberg reports that weak loan demand has driven the overnight repo rate to a near three-year low, widening its gap with the PBoC’s seven-day policy rate to the widest since September 2024. The spread suggests that banks are flush with...
$HUM.AX little discussed is this Challenger/BOQ Asset finance transaction from the other day (major comp to Humm Commercial) https://t.co/dmXiOrA3Qb $CGF.AX basically paid a premo to NTA (more or less) to take it off BOQ. Loan book is a little bigger ($3.7bn vs...
A model so good the Treasury Secretary is making sure bank CEOs know about its capabilities to prevent catastrophe. Any sane government would want to be first in line to use this. But this administration is ostracizing the company that makes...
