Despite registering a solid year-over-year increase in the fourth quarter, JP Morgan’s profit fell short of analysts’ expectations. The bank's earnings per share of $1.98 was below the $2.20 per share average estimate of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.Producing $1.86 billion in revenue, the fixed-income trading segment fell short of the $2.2 billion estimate. The company's total revenue increased +4 percent to $26.8 billion,  but was slightly below analysts' $26.84 billion estimate. Nevertheless, the bank raked in $7.1 billion in total profit – which is nearly +70% higher compared to the year ago period.

In the third quarter, the bank showered $7.4 billion towards share buybacks, which is nearly triple the amount it spent the year before. In September 2016, Wells Fargo got itself in a controversy after announcing that it had fired 5,300 employees over several years for creating millions of fake accounts.That’s 45% higher than what the bank typically spent during the prior eight quarters. A company’s stock buyback lowers the count of its outstanding shares, and therefore potentially jacks up the company’s earnings per share (EPS).

Citigroup posted fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts' expectations on better-than-expected expense declines and loan losses.READ MORE...

According to J.P Morgan’s head of Asia Pacific oil and gas, Scott Darling, if OPEC members do not continue with their production cut for the entirety of 2019 -- promised at 1.2 million barrels off the oil market per day -- then Brent crude prices could find it extremely difficult to rise again. In an early December meeting, OPEC members and non-OPEC allies had come to an agreement that 1.2 million barrels a day would be removed from the oil market for the first six months of the new year, starting January 2019.The goal of the move is to address the growing imbalance between global supply and demand.

Big banks are reportedly looking to reduce or change some rewards plans on credit cards. According to a Wall Street Journal article, large financial institutions including JP Morgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., and American Express Co. are planning to reduce upfront rewards bonuses that they offer to borrowers on credit cards – but in a way that encourages card usage as well, according to the Journal article which cited people familiar with the matter. The cost of rewards programs had increased at an average rate of +15% on a year-over-year basis as of the third quarter of 2018 at several large credit card providers, bank analyst Charles Peabody told the Journal. Also, fees paid by retailers to the credit card companies are reportedly thinning since retailers are slapping lawsuits against what they consider excessive charges (as reported by the Journal).

Wells Fargo & Co. is paying $575M to settle state-level claims about sales practices and resolves investigations into their practices stemming from 2002 to 2017. The practices include opening fake accounts, charging improper mortgage rate-lock extension fees and forcing insurance policies on auto-lending customers. “Wells Fargo customers entrusted their bank with their livelihood, their dreams and their savings for the future,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement.“Instead of safeguarding its customers, Wells Fargo exploited them, signing them up for products - from bank accounts to insurance - that they never wanted.” The bank said in a statement that it had already set aside $400 million for the settlement and would take a $175 million provision in its fourth-quarter results.

JP Morgan Chase & Co. has settled Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it improperly handled securities that represent foreign company shares.The company will pay $135M. The bank improperly provided American depository receipts to brokers when neither the brokers nor their clients held shares in foreign companies that were required to support such transactions, the SEC said in a Wednesday statement. The SEC said on Wednesday that the JPMorgan settlement was the eighth enforcement action against a company from the regulator’s probe into "abusive ADR pre-release practices.

Another industry has officially adopted blockchain to improve their operations.Reuters reported that “oil majors and trading firms can start finalizing crude oil deals on a live blockchain-based platform for the first time,” using its technology to mitigate longstanding issues. Blockchain is adept at improving efficiency and transparency across use cases – its immutable ledger makes fraud almost impossible, and it has the capacity to take labor-intensive, paper-based processes and move them into the digital world.

The hedge fund, which is managed by a unit of GF Holdings Corp. and according to the report, is in discussions with Citigroup on how they s would value their positions give foreign exchange worries. The matter was escalated to Citigroup’s board, Bloomberg reported.The bank is also reorganizing its prime brokerage business as a result of the expected financial hit, according to the story and is taking the FX prime brokerage unit out of the currency trading division and placing it under the oversight of its prime finance and securities services unit, according to a memo from the bank.

From the middle of 2016 through the beginning of 2018, HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HSBC) saw its stock price double, moving from $26 a share to over $52.We see that the daily stochastic readings are in overbought territory and just made a bearish crossover on Friday which could signal that the trend channel will continue to define the cycles within the downtrend. One thing that seems to be hounding HSBC is the status of Britain’s exit from the European Union—Brexit.

CNBC reports that federal prosecutors in Manhattan requested the pause because they feared a separate criminal probe they were conducing could be harmed by a request by plaintiffs in the civil case to ask new questions of two ex-JP Morgan metals traders and the bank's global head of base and precious metals trading. Details are still unknown of the criminal investigation.However, the criminal case became public last month when John Edmonds, a former JP Morgan metals trader, made a plea deal with prosecutors which has since been unsealed.

The Royal Bank of Canada's Q4 earnings reached a net income of C$3.25 billion, beating expectations and growing by 15%.Net profits rose to C$12.4 billion -- a new record. Commercial banking, strong capital markets and wealth management and insurance helped boost the bottom line for the bank.

A lawsuit claiming JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup were rigging the European Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) has been settled, with the banks agreeing to pay $182.5 million.Investors such as the California State Teachers' Retirement System claimed that the banks were fixing prices of derivatives and rigging rates between 2005 and 2011. Other banks had reached previous settlements in the case, including Deutsche Bank, Barclays and HSBC who paid $170 million, $94 million and $45 million, respectively. According to the settlement agreement, Citigroup and JPMorgan denied wrongdoing and settled out of court to avoid the costs and distractions that would have arisen with litigation. 

Wells Fargo & Co. is cutting 1,000 employees in its Consumer Lending and Payments, Virtual Solutions and Innovations groups.  "We are committed to retaining as many team members as possible and will do everything we can to help them identify other opportunities within Wells Fargo," Tom Goyda, a company spokesman said, in a statement.Yahoo Finance reports about 900 of the layoffs are in the bank's home lending unit. The cuts will be across the US but will mostly be in Des Moines, Iowa, which is expected to have about 400 reductions, and Fort Mill, South Carolina, which is expected to have 111 cuts.

He also took a new position in PNC Financial. One bank he cut somewhat from his portfolio was Wells Fargo, as he sold off about 9.6 million shares.However, Wells still remains a top 3 stock holding for Berkshire with 442.36 million shares.

Brexit is making its mark in the financial services world, just as the separation of Britain from the EU is supposed to take place. Several major U.S. investment banks are moving their assets to Frankfurt from the U.K., which could ultimately see their balance sheets grow in Germany by about $283 billion, according to sources talking to Bloomberg. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc. have made plans to move assets to their German subsidiaries.The banks have so far not commented on the move, however.

A pair of charts suggests stocks will stage a significant rally, no matter what happens with the midterm elections. According to J.P. Morgan's Jason Hunter, investors could be on the cusp of solid gains following the October correction. READ MORE...

UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, is preparing for a legal battle with the U.S. Department of Justice.The DOJ is bringing civil charges against the bank for its sale of mortgage-backed securities just prior to the 2008 financial meltdown. The DOJ has settled similar claims with Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Credit Suisse Group, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Corp and Barclays Plc. Barclays reached a $2 billion settlement in March. Separately, the government in France is asking a Paris court to fine UBS 1.6 billion euros or $1.8 billion for allegedly helping clients commit tax fraud.

The project reportedly involved analyzing the fundamentals and prospects of digital currencies, measuring client's interest in investing in such products and understanding the infrastructure required for trading in the crypto space.However, a Barclays spokesperson denied that the bank was opening a cryptocurrency trading desk. The bank, however, has applied for three patents for a blockchain system that aims to help banks/financial institutions create and issue digital currency units backed by fiat currency.

However, the bank's Q3 profits soared year-over-year on the back of rapid cost reductions. Bank of America's total loan book grew 0.3 % in Q3 2018, compared to the year-ago period.According to a Reuters report, Chief Financial Officer Paul Donofrio said in a conference call with reporters that Bank of America is working to improve its M&A business after losing market share.  In spite of its headwinds, the bank managed to generate solidly positive year-over-year growth in profits -  thanks to its cost cutting strategies.