Libya seeks US bank records on Qaddafi loot; Coinbase moves DeFi offer out of US

TOP NEWS IN BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES

* Wall Street's JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America and The Bank of New York Mellon Corp., along with several other major banks, may possess information on the national coffer loot of former Libya leader Muammar Al Qaddafi, American Banker reported, citing a subpoena application filed in Manhattan federal court. According to the filing that seeks subpoena records from the banks, the Libyan Asset Recovery and Management Office believes the billions of dollars stolen by Qaddafi, his family and associates were transferred through the U.S. banks and UBS Group, HSBC Holdings and Credit Suisse Group.

* After U.S. regulators aborted the company's plan for a similar offering called Lend, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. rolled out a new offering for its non-U.S. customers to earn from decentralized finance on their Dai stablecoin holdings. Done via a third-party DeFi platform, Compound Finance, the new offering called DeFi Yield is initially available in 70 countries, including U.K., Germany and Spain.

➤ Vast labor shortage stresses retailers as holiday shopping season ramps up

Retail workers have fled to jobs with less customer interaction and better pay as American consumers have shifted more shopping online, leaving traditional department stores and other brick-and-mortar shops short-staffed at the height of the busiest time of the year.

BANKING

* Bank of America Corp. added two new tiers to its credit card Preferred Rewards program for high net worth clients, including wealth clients at unit Merrill Lynch. Added are the Diamond tier for clients with at least $1 million balances with the company, and the Diamond Honors tier for those with $10 million or more in assets with the company. BofA on Nov. 22 launched the Premium Rewards Elite credit card, offering exclusive lifestyle and travel benefits.

* Bank of America also plans to hire 4,000 or 5,000 people this quarter as the company doubles up on investment in talent and technology into the new year, CEO Brian Moynihan told Bloomberg Television on Dec. 9. But the turnover rate at the bank will leave its workforce size unchanged or even smaller, Moynihan said.

* The Federal Reserve is expected to begin raising its federal funds rate in 2022, and banks will eventually have to pass portions of those hikes on to customers, but not quite yet, executives said at a recent conference hosted by The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

* Windsor, Conn.-based SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc. is buying U.K.-based Hubwise Holdings Ltd., a business-to-business investment platform serving advisers, discretionary wealth managers and self-directed digital direct-to-companies propositions.

* Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s move to send workers back to remote work Dec. 9 after 40 employees from undisclosed locations got COVID-19 was not prompted by a specific superspreader event but only as a cautionary measure, given the recent spike in cases "everywhere," Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources and a statement from Jefferies CEO Richard Handler.

POLICY AND REGULATION

* The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. slammed the posting on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's website Dec. 9 of a document purportedly approved by the FDIC, requesting public comments on bank mergers. In a news release, the FDIC said it has not approved such a document, which had no valid vote by the FDIC board, a process that has long been followed by the FDIC for issuing documents for publication in the Federal Register.

* The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to re-propose rules on stock derivatives transactions, including disclosure requirements on large security-based swaps that helped cause the collapse of family office Archegos Capital earlier this year. The SEC will deliberate on the matter Dec. 15, according to the agency's website.

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