JPMorgan Chase may allow employees to use the Apple iPhone for work email, making the smartphone an alternative to the BlackBerry. JPMorgan is testing the iPhone as well as smartphones that use Google's Android software.
The FDIC says the number of troubled financial institutions is increasing, but the number of loans 90 days or more past-due has declined for the first time in four years. "This is the best quarterly profit for the banking sector in almost three years."
The banks are hoarding, not lending, the money the government has put into the monetary system to get the economy going again. Why not just bypass the risk-averse old banks and start new banks that have no reason not to lend?
Many troubled homeowners in the federal foreclosure relief program end up losing their property anyway. Banks gain the most by delaying repossessing houses they can't sell, while collecting monthly payments from strapped borrowers.
Barclays agreed to pay $298 million to settle criminal charges that it did business with countries like Cuba, Iran, Libya and Sudan, violating U.S. economic sanctions against these nations. Barclays is just the latest in a string of banks that have transacted with such countries.
A judge ruled that Wells Fargo has to pay its customers restitution for processing checking-account transactions in a way that makes the most charges bounce and maximizes overdraft fees. Other banks have also been sued over this issue.
In his latest Capitol Hill testimony, the Fed chairman said the U.S. economic outlook is "unusually uncertain," and he was fairly opaque about his plans. But that doesn't mean he won't act. Here's a look at some likely options.
Over the weekend, the FDIC announced the seizure of seven banks, bringing the 2010 tally to 103. It's very possible that 2010 failures could surpass 2009, but the forecast improves starting in 2011.
