Financial Industry | featured news

Citigroup Inc, one of the big U.S. banks hit hardest by the financial crisis, posted a quarterly profit as gains from the sale of its Smith Barney brokerage into a joint venture more than offset losses from its primary banking businesses.

JPMorgan Chase becomes the second major US bank to report a big rise in profits for the April to June period.

BofA is operating under a secret regulatory sanction requiring it to overhaul its board and address other problems or face harsher penalties.

Citigroup has been negotiating with the FDIC about entering into a so-called memorandum of understanding that lets the bank work out its problems without the glare of outside attention.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc executives sold almost $700 million worth of stock since the collapse of rival Lehman Brothers last year, the Financial Times said on Monday.

Some senators criticize a plan that would give the Federal Reserve more power to police large companies.

Financial stocks rebounded, helping lead the broader market modestly higher after three days of losses.

The Obama administration's proposal to overhaul financial regulations, aimed in part at restoring global confidence in America's economic system, triggered a welcome but largely wait-and-see response from overseas investors and analysts.

President Obama said he was looking for a "careful balance" when sketching his blueprint to stabilize the nation's financial sector and wring from the system the kind of risky practices that propelled the country into economic turmoil.

With the wiring of nearly $10 billion to the Treasury, U.S. Bancorp and BB&T became the first large financial institutions to announce that they have repaid the government in full.