Worldline plans to cut its workforce, MoneyGram hires four new leaders

February 9, 2024 2:21 PM

French payments company Worldline may cut 8% of its workforce, Moneygram advances its digital strategy by hiring four new leaders, Fed issues enforcement action against Peoples-Marion Bancorp and more in our weekly banking news roundup.

Fed issues enforcement action against Peoples-Marion Bancorp in Kentucky

Peoples-Marion Bancorp, parent of the $130 million-asset The Peoples Bank in Marion, Kentucky, agreed to several oversight changes as part of an enforcement action issued Tuesday by the Federal Reserve and state regulators. It requires the bank's board to bolster oversight of management as well as asset quality, lending, credit risk management, capital, liquidity and earnings. It must also take "steps to ensure that the bank's management has requisite qualifications, subject matter expertise, skills and training to competently perform present and anticipated duties," according to the agreement. The privately held bank is required to file an enhanced liquidity program and several other corrective measures to improve capital, credit quality and other metrics within 30 days. The bank cannot declare or pay dividends, engage in share repurchases or make any other capital distribution impacting its common shares. — Jim Dobbs

Worldline plans to cut 8% of its workforce

French payments company Worldline may cut about 1,400 jobs as part of a larger cost reduction strategy. The reductions are designed to save about $215 million, an initiative called Power24. In October, Worldline cut its financial outlook citing poor economic conditions, an announcement that caused a sharp selloff in European payment companies. In January, Credit Agricole acquired a 7% stake in Worldline. Worldline also recently partnered with Google to develop cloud-hosted payments technology. — John Adams

MoneyGram deepens its digital push with four new hires

MoneyGram has hired four new leaders who will report to Chief Digital Officer Seth Ross and with the goal of advancing the company's digital strategy. They include Edwina Johnson, who will oversee the direct-to-consumer digital business MoneyGram Online; Arnoldo Reyes, who will head up the business-to-business division MoneyGram Business; Vijay Raman, who will lead pricing strategy; and Mike Tekulve, who will handle payments and products partnerships. "With the addition of these new leaders, we gain critical capacity to expand our digital business," said Ross in a press release. — Miriam Cross

BMO’s Ernie Johannson appointed as chair of Canadian Bankers Association board

Erminia "Ernie" Johannson, group head, North American personal & business banking at BMO, has been appointed chair of the Canadian Bankers Association board. Johannson's term is effective immediately and will end in 2026.

In a statement, Johannson, a longtime Most Powerful Women in Banking honoree, said "Canada's banks provide the capital and advice that drives economic growth in communities across the country and directly employ more than 280,000 Canadians. As Chair, together with my Board colleagues, I am focused on ensuring a safe, sound and thriving policy and regulatory environment that promotes Canadian competitiveness and enables our resilient banking system to help our customers in every sector of the economy achieve their financial goals."

Johannson succeeds Lucie Blanchet, executive vice president — personal banking and client experience at National Bank of Canada, who served as chair for the past two years and will remain a member of the board of directors. —Mary Ellen Egan

Jefferies West Coast tech head Cully Davis leaving the firm

Cully Davis, vice chairman of equity capital markets and head of West Coast technology, media and telecom investment banking at Jefferies Financial Group, is leaving the firm as soon as this summer, people familiar with the situation said.

San Francisco-based Davis will be helping with the transition in the next three months, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn't public.

Davis has been with Jefferies since 2016, and previously served as a co-head of Americas ECM for Credit Suisse, according to his LinkedIn page.

A Jefferies spokesperson declined to comment.

Jefferies Chief Executive Officer Richard Handler described 2023 as a "trough year," with investment banking fees muted in the fourth quarter. The firm has been focused on expanding around the world, and in December, Jefferies said it was starting an investment banking unit in Canada. It also opened an office in São Paulo in July. — Amy Or and Gillian Tan, Bloomberg News