Fintech worldwide; AIG's new CEO

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Fintech around the globe: Brazil's financial technology sector "will most likely eat into the market share of the country's huge and long untouchable banks," according to a report from Goldman Sachs. The report, "Fintech Brazil's Moment," estimates that more than 200 fintech companies could generate $24 billion in revenue over the next 10 years.

The People's Bank of China has set up a committee "with the purpose of strengthening fintech work in research, planning and comprehensive coordination," according to an announcement on the central bank's website.

Revolut, the British payments app, has launched a free international money transfers service "in the latest bid by a tech start-up to lure customers from banks," the Financial Times reports.

AIG's new CEO: As expected, American International Group named Brian Duperreault, a former AIG executive, as CEO, replacing Peter D. Hancock. Duperreault, an insurance industry veteran with broad experience in turnarounds, said he is not only committed to keeping the insurance giant intact but would seek to expand it following years of shrinkage after its rescue by the government during the financial crisis.

Separately, AIG said it agreed to pay $110 million to acquire the American platform of Bermuda-based Hamilton Insurance Group, which Duperreault founded and where he was CEO prior to joining AIG. It also agreed to pay Hamilton as much as $40 million to release Duperreault from restrictive covenants that could have prevented his hiring. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times

Diversifying: Moody's has agreed to buy Bureau van Dijk, a Dutch-based business information provider, for €3 billion, its largest acquisition ever. Moody's hopes to "extend its reach to new markets and add to its existing risk-management offerings," the Wall Street Journal reports. The deal will also enable Moody's to diversify into non-financial sectors, where more than two-thirds of Bureau van Dijk's customers operate.

Wall Street Journal

On to Ireland: As part of its plan to move some of its European operations after Brexit, JPMorgan Chase is buying an office tower in Dublin's docklands business area. The building will give Chase "significant space to expand outside of London when Britain leaves the European Union," the Journal reports.

Financial Times

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News

Faster to the top: Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick wants to reclaim the firm's prime position in U.S. Treasury bond trading by executing faster than anyone else. The firm will unveil a new electronic trading platform, known as FENICS UST, at a fixed-income conference this week. "We expect to be materially faster than all other platforms," he told the paper.

New York Times

Bitcoin basics: With the global ransomware attack as a backdrop, the paper offers its readers a primer on bitcoin.

Roll back the tide: Many entrepreneurs have trouble getting loans for expansion because banks are under orders from federal regulators to keep a large portion of their money in U.S. Treasury debt as reserves, Hal S. Scott, the director of the Committee for Capital Markets Regulation and international finance professor at Harvard Law School, says in an op-ed. But, he says, the fact is "American banks are truly awash in government debt at five times pre-crisis levels."

"If President Trump wants to follow through on his promise to increase lending to small businesses, he should start by scaling back these requirements," he argues.

Washington Post

Another Wells suit: Philadelphia sued Wells Fargo for allegedly discriminating against minority home buyers. According to the complaint, between 2004 and 2014 Wells steered minority borrowers into mortgages that were more expensive and riskier than those offered to white borrowers. Black borrowers were twice as likely to receive high-cost loans compared to white borrowers with similar credit backgrounds, the city alleges, while Latinos were 1.7 times as likely.

Quotable ...

"I didn't come here to break the company up, I came here to grow it." — AIG's new CEO Brian Duperreault