The banking industry has faced various regulatory probes in the last five trading days from numerous authorities including the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Though banks are resorting to resolution of legacy legal issues, there seems no end to these.

Most recently, after allegations of rigging interest rates and foreign currency markets, major global banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM - Analyst Report), are under scrutiny for their involvement in manipulating the precious metal market. Moreover, Bank of America Corp. (BAC - Analyst Report) was in focus for its efforts to resolve legal issues.

Further, the banking industry is increasingly pursuing restructuring measures with its services being more electronically inclined. Recently, JPMorgan announced shutting down around 300 bank branches over the next two years.

(Read the last Bank Stock Roundup for Feb 20, 2015)

Recap of the Week’s Most Important Developments:

1. After allegations of rigging interest rates and foreign currency markets, major global banks now face probe for their involvement in manipulating precious metal market. As per a Wall Street Journal report, at least 10 global banks are being investigated by the DOJ and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) for allegedly rigging prices of precious metals like gold, silver, platinum and palladium.

The DOJ is examining the price-setting process for these metals in London, while the CFTC has initiated a civil probe. The benchmark for these precious metals is used by miners, traders, jewelers, central banks and financial institutions to trade and value them. Though the process of setting prices for precious metals has been revamped last year, previously prices were set using a century-old method of one or two conference calls per day between groups of bankers.

Banks under scrutiny include HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC), JPMorgan, Credit Suisse Group AG (CS - Snapshot Report), Barclays PLC (BCS - Analyst Report), Deutsche Bank AG (DB - Analyst Report), The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS -Analyst Report), The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Societe Generale SA, Standard Bank Group Ltd. and UBS Group AG (UBS). (Read more: Banks Face Probe on Precious Metal Rigging)

2. BofA has settled its lawsuit related to Fontainebleau Las Vegas, LLC by agreeing to reimburse $300 million, as disclosed by the bank in its regulatory filing. This was one of the many probes and litigations worrying the company at present. BofA, which acted as the disbursement agent for a syndicate of lenders, provided $150 million in 2005 and $1.85 billion in 2007 to the $2.9 billion Fontainebleau project for construction financing. The project was envisioned to include over 3,800 rooms, a casino and a convention center along with restaurants as well as bars.

However, the project's developer filed for bankruptcy in Jun 2009 laden with cost overruns, declining condominium sales and the bankruptcy of major lender Lehman Brothers in Sep 2008 that left the project incomplete. The unfinished resort was later sold to billionaire investor Carl Icahn through the bankruptcy court in 2010.

However, trouble cropped up for BofA in the form of a lawsuit filed against it in 2009 by certain Fontainebleau project lenders, including hedge funds Avenue Capital Group, Brigade Capital Management and Caspian Capital LP and private equity firm The Carlyle Group LP (CG - Snapshot Report) among others.

Though a monetary damage of over $700 million was sought by the plaintiffs, the final amount was settled at $300 million. The settlement will not affect BofA’s upcoming financial results as the bank will use an existing reserve to pay the sum. (Read more: BofA Ends Legal War Over Fontainebleau, to Pay $300M)

3. Citigroup Inc.’s (C - Analyst Report) unit Banamex (Banco Nacional de Mexico) USA is facing another regulatory probe over its money-laundering controls. The New York-based bank revealed in its latest annual filing that its compliance with Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) and anti-money laundering (“AML”) laws is being probed by additional authorities and its subsidiary Banamex USA was not being spared.

Citigroup mentioned that several regulators including Financial Crimes Enforcement Network – a bureau of the U.S. Department of Treasury – and the California Department of Business Oversight have asked the bank for information related to BSA and AML issues. (Read more: Citigroup's Banamex USA Faces Further Regulatory Probe)

4. JPMorgan became the latest bank to come under the radar of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and DOJ in connection with their combined endeavor to wipe out discrimination against minority borrowers in the auto loan industry. In an annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the largest U.S. bank revealed that it is in discussion with the Justice Department regarding inconsistency in interest rates charged by auto dealers on loans provided to different races and ethnicities. However, JPMorgan did not provide clarity about the stage of the ongoing probe. (Read more: Is JPMorgan Heading Toward Another Discrimination Probe?)

5. Lately, the banking industry is increasingly pursuing restructuring measures with its services being more electronically inclined. JPMorgan is set to shut down around 300 bank branches, reflecting 5% of it its total branch network of 5,602, over the next two years. The plan of branch closures was revealed in a presentation in the bank’s annual investor day conference and is an effort to focus more on advising retail banking clients rather than operating everyday transactions. Notably, JPMorgan closed 28 branches in 2014. (Read more:JPMorgan to Shutter 300 Branches, Aims to Save $1.4B)

Price Performance

Overall, investors had a mixed review over the performance of banking stocks as growing optimism over banks’ growth prospects driven by restructuring plans and resolution of legal issues were somewhat overshadowed by ongoing regulatory probes.
 

In the last five trading sessions, JPMorgan and Citigroup were the major gainers, with 3.0% and 1.2% price increase, respectively. However, BofA declined 2.1%.

Over the last six months, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (PNC - Analyst Report) and Wells Fargo & Company (WFC - Analyst Report) were the top performers, with their shares advancing 9.5% and 8.4%, respectively. Moreover, U.S. Bancorp (USB - Analyst Report) witnessed a 7.1% price increase over the same time frame.

What Next in the Banking Universe?

In the coming five days, nothing big is expected on the banking front. Unless there is a major upheaval in the global market, we believe that bank stocks will continue to perform in a similar manner.