Citigroup, Bank Of America | featured news

The institution is accelerating its cost-cutting strategy, planning to pare its operations so much that it will lose its spot as the nation’s largest bank employer, falling behind the likes of JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.

Another day, another new bank fee. As the uproar swelled over Bank of America Corp.'s planned $5 monthly charge for debit cards, megabank rival Citigroup Inc. was telling checking accounts holders that it would sock them with a $15 a month fee unless they maintain a balance above $6,000.

Moody's downgraded Bank of America's and Wells Fargo's long-term ratings and the short-term ratings of Citigroup, saying it believes the U.S. government is less likely to support the banks if needed.

Moody's Investors Service said it may downgrade the debt ratings of Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co, citing concerns about waning political willingness to offer support for the largest U.S. banks.

A group of investors in bankrupt Tribune Co sued JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Citicorp and Bank of America, claiming the banks arranged $3.7 billion in loans in 2007 they knew the company could never repay.

When the credit crisis struck last year, federal regulators pumped tens of billions of dollars into the nation's leading financial institutions because the banks were so big that officials feared their failure would ruin the entire financial system. Today, the biggest of those banks are even bigger.

Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp shares rallied in premarket trading ahead of the release of "stress test" results that will force them and other top banks to raise tens of billions of dollars in capital.

Bank of America needs $34 billion in extra cash, a source familiar with U.S. government stress tests on leading banks told Reuters, unsettling markets and stoking talk of a possible asset sale in China.

So begins the tricky process of rolling out stress test results. The dance starts with a leak to the WSJ. Word is that the Federal Reserve has told Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC) that they'll both need to raise billions more in order to be adequately capitalized. Neither is a huge surprise.

Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc shares have roughly tripled from multi-decade lows set less than a month ago, and powered higher on Wednesday on speculation their recent punishing declines might have been too severe.