Weekly Global News Wrap Up: European banks poaching from US rivals; New US regulator wants 'fresh look' at rules

And find out more about blockchain and biometrics in banking.

From Bloomberg: European investment banks are back in the hiring game, raising the stakes for compensation on both sides of the Atlantic. Firms including Barclays Plc and Deutsche Bank AG have been seeking to regain trading share by poaching personnel from American rivals, according to recruiters. For traders and salespeople who haven’t seen raises in years, the move can be profitable: European banks are offering pay packages as much as 30 percent higher and guaranteed bonuses in some cases, according to Mike Karp, chief executive officer of New York-based recruiter Options Group.

From Reuters: America’s top financial regulator said on Tuesday “everything is up for a fresh look” as the Federal Reserve considers dialing back some crisis-era banking rules put in place over the last decade, offering hope to Wall Street and Republicans looking to cut red tape. Randal Quarles, making his first public comments since becoming the Fed’s vice chair for financial supervision this month, said there are some areas such as better tailoring rules to firms’ size that can be adjusted immediately.

From CNBC: As the banking industry changes at a rapid pace, one term is being used with increasing frequency — blockchain. Put simply, blockchain refers to a tamper-proof, distributed digital ledger that records transactions. Instead of different parties involved in a transaction keeping their own records of that transaction — which could potentially differ and cause confusion — blockchain creates one "master" record. This cannot be changed once a transaction has been recorded.