Weekly Global News Wrap: US regulator warns of BNPL risks; Citi overhaul to cost $1b, done by Q1

And Moody’s put Hong Kong and Macau banks on downgrade warnings.

From Reuters:
 A top U.S. banking regulator on Wednesday warned banks to manage the risks to consumers posed by increasingly popular “buy now, pay later” financing for retail spending, saying the service creates pitfalls for retail shoppers.

“As the ‘buy now, pay later’ market grows and we enter the holiday shopping season, the guidance confirms our expectation that OCC-supervised institutions offering these products do so in a responsible manner,” Michael Hsu, acting Comptroller of the Currency, said in a statement.

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From Reuters:
Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason said on Wednesday the bank's largest reorganization in decades will cost about $1 billion for charges related to restructuring and severance.

The overhaul is expected to be fully completed by the end of the first quarter next year, Mason told the Goldman Sachs (GS.N) U.S. Financial Services Conference. The changes include slimming down management and potentially laying off thousands of employees.

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From Reuters:
Moody's put Hong Kong, Macau and swathes of China's state-owned firms and banks on downgrade warnings on Wednesday as it wasted little time in following up on an identical move the previous day on the mainland government's ratings.

Moody's said the moves for Hong Kong and Macau reflected their tight political, institutional, economic and financial links with China under their "One Country, Two Systems" arrangements.