Bank of America has shelved plans for new fees that could have hit at least 10 million customers by the end of this year, skirting a potential replay of a 2011 uproar over consumer-banking charges.
Some of the biggest beneficiaries will be migrants, who have been failed by a banking system that charges them up to 20% of the sums they regularly send to support their families at home.
At BMO, where investors heaved a sigh of relief because for once there were no large, unexpected charges, investment banking earnings slumped 7.5%, while profit from retail operations was essentially flat.
Yet despite some talk about the need for a new Glass-Steagall act to separate retail and investment banking, and for higher capital charges based on size, the idea of breaking up institutions does not have great momentum.
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Speaking in his own defence last week, Noriega dismissed the money-laundering charges as "an imaginary banking scheme".
Other banks may be forced to rejig their investment-banking arms as the impact of higher capital charges proposed under Basel 3 rules begin to bite.
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Some consumers were dropped by their banks while others say they avoid the traditional banking system owing to concerns about fees and overdraft charges.
People who remain outside the banking system often fall prey to predatory lenders and to the high charges levied by wire-transfer services, with little recourse when they are abused.
Mr Hester said that the list of charges was "a powerful critique" of where the banking industry had gone wrong in the past, but added that he was confident that the "biggest and most wrenching cases can be recognised by the end of the year".
Lenders and borrowers get rates 25% lower than on loans financed through traditional banking channels, and lenders enjoy 6.5% annual interest after charges.
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Joe Roby of Credit Suisse First Boston, which may face criminal charges in New York in connection with swapping hot IPO shares for banking business, left in June when his two-year term expired.
The government has said it will impose controls on charges for current accounts, following the publication a report into small business banking from the Competition Commission.
He was even more scathing of the argument that overdraft charges were fees paid for receiving a whole package of services, in which banking services were free for those who stay in credit.
Accusations fly about special banking deals for supporters of the ruling Democrats - Tarrin is a key party fundraiser - although such charges are routinely hurled at anyone in power, so closely are politics and business entwined in Thailand.
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