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The Giants of International Banking

International banking has increased in popularity over the last decade or so. Nearly every leader in the banking industry is now operating internationally. Some of the largest international banks in the world may be difficult to identify to the average consumer, as it is easy to assume the bank next door is domestic.

Citigroup

Citigroup is one of the largest banking groups in the world; Citigroup is headquartered in Manhattan. In fact, by many standards they are the largest. Citigroup is very active in international banking, with branches all over the world. Although Citigroup is by any definition an international banking giant, they are not protected from international issues. In recent Citigroup history they experienced scandals about misleading banking practices in Japan, and experienced a lawsuit regarding improper assessment of late fees in the U.S., and in March of 2006 they were accused of insider trading in Australia.

UBS AG

UBS is also one of the largest banks in the world; they are based out of Switzerland. UBS is prominent in international banking and has branches on nearly every continent in the world. UBS has also had recent controversial issues in some of the countries that they operate in. In one of the most highly publicized cases against UBS, they were sued by an ex-employee named Laura Zubulake who contended that her former manager denied her accounts and made fun of her appearance in front of her coworkers, as well as that the company had sexist practices that made it difficult for women salespeople to succeed including the practice of taking clients to strip clubs.

This case is thought to be so important because UBS was unable to provide copies of certain emails to the jury which Zubulake contended contained the harassment, this led many companies to reevaluate how they handle the tracking and storing of their electronic information.

Bank of America

Another leader in international banking is Bank of America. Bank of America was originally founded in San Francisco under the name Bank of Italy. It eventually expanded out of California through the process of several mergers changed its consumer brand name to Bank of America.

Bank of America is currently at the center of many different controversies, mostly revolving around the logic they use with consumer accounts. One of the largest of these controversies is regarding their overdraft fees. Bank of America uses the logic of processing the largest check first; this generates a lot of overdraft fees that would not occur if they processed smallest to largest. They also have been accused of closing consumer accounts without warning and with very little provocation.