When making an investment decision, prudent investors seek to understand exactly how a company makes its money and what risks, current and future, could derail the company's earning potential. To do that, investors of public companies need information.
Banks apparently don't see it that way. Quietly hiding behind industry lobbying groups, banks are fighting regulations that would require increased granularity in fee income sources in their quarterly financial reports.
After witnessing banks like Wells Fargo (WFC -0.03%) and Bank of America (BAC 1.52%) pay hundreds of millions of dollars for malpractices surrounding these very fees, and as TD Bank (TD 0.51%) pre-emptively refunds customers before regulators force the issue, it's clear that this granularity is needed.
In the video below, Motley Fool contributor Jay Jenkins discusses how the new regulatory landscape is more pertinent than ever for investors, as the risk of millions of dollars of fines and reputation risk to the franchise warrant the increased disclosures.
