Fed Governor: Put Cap On Big Financial Firms (WSJ)
In a Philadelphia speech, Fed governor Daniel Tarullo recommended curbing banks’ growth by putting a limit on their nondeposit liabilities, which are sources of funding for operations that go beyond consumer deposits. The idea takes direct aim at the biggest U.S. banks, including J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup, all of which rely heavily on such funding. Firms outside of this tier make much greater use of regular deposits.

With Tapes, Authorities Build Criminal Case Over JPMorgan Loss (Dealbook)
Federal authorities are using taped phone conversations to build criminal cases related to the multibillion-dollar trading loss at JPMorgan Chase, focusing on calls in which employees openly discussed how to value the troubled bets in a favorable way. Investigators are looking into the actions of four people who previously worked for the team based in London responsible for the $6 billion loss, according to officials briefed on the case. The Federal Bureau of Investigation could make some arrests in the next several months, said one person who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the inquiry was ongoing. The phone recordings, which were turned over to authorities by JPMorgan, have helped focus the investigation, the officials said. Authorities are poring over thousands of conversations, in English and French. They are also relying on notes that employees took during staff meetings, instant messages circulated among traders and e-mails sent within the group.

Cyber Slips Boost Facebook’s Ad Clicks (NYP)
Facebook is suffering from fat-finger syndrome. That’s the opinion of one influential Wall Street analyst — bolstered by a growing body of research — who believes that some of the company’s recently touted mobile ad performance can be chalked up to accidental or fraudulent clicks. “Fat fingers” — when people click on an ad as they’re trying to click on something else — is an issue across the mobile Web as users try to navigate smaller screens, according to BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield. “People don’t have trouble with a mouse or touch pads,” Greenfield said yesterday. “But on mobile, when you’re gliding through on a touch screen, everything is touchable, and a lot of mistakes are happening.”

JPMorgan CFO To Exit Post (WSJ)
JPMorgan’s chief financial officer is expected to step down over the next two quarters and is likely to move into a different job at the bank, people close to the company say. Douglas Braunstein, 51 years old, has been finance chief at the largest U.S. bank, by assets, since 2010. Before that, the longtime deal maker ran J.P. Morgan’s investment-banking operations in North and South America and was heavily involved in the bank’s acquisitions of securities firm Bear Stearns Cos. and the failed banking operations of Washington Mutual. Mr. Braunstein’s status was diminished as part of an executive shake-up in July. Since then, he has reported to Matt Zames, 41, the company’s co-chief operating officer, rather than Chairman and Chief Executive James Dimon. It isn’t clear where Mr. Braunstein will decide to go within the bank, but the possibilities include J.P. Morgan’s recently combined corporate and investment bank, these people said. He is expected to make his decision over the next quarter or two.

S&P Lowers Rating On Spain (WSJ)
The ratings company warned Wednesday that Spain’s creditworthiness might continue to deteriorate as Madrid struggles to close a yawning budget gap, and said the Spanish government’s “hesitation” to request a bailout from the European Union is “potentially raising the downside risks to Spain’s rating.”

Brazil Cuts Rate for Tenth Straight Time to Bolster Recovery (Reuters)
Brazil cut its benchmark interest rate for the tenth straight time to 7.25 percent on Wednesday, injecting extra stimulus into a languid recovery threatened by a worsening global economy.

TSA screener accused of intentionally slapping flier’s testicles (DJ)
“A bulky young TSA agent came over to pat me down,” Steven DeForest told the Huffington Post. “He told me to turn around. He was using his command voice, barking orders. I told him that I wasn’t comfortable turning away from my luggage, which had already been screened, and wanted to keep it in my sight.” According to deForest, the screener knelt down to begin the pat-down procedure before making a shocking move. “As he raised his hands he was looking at me. Then he gave a quick flick and smacked me in one of my testicles,” deForest said. The episode left deForest in a state of “humiliation, rage, and frustration,” according to the report. DeForest believes the agent slapped his gentials as punishment for refusing to enter the backscatter x-ray machine. “I was deliberately assaulted by someone who knew that he could get away with it,” he stated. While the motives of the TSA screener cannot be confirmed, other agents have already admitted to performing invasive pat downs in order to force air travelers to choose the body scanners instead.

JPMorgan’s Dimon hits back at government over Bear Stearns suit (Bloomberg)
During a wide-ranging hour-long discussion that went from the “fiscal cliff” to the impact of regulations, Dimon bristled when a member of the audience asked him if he now regretted participating with the government to rescue Bear Stearns in light of the lawsuit. “We didn’t participate with the Federal Reserve, OK?” he said. “Let’s get this one exactly right. We were asked to do it. We did it at great risk to ourselves … Would I have done Bear Stearns again knowing what I know today? It’s real close.” Dimon went on to recount how he warned a senior regulator at the time of the deal to “please take into consideration when you want to come after us down the road for something that Bear Stearns did, that JPMorgan was asked to do this by the federal government.” He added that JPMorgan, which will report its third-quarter earnings on Friday, will come out fine in the end. But if he is ever put in a similar position again, he said he “wouldn’t do it.” “I’m a big boy. I’ll survive,” he said. “But I think the government should think twice before they punish business every single time things go wrong.”

Australians World’s Wealthiest on Housing, Credit Suisse Says (Bloomberg)
Australians have the world’s highest median worth and the Asia-Pacific topped Europe as the largest wealth-holding region, according to Credit Suisse. Australians have a median wealth per adult of $193,653, the Credit Suisse global wealth report showed, the highest of 216 countries surveyed. With plentiful land, sparse population, natural resources and high home prices, Australia’s proportion of individuals with wealth above $100,000 is the most of any country and eight times the world average, the report said.

USADA says Lance Armstrong’s Postal Service cycling team ‘ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen’ (NYDN)
The report describes an underground network of support staff — smugglers, dope doctors, drug runners — who kept Armstrong’s illicit program in business. “The evidence is overwhelming that Lance Armstrong did not just use performance-enhancing drugs, he supplied them to his teammates,” USADA says of the embattled cyclist and cancer survivor. “He did not merely go alone to Dr. Michele Ferrari for doping advice, he expected that others would follow,” the report continued, referring to the physician who was banned by USADA for his role in cycling’s steroid scandal. Eleven former Armstrong teammates provided testimony against Armstrong, including respected veteran cyclist George Hincapie, whom Armstrong has described as his “best bro” in the peloton and competed with Armstrong during each of his Tour de France victories. “It was not enough that his teammates give maximum effort on the bike, he also required that they adhere to the doping program outlined for them or be replaced. He was not just part of the doping culture of his team, he enforced it and re-enforced it. Armstrong’s use of drugs was extensive, and the doping program on his team, designed in large part to benefit Armstrong, was massive and pervasive.”