Weekly Global News Wrap Up: US banks report record 2016 profits; Bankers told to set up full-scale operations in Frankfurt post-Brexit

Barclays cuts bonuses and Wells Fargo launches robo advisor.

Reuters reports that the U.S. banking industry booked record profits last year, according to regulatory data released on Tuesday, as lenders grew a stronger book of loans and fewer banks failed. Net income rose 4.9% to $171 billion in 2016, an all-time high, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp figures, which are not inflation-adjusted. Read the full story here.

A Bloomberg report says banks choosing Frankfurt for their licensed European Union hub after Brexit will have to set up full-scale operations in the country, not brass-plate offices with bankers commuting from London, according to German central bank Executive Board member Andreas Dombret. Read more here.

Barclays Plc cut the bonus pool for its investment bankers for a third year, while increasing the amount of the rewards it pays up-front, says Bloomberg. Incentive awards for “front-office” staff fell about 1% to 875 million pounds ($1.1 billion) because of job cuts and a hiring freeze during 2016, the bank said in its annual report. The decrease would have been bigger if not for a drop in the pound that made paying U.S.-based employees more expensive. Read more here.

According to Reuters, Wells Fargo & Co's wealth management business said it would launch its new robo-adviser Intuitive Investor later this year in a bid to develop a new revenue stream from existing Millennial customers who may be looking to open their first investment account in a crowded online market. Read the full story here.