JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citibank are keeping trillions of dollars in unknown and potentially risky assets off of their balance sheets, according to new data from the US government.

The new numbers – compiled by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) and first reported on by Wall Street on Parade – show JPMorgan Chase holds $3.227 trillion off-balance sheet, Bank of America holds $1.6 trillion off-balance sheet and Citibank holds $2.6 trillion off-balance sheet.

The Federal Reserve defines off-balance sheet activities as “quite diverse in nature” and says they may include such instruments as firm loan commitments, standby letters of credit, foreign exchange, financial futures, forward contracts, options, interest rate swap contracts and other derivative products.

Off-balance sheet accounting has been a common practice in the banking industry for years and as Wall Street on Parade notes, it played a major role in the 2008 financial crisis.

“More than other banks, Citigroup held assets off of its balance sheet, in part to hold down capital requirements… if those had been included, leverage in 2007 would have been 48:1, or about 53% higher…

Citigroup, of course, blew itself up in 2008 and received the largest bailouts in global banking history. By March of 2009, its stock was trading at 99 cents.”

In July of last year, the Federal Reserve announced a proposal that would impose higher capital requirements on banks to ensure their balance sheets are more resilient in economic downturns.

CEOs at JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon and State Street argued against the proposed changes in a Senate Banking Oversight Committee hearing in December.

In a prepared statement, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the changes would damage the banking industry and the economy at large.

“Despite zero evidence that large U.S. banks are undercapitalized today, the proposed Basel III Endgame rule, if enacted, would unjustifiably and unnecessarily increase capital requirements by 20-25% for the largest banks.

Banks would be limited in their ability to deploy capital in the times we’re most needed, and the rule will have a harmful ripple effect on the economy, markets, businesses of all sizes and American households.”

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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A Bank of America customer says he lost tens of thousands of dollars after bad actors found a way to hijack his account.

California resident Jeff Drobman says the theft began when his phone abruptly came alive with multiple notifications from his Bank of America app, reports NBC Los Angeles.

“I started to get notifications that someone tried to log into my account, that my password had been changed.”

Jeff says he tried to call the bank to stop the criminal from looting his account, but his phone suddenly lost service. By the time he was able to get in touch with Bank of America, it was too late.

The thief had already siphoned $21,000 from his account.

“They go, ‘They’ve already withdrawn $21,000 from your account.’ Are you kidding me? That’s half of my bank account.”

Jeff says he was a victim of a SIM-swap attack – a scheme where criminals tricked Spectrum, Jeff’s carrier, into connecting his phone number to a different SIM card. Once in possession of the phone number, the thieves received the text back codes from the bank that allowed them to change Jeff’s password and steal his money.

“So the text message went not to my phone, but their phone. So by hijacking my phone, they intercept my text back codes.”

The American Bankers Association believes that text back codes help secure trillions of dollars in the banking system. But Jeff says it’s clear they are not secure, and he’s urging the industry to begin using facial recognition or authentication apps.

“I want to get the word out that text back codes are not safe.”

NBC 4 contacted Bank of America to learn more about Jeff’s case. After hearing from NBC, the banking giant promptly credited Jeff’s account with $21,000, saying that the lender takes cases of identity theft seriously.

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An elderly woman who lost millions of dollars to scammers is hitting Bank of America (BofA) with a lawsuit over allegations of negligence, breach of contract and violation of federal law.

Lynne Bucklin, a 67 year-old Florida resident, says BofA failed to adequately protect her from a scheme that drained $2 million from her accounts, reports the cyber litigation firm Vernon.

Lynne says the scam started when she received emails and phone calls from people pretending to be Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigators. The bad actors got Lynne’s attention by telling her that her social security number was exposed.

One of the scammers, who posed as an FTC official under the name of Bruce Williams, sent his purported credentials to Lynne, including his badge and badge number. He also sent her a copy of an FTC letter saying that her accounts were being investigated for fraudulent activity.

Believing that the threat was real, Lynne succumbed to the instructions of the thieves.

BofA’s employees are accused of green-lighting the transfers even though the transactions were out of the ordinary.

Now, Lynne is seeking the assistance of the justice system, accusing BofA of negligent hiring, breach of contract and violations of the law including the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and the Florida Uniform Commercial Code.

“Under the guise of protecting her assets, the scammer convinced Bucklin to transfer money into cryptocurrency accounts via wire transfers at a Bank of America branches in Naples, Florida.

Despite the irregularity of the transactions, Bucklin’s bank representatives failed to question their validity. Furthermore, the scammer gained remote access to her computer to manipulate accounts and steal her identity.”

Lynne initially reached out to BofA in an attempt to recoup her funds but the mega lender was only able to recover $500,00 before shutting down her case.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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