CFOZone.com - The Network of Corporate Finance

European banks are preparing for a potential worsening of the region's sovereign and banking crisis, with many firms stockpiling cash and cutting back on loans to new clients as they seek to protect themselves against a possible seizing-up of financial markets.

Investors pessimistic about the prospects of U.S. banks and brokers have some good company: Wall Street chief executives.

The U.S. futures regulator unanimously approved on Monday tighter limits on how brokerage firms can use customer funds, a measure the now-bankrupt MF Global had encouraged the agency to delay.

The lawyer who piloted United Airlines through the largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in that industry's history cautioned that American Airlines cannot just rely on the restructuring path cut by competitors.