Concerns about European banks persist

Welcome to the morning roundup. Here's a look at today's banking and finance news.

Europe troubles. Two top U.S. officials are concerned about the European banking industry, Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen told Bloomberg after meeting them. Katainen said U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke were "very worried" as they discussed the options for recapitalizing troubled banks, Bloomberg reports.

JPM. Federal Reserve governor Daniel Tarullo said the proposed Volcker rule, which would bar banks from trading with their own money, would have forced JPMorgan Chase & Co. to look more carefully at the trading activities that led to its $2 billion loss, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Fed official's comments suggest the bank's loss is helping shape the debate on banking regulation, the Journal writes.

Goldman shrinking. Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs is expected to name fewer than 100 new partners this fall, one of the smallest classes in recent years, the New York Times reports. The firm is being more selective about its elite ranks, mirroring a decline in overall head count, the Times writes.

Stocks climbing. Stocks rose at the open today on hopes of new action to help the global economy, Reuters report. The move higher came after the Chinese central bank cut bank lending and deposit rates.