Monday's Headlines: Wall Street protests spread, escalate with mass arrests

Anti-Wall Street protests spread to cities around the U.S. this weekend, with police arresting more than 700 in New York as protesters marched on the Brooklyn Bridge, Bloomberg reports.

The "Occupy Wall Street" protests began 16 days ago and initially started dwindling before gaining steam in recent days and spreading to Los Angeles, Philadelphia and other cities. On Friday, police arrested 25 people in Bank of America's Boston building.

"On placards and in chants, protesters are citing Americans' frustrations with a financial industry that received unprecedented taxpayer bailouts while damaging an economy in which unemployment remains above 9 percent," Bloomberg writes. "They aim to put Wall Street on the defensive, just as firms seek to shape regulations and influence next year's general election."

Other News:

UK financial firms will shed 8,000 jobs by year-end, survey finds. [Financial Times]

Warren Buffett to raise money for Obama while Wall Street stays away. [New York Times]

Hong Kong fines Citigroup $770,000 for not reporting Ponzi scheme run by former employee. [MarketWatch]

NY Fed may require foreign banks to submit daily liquidity reports on concerns about euro zone exposure. [Bloomberg]

ECB's Noyer says fears of French bank exposure to Greece, Spain, Ireland are exaggerated. [Dow Jones Newswires]

Citigroup considers replacing Japan managers after regulators find disclosure problems. [Wall Street Journal]

Asia M&A bankers keeping eye on UBS in case recent troubles result in sale. [Financial Times]

Stifel Financial completes acquisition of fixed income and muni specialist Stone & Youngberg. [Biz Journals]