US Banker articles from April 2008

US Banker archives from April 2008

This Month.
April 1, 2008... 22 Cover Story: Sovereign Sway The growing global role of sovereign wealth funds is unmistakablemost visibly by the $100 billion theyve poured into Western financial-services firms in the last few years. That is making some politicians...

Sovereign Wealth: Good News During Bad Times: There is a strong correlation between sovereign wealth investments and how the U.S. is faring globally. The answer is not pretty.
April 1, 2008... Few financial issues in recent years have sparked as much political and global economic debate as the flow of sovereign wealth funds into top western financial institutions, particularly those in the U.S. That the subject has become a...

SPACS: IPOs Are on a Hot Streak, Despite Cooling Economy: More than 60 offerings expected in 2008.
April 1, 2008... They used to dwell in the dark corners of Wall Street, plagued by institutional memories of shady management teams putting forth questionable blank-check deals. But special-purpose acquisition-company IPOs have joined high society, cornering 25...

Scene and Heard.(savings and loan crisis)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... If only the Arabs had shown up when we had the savings and loan crisis. George Feiger, CEO of Contango Capital Advisors, the wealth-management arm of Zions Bancorporation, on the value of Mideast sovereign-wealth funds in bailing out U.S....

GSEs: Loan-Limit Hikes Are A Band-Aid, Not a Cure: Only jumbos will benefit, and just temporarily.(Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.)(Federal National Mortgage Association)(Federal Housing Administration)
April 1, 2008... Raising conforming loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration banks that was spelled out in the recently passed Economic Stimulus Act eventually should help return liquidity to one part of the housing...

Hits and Has-Beens.(David Sambol and Bruce Hammonds joins Bank of America)(Donald Layton becomes chief executive of E*Trade Financial)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Bank of America said that David Sambol, president and COO of Countrywide, will lead the BofA consumer-mortgage business when the acquisition is completed. Card-services executive Bruce Hammonds becomes global consumer- credit executive. ...

Fresh Ink.(Iron and Glass Bank acquires FNB Corp)(First Community Bank Inc. acquires Goodman State Bank)(Passumpsic Bancorp purchased Lancaster National Bank)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... 1. Pittsburgh-based Iron & Glass Bank was bought by FNB Corp in a cash-and- common-stock deal. Iron & Glass has eight branches and $300 million in total assets. 2. Prosperity Bancshares bought fellow Texas bank 1st Choice Bancorp in a...

Lost Billions in Subprime Debacle? You Need a Performance Bonus.
April 1, 2008... The heads of financial-services firms compensation committees have a lot of explaining to do. Specifically, John Finnegan, CEO of The Chubb Corp., Harley Snyder, CEO of HSC, and Alan J.P. Belda, chairman and CEO of Alcoa. The trio chair those...

Noted and Noteworthy.(bankers face perjury charges)(financial industry is one of the fastest growing sectors)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Bankers may have gambled on the subprime market, but few took risk to this extreme: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has suspended the chairman of a $1.3 billion-asset Pennsylvania banking company who faces perjury charges related...

What's Delaying the SEC on IFRS?: The SEC's reluctance to mandate IFRS for public companies isn't the wisest of moves. Making banks more competitive with their peers is a step into the future, Chairman Cox.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(International Financial Reporting Standards)
April 1, 2008... The Securities and Exchange Commission is not known for being fleet of foot, but the agencys foot-dragging over allowing domestic public companies to use International Financial Reporting Standards is downright glacial. How many decades will it...

ID Theft: Thwarted Online, Fraud Goes Low-Tech Again: In this digital age of sophisticated fraud prevention, criminals are returning to old-style, phone-based fraud. Fraudsters are also giving new meaning to a "friends and family" plan. by glen fest.
April 1, 2008... The payoff from reducing identity-theft crimes through electronic channels has had some surprising twists. A new study from Javelin Strategy & Research found a continuing overall decline in fraud numbers and victims in the U.S., which is no...

Banks Search for Right Search-Engine Strategy: Once again banks are grappling with how best to use the Web to market themselves. Search engines such as Google are a powerful way to reach potential customers, but how to ensure a top position in the results is a matter of debate.
April 1, 2008... The Internet continues to pose new marketing challenges for financial institutions, and is at the center of a changing debate over the relative merits of two different approaches to search-engine marketing. Should a bank opt for the...

AD Beat: BofA's Gentle Lecture On IRAs' Nuts and Bolts: Bank of America is tapping mild humor to decode IRAs for the mass affluent. Its emphasis on education, however, comes at the expense of competitive differentiation.(Bank of America)(individual retirement accounts)
April 1, 2008... For its first swing at IRA advertising, Bank of America is placing a $35 million bet that simplicity will soothe wary consumers who still find these retirement investment instruments overwhelmingly complex. IRAs dont have to be as difficult...

Sovereign Sway: At $2.9 trillion and growing, sovereign wealth funds have been investing in Western financial companies for years, but only recently have they been flying high enough above the radar to attract attention from Washington. ......
April 1, 2008... At $2.9 trillion and growing, sovereign wealth funds have been investing in Western financial companies for years, but only recently have they been flying high enough above the radar to attract attention from Washington. This has triggered a...

Select SWF Investments.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Sovereign Value Target Fund of investment (BilLions) Bank Singapore $9.75 (up to 10.5% stake) UBS Abu Dhabi $7.5 (4.9% stake) Citigroup Singapore $6.8...

Financial Mergers & Acquisitions Dry Up: The subprime meltdown and valuation challenges will crimp the M&A business in 2008. Those banks that recover fastest can turn that to their advantage.
April 1, 2008... Its a hostile merger and acquisition world out there and the depressed bank and thrift market has not been spared. M&A deal activity for banks and thrifts totaled a respectable $72.5 billion in 2007, compared with $108.6 billion in 2006. The...

Top 50 Advisors by Deal Value.
April 1, 2008... Bank & Thrift Mergers in 2007 Ranked by announced deal value 1 Goldman, Sachs & Co. 4 35,747.90 2 Morgan Stanley 4 34,701.40 3 Lehman Brothers Inc. ...

Top Advisors By Region*.(Brief article)(Company rankings)
April 1, 2008... Announced Total Deal Value Rank Firm Deals (In millions) MIDWEST 1 Banc of America Securities 1 $21,000 Goldman, Sachs 1 ...

Top 25 Advisors' Fees.
April 1, 2008... Pending and Completed Deals in 2007 Rank Buyer Target Announced Deal Value ($M) Completed Deal Value ($M) Buyers Financial Advisors Targets Primary Advisor Sellers Financial Advisor Fees ($000) 1 State Street ...

Painting a Picture of Success On NYC's Park Avenue: To compete with the big boys for deposits in New York City, The Park Avenue Bank has fashioned itself as the community bank that listens to its urbane customers. The art shows are its calling card.
April 1, 2008... To start a community bank in a place like Manhattan, one had better find a way to stand out. Potential customers walk past a seemingly endless string of Bank of Americas and Chase Manhattans everyday. A community bank can easily get lost in the...

Banks Offer Bonuses to Entice Consumers to Start Saving: Thanks to the credit collapse and the loss of loan-related income, banks are now scrambling to build core deposits. But getting Americans to save is not easy.
April 1, 2008... The subprime meltdown may not be all doom-and-gloom for Americans. The current crisis might just push U.S. consumers to once again become savers. Its no secret that Americans arent saving as much as they once did. According to the...

Another Boomer Boom: Sales of Small Businesses: Baby Boomers will sell millions of small businesses over the next 15 years. Will banks seize this trillion-dollar opportunity to manage those liquid assets-or will they be cut out of the equation?
April 1, 2008... The U.S. Small Business Administration says that 60 percent of the owners of the countrys six million small businesses are at least 45 years old. That means the next two decades are a critical window for banks to help Baby Boomers manage their...

The Many Cozy Relationships Of Bond Insurers: Do the bond insurers need a bank bailout to prevent a spiral of downgrades? Whatever happens, industry observers agree the relationship among banks, monolines and rating agencies needs more scrutiny.
April 1, 2008... When Ed Grebeck, CEO of debt-strategy firm Tempus Advisors, reads about a multi-billion-dollar bank bailout for insurers, he doesnt see a path to recovery. He sees the further enabling of damaging, co-dependent behavior among banks, rating...

Funds-Transfer Pricing? Just Say No.
April 1, 2008... Is funds-transfer pricing worthwhile? Community banks in high-growth mode often look to larger, more sophisticated banks to emulate their processes. Or, in some cases, the CEO has come from a large regional or national bank and is implementing...

If You Build an Exchange, Will They Come?: After the subprime meltdown, the hunt is on for better ways to value esoteric securities. Independent valuation utilities are being discussed, but the answer may be to create a market and trade them openly.
April 1, 2008... Every time the residential mortgage-backed securities market seems to hit bottom, an even lower bottom emerges. The reasonsthough myriadmostly boil down to failed risk models and thus an inability to accurately price the securities. In this...