US Banker articles from August 2004

US Banker archives from August 2004

Isssue Date Notice.
August 2, 2004... August 2004

Morgan Bias Case Settled. Will This Stop Abuses?: CEOs have plenty to worry about: compliance, accounting and vocal shareholders. But sex bias cases? Please, this should be a non-issue. Sadly, it isn't.
August 2, 2004... When Morgan Stanley agreed in mid-July to pay $54 million to settle a sex discrimination case and avoid standing trial on the federal government's accusation that it denied equal pay and promotions to women in a division of its investment bank,...

Military Banking: Financially Distressed GIs Look to Banks for Help: America's soldiers have battles at home, too.
August 2, 2004... Conflicts in afghanistan and Iraq are hitting customers harder than banks realize, and the ripple effect is likely to be felt by the families of U.S. soldiers around the globe. Some 40 percent of all overseas troops are Reservist and...

Scene and Heard.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... "If they lose their strength and then have to do deals down the road, they'll get their heads handed to them." Tom Taulli, of Current Offerings, on Google's Wall Street backlash. "The best performers have certain elements in common....

Outsourcing: Cutting Call Center Costs Trumps Catching U.S. Flak: So what if customers complain about an accent?
August 2, 2004... Despite the American backlash against offshoring, banks that make customer service a top priority aren't keeping call centers off the table. After software hosting, call center services will be the second most common service outsourced by...

Hits and Has-Beens.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... After an accounting scandal last year that prompted the ouster of several top executives, Freddie Mac has tapped Stan Martin as svp and general auditor. He had served as interim general auditor since February. The bulk of Martin's 30-year...

Fresh Ink.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... 1. Wachovia agreed to buy SouthTrust for $14.3 billion, which bolsters the bigger bank's presence in New Jersey and Florida. The acquisition also expedites its expansion plans in Texas. Wachovia says the move gives it 18 percent of the deposits...

Compliance: Riggs National Found No Diplomatic Immunity: Regulators defend fine, but admit lax oversight.
August 2, 2004... It's certainly true that the embassy accounts business-a specialty of Riggs National-is a banking niche occupied by few others. Nevertheless, Riggs' lax oversight of these accounts, which resulted in an unprecedented $25 million fine for the...

Pipeline.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Offshoring WAVE becoming tsunami The number of global financial institutions offshoring functions increased 38 percent, compared to last year, according to a Deloitte Research survey. By 2010, more than one-fifth of the industry's global...

Money Laundering: FATF Sets Its Sights On Informal Channels: Will FATF's broader mission make a difference?(Financial Action Task Force )
August 2, 2004... When members of the Financial Action Task Force endorsed the international organization's mandate on May 14 for another eight years, they indicated future efforts would focus more on informal channels like cash couriers, alternative remittance...

Steel City's Cost Cutting Slog Drags On. Are Bonds the Answer?
August 2, 2004... Prospects seem murky for new bonds to come from the troubled city of Pittsburgh, which spent the spring and early summer teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Now beholden to two different oversight boards, the Steel City government is sifting...

Noted and Noteworthy.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The swindle scoreboard this month is posting decisive gains for the prosecutors, if there was any doubt following former Credit Suisse superbanker Frank Quattrone's May conviction on charges of obstructing a federal probe. From the serious...

A Shot of Influence, Mr. Bartender: Break out the champagne, caviar...and peanuts. The GOP convention's coming to New York and no group's popping more corks than financial firms. Pass the aspirin.
August 2, 2004... Who says Republicans aren't party animals? When 50,000 Republicans stomp through New York City during the GOP convention from August 30 to September 2, the financial community will be feting lawmakers and delegates with a slew of intimate...

Loyalty Cards: When Clients Spend, Nonprofits Shall Receive: COMMUNITYsmart claims to be the first automated loyalty, rewards and philanthropy platform for banks.
August 2, 2004... Summit Bank CEO Terrance M. Davis knows being socially responsible can pay off big in customer loyalty, but he never realized how big. In 2003 the $230 million-asset bank in Sonoma County, CA, faced a migraine familiar to other community banks...

Can Credit Cards Star On the Silver Screen?: "Brand entertainment" is the new catch phrase for marketers seeking product placement on TV shows and movies or in lengthy ads like Seinfeld's Superman gig.
August 2, 2004... Visa and American Express are among the first financial services firms to experiment with embedding products in TV programs and movies, blurring the line between ads and entertainment. Similar to product placement born of soap operas decades...

AD Beat: For Hispanics, PNC Avoids 'Separate-But-Equal' Ads: The Pittsburgh bank's new campaign uses humor to bring the Spanish speaker into the mainstream, acknowledging he wants to feel welcome as much as the next guy.(PNC Bank Corp.)
August 2, 2004... PNC Bank is running its first Hispanic advertising campaign anchored by a couple of funny TV spots. The effort is viewed internally as an integral part of the brand, rather than a separate component. It's a big shift in thinking for an industry...

This Bank Doesn't Want To Be on Every Corner: J. Downey Bridgewater, CEO of Sterling Bank, doesn't feel any pressure to plunk down new branches to catch foot traffic. There's more to his strategy.(Interview)
August 2, 2004... Despite heated competition in Texas and pledges by big banks to open hundreds of new locations nationwide, J. Downey Bridgewater, president and CEO of $3.2 billion Sterling Bank, isn't sweating he'll be competing for every hot corner property...

Conquerors, Come All.
August 2, 2004... Capital-rich foreign banks are scouring the U.S. in search of targets to offset tough growth prospects at home. They're coming fast and furious, both in terms of players-French, British, Dutch, Canadian, Greek, Australian, even the Italians-and...

Reign Supreme: At Mid-Tier Banks, Low-Cost Deposits, Strict Cost Controls.
August 2, 2004... David Payne was ahead of the curve in the mid-1990s when setting Westamerica Bancorporation's strategy. At the time when most mid-sized banks were lending as much money as possible, he wisely turned to gathering low-cost deposits while taking a...

Top 100 Publicly Traded Mid-Tier Banks: Banks & thrifts with assets between $1 and $5.5 billion. Ranked by 3-year avg. ROE.(Illustration)
August 2, 2004... (part 1 of 4) Institution Ticker 1 WSFS Financial Corp. WSFS 2 Westamerica Bancorp. WABC 3 TrustCo Bank Corp NY TRST 4 Great Southern Bancorp ...

Is Granite Bank's Forlines a Legend in His Own Time?: He began at the bank when North Carolina native son John Edwards really was in diapers. But after 50 years, he'll soon hang up his suspenders. Many are sad to see him go.(John Forlines Jr.)
August 2, 2004... It was 1954 when John Forlines Jr. was recruited by local business leaders to run the Bank of Granite in tiny Granite Falls, NC. Back then, the one-office bank had $1 million in assets, and its most impressive feature might have been the...

Towns, Banks Marshall Forces To Prevent 'Sheriff' Sales: When properties go into foreclosure, prompting Sheriff sales, both banks and towns lose. But early credit counseling and debt-readjustment programs can help stem those losses.(John Green and mortgage foreclosures)
August 2, 2004... About a year ago, John Green, sheriff of the city and county of Philadelphia, began noticing a skyrocketing number of Sheriff sales. It wasn't a good sign. Sheriff sales meant properties going through foreclosure-a real killer of neighborhoods....

Google's Unconventional IPO Risks Ire of Wall Street: The Internet upstart is using the Dutch auction feature to go public, and Wall Street is resenting its back-seat role. If Google slips, the investment banks will get the last laugh.
August 2, 2004... Google's swagger is angering some Wall Street players-known for their own swagger, but apparently not receptive to the trait in others-to the point that it may negatively affect the Internet company down the road, according to sources. ...

Myriad Forces Buffet Corporate Loan Growth: With companies swimming in cash, they aren't hard up for bank loans. But just when that might start to change, rising interest rates loom as another possible detriment to loan growth.
August 2, 2004... Be wary of the fabulous earnings announcements you'll likely hear later this year, which tout huge growth in corporate lending; that growth will mostly be making up lost ground after a period of negative growth. What's more, with the federal...

Consumers Feeling Queasy, But Still Spending: Despite a recession, a bear market, the 9/11 attacks and two wars-all of which have roiled consumer confidence-spending has grown steadily. Does that make sense?
August 2, 2004... Of all the metrics trotted out monthly to gauge the economy's health, perhaps none is as squishy as consumer confidence. Do consumers feel good or bad this month? And exactly how much better or how much worse do they feel than a month ago? ...

The Importance of Being Alert.
August 2, 2004... Competition in the banking industry is fierce. Retaining and building relationships with customers is more important now than ever. That's why many banks have invested substantial capital in Internet and wireless initiatives to try to improve...

Could Your Bank Pass a Bank Secrecy Act Exam?
August 2, 2004... In light of the Recent enforcement action against Riggs National Bank of Washington, D.C., Congress is strongly questioning why regulators like the Office of the Comptroller Currency and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network have not been...