US Banker articles from January 2007

US Banker archives from January 2007

This Month.
January 1, 2007... 26 Cover Story: The All-Star Banking Team 2007 With operating conditions tougher than ever, top performers found success in different ways. Among the institutions that stood out from peers based on their outstanding financials were Nara...

Capital Markets, Trade Is Paulson's Focus: Henry Paulson is known for not mincing words. He didn't do it as chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, and, as Treasury Secretary, it's clear his style will be true to form-good news to those looking for answers and opportunity.(speaks at The Economic Club of New York)
January 1, 2007... Long before he became Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson mastered the art of owning a room, in equal parts due to his cunning, brash style and undeniably big appetite for making things happen. He was the force behind Goldman Sachs, and when he...

De Novos: More Startups Seek Perks Of Being Holding Company: Tax benefits follow high initial costs.(Industry overview)
January 1, 2007... Bank startups have been on a tear over the past year, largely because they represent a profitable investment opportunity. And of those startups, a much higher percentage is starting life with a holding-company corporate structure. Bob...

Scene and Heard.(CheckFree's Matt Lewis on customer expectations )(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... "The difference between success and failure in the mobile banking space will be in servicing." -Matt Lewis, evp and general manager of CheckFree's Electronic Commerce Division, on customer expectations remaining consistent across bank...

Remittances: Following the Money: Capturing Migrant Workers: Translating one-offs into full-time customers.
January 1, 2007... No bank south of the Mason-Dixon line-or west of the Mississippi-denies the importance of a robust remittance program for migrants workers. But how to turn those remittance senders into full-time customers, even ones who need a simple checking...

Hits and Has-Beens.(promotions)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Min Jung Kim was promoted to president and CEO of Nara Bancorp, the first Korean woman to hold such a position at a U.S. bank. M&T Bank chairman Robert Wilmers will reassume the post of CEO, a job he held from 1983 to 2005. In addition,...

Fresh Ink.(mergers)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... 1. In a blockbuster deal, The Bank of New York announced it would buy Pittsburgh's Mellon Financial, creating the biggest custodian of institutional assets in the U.S. The purchase price was $16.6 billion. In 1998, BoNY had offered $24 billion...

Ohio Supreme Court Rules Cities Can't Regulate Predatory Lending.
January 1, 2007... Effectively ending six years of litigation, the Ohio Supreme Court recently struck down patchwork municipal predatory-lending laws, confirming that state regulations supercede local laws on the issue. The American Financial Services...

Noted Noteworthy.(brief)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Academy-Award-winning producer Ben Shedd is readying a 30-minute documentary, "Green is the Color of Money," about the green Banner Bank building in Boise. The building, designed by HDR Architecture and built by The Russell Corp., was finished...

Supremes Seen Singing It Again: The highest court is taking on the perennial conflict over whether federal law preempts state law on regulating bank units. Wasn't that case already resolved? Yep.(Wachovia v. Watters)
January 1, 2007... Sometimes cases reviewed by the Supreme Court are more about politics than law. Such is the case with Wachovia v. Watters. The court is deciding whether the Comptroller of the Currency's preemption regulations protect the mortgage units of...

Risk Mitigation: In Para(site) Scams, URL Deceit's Big Business: The 'citibank.com' domain name is available to anybody who wants it, including phishers. Does a free market in domain names provide a common good?
January 1, 2007... Phishing losses are expected to hit $2.8 billion this year, and some security experts are beginning to wonder if Internet-domain-name registrars and resellers are enabling some obvious ruses; specifically, should they traffic in bank-related...

MasterCard: Ready For Its Closeup: Product placement isn't new, but MasterCard seems to have raised the activity to an art form. Of course, the company also has its fingers in mobisodes, podcasts and Web back stories.
January 1, 2007... Product integration, a form of product placement, is becoming so ubiquitous that marketing messages may now have to be calibrated for their subconscious, as well as their conscious, effect on consumers. Just ask MasterCard. In...

AD Beat: CSB to Small Businesses: 'Yes, We Feel Your Pain': The New England bank wanted the simplicity of its message to translate to small firms: "We understand you and can serve you better than the competition." It found a way.
January 1, 2007... Small businesses often complain that banks don't understand their companies-and don't care about how they produce their products or services. Cambridge Savings Bank's new marketing campaign hopes to assuage those fears by proving that loan...

The Opportunists.(Company overview)
January 1, 2007... The banking industry turned in another round of record profits in 2006, but you wouldn't know it by listening to bankers. From a flat yield curve and margin compression to regulatory hassles, most call it one of the toughest years in recent...

The Top 25 Banks of 2007.(Company rankings)
January 1, 2007... Performance Data as of 3Q Rank/ Total Stock Net Profit Institution Location ROE % Assets* Price Income* ROA % Margin 1 PNC Financial Services Pittsburgh, PA 66.44...

Warehouse Lending Offers Potential, But Beware the Risks: A very short-term loan that's backed by real estate can be very lucrative if banks understand the risks. The biggest risk? Fraud. And did someone mention fraud?
January 1, 2007... David Frase joined Arlington, TX-based Southwest Securities FSB four months ago as evp with a key objective: making the thrift's warehouse-lending practice a more vibrant one. Currently the business line has $150 million in assets, but he hopes...

Another Collection Instrument For NSF-Fee Scofflaws: From the Office of Irony: People who rack up non-sufficient-funds fees sometimes don't pay them. But banks are becoming more aggressive than ever in finding ways to collect.
January 1, 2007... Thousands of banks now have another option when it comes to collection of non-sufficient funds in checking accounts. Last month, bank consulting firm Sheshunoff Management Services struck a deal with collections agency American Profit...

What Do Women (Owners) Really Want-And Need?: It's no surprise that female entrepreneurs are a bona fide force in today's economy. But do they hamper their firms' growth by avoiding outside capital?
January 1, 2007... The number of women launching businesses has soared in recent years, doubling the rate for businesses in general. And with that kind of increase comes opportunities for banks-but only those that approach this market with the right advice and...

Regionals Tap Derivatives To Broaden Product Line: Smaller banks increasingly are using derivatives to boost their array of products to commercial customers. But there are risks-and several spectacular implosions to prove it.
January 1, 2007... Ever-smaller regional banks are increasing their use of derivatives to better serve corporate customers, according to analysts and bankers, as corporate customers try to lock in low, long-term rates on loans. In early December, 30-year...

IRS's Private-Annuity Rule Roils the HNW Universe: High-net-worth investors who did not expect to live to their full actuarial predictions used to have a major loophole regarding real estate. But the IRS hated it - and now is aiming to change it.
January 1, 2007... A new proposal from the IRS regarding private-annuity sales has sent ripples through the estate-planning universe. In early December, the proposal was still in the comment stage. However, if it passes, it will be implemented in phases: In some...

The 'Financialization' Of Healthcare Services.
January 1, 2007... A confluence of economic and political circumstances, fueled by a burgeoning entrepreneurial opportunity, is enabling health savings accounts, and related services, to re-invent healthcare and retirement savings as consumers know it. Banks are...

Intelligent Cost Cuts Are The Only Option in This Market.
January 1, 2007... Well, it's that time again. It's the point in the economic cycle when bank senior executives and shareholders understand that the top-line growth that powered the industry for this economic cycle is ending. The pressure is on and shareholders...