US Banker articles from July 2004

US Banker archives from July 2004

BofA's Standards Under Fire.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2004... I read your May 2004 commentary with great interest. I was a Bank of America full-service customer. No longer. BofA's "Higher Standards" is nothing more than a tagline with two words. It is meaningless. When the BofA fund scandal broke,...

Politics, Promises and the Impact (or Not) of Mergers: The case can be made that some mergers are in the best interest of shareholders. But what about what's in the best interest of communities? That's where the promises start.
July 1, 2004... In corporate America as in politics, everybody wants their fair share. So the question is, why should mergers be any different? They're not-with one exception: connection to the communities, not only in dollars, but sense. When it comes to...

Gadflies: They Say, 'Show Me the Money,' and Mean It: Following the cash gains political currency.
July 1, 2004... What do Wells Fargo and the Teamsters have in common? Neither knew how much money Wells contributed to political causes last year. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, owner of 3,900 shares of Wells Fargo, submitted a proposal not...

Scene and Heard.(Arthur Levitt, Tanya Azarchs and Standard and Poor's)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... "Eliot Spitzer is the 'Me' in team." Arthur Levitt, former SEC chairman, playfully tweaking the AG while introducing him at a financial writers association dinner. "When investment-grade falls off a cliff, it hurts." Tanya Azarchs,...

Funds: Lousy Corporate Governance? No Problem.: New fund will short the stock and wait for the fall.(proposed hedge fund's strategy)
July 1, 2004... A new hedge fund is hoping to cash in on the slew of bad news and investor skittishness regarding corporate governance. The fund's research objective will be to determine how well companies police those internal issues that have raised the...

Hits and Has-Beens.(appointment of executives by Banks and other financial organizations)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Peter T. Garland joined the Bankers' Bank Northeast as chief credit officer responsible for managing all aspects of lending efforts. This is a new business for the bank and Garland will be building infrastructure to support this loan activity....

Fresh Ink.(proposed mergers and acquisitions of banking industry)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... 1. Cleveland-based National City continues to strengthen its Midwestern base with plans to buy Wayne Bancorp for $180 million. Wayne operates in communities that are contiguous to National City's operations in northern Ohio, according to...

Currency: The Travelers Cheque That Stays at Home: Amex tries breathing new life into aging product.(American Express's offer to immigrants who don't trust the local currency or banking system)
July 1, 2004... American Express is targeting its travelers cheques to people in foreign countries who like to keep cash dollars at home because they don't trust the local currency or banking system. The company currently markets a version of its travelers...

Pipeline.(Washington Mutual Inc., awards contacts to multicultural agencies to target multicultural customers, Basel II implementation for operational risk management, Continuous Linked Settlement Services Ltd's volume of transaction capabilities to increase)
July 1, 2004... Wamu Goes Multi-Ethnic In a move to further expand its outreach with multicultural consumers, Washington Mutual has for the first time selected an African-American advertising agency of record, Carol H. Williams Advertising. Dieste Harmel...

Hang Around Long Enough, and in California Anything Can Happen.(Banking sector cases, service evaluation and control excercised by state and federal governments)
July 1, 2004... If nothing else, it looks like Community Bank of Central California can say it got its licks in but good. Currently playing a drag-out-the-clock strategy in a multi-million-dollar dispute with lettuce capital King City in California's green...

Noted and Noteworthy.(Buy American movement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Roy Chapman might've thought about calling BankAtlantic instead of plugging his auto dealerships. Chapman, who owns Triple-Crown-close-but-no-cigar celebrity horse Smarty Jones, gave away some 1,700 hats and boosted car sales 20 percent in a...

This is Not a Young Man's Game: Alan Greenspan continues to make history in many different ways. An avid tennis player like William McChesney Martin before him, he's far from slowing down.(interest rates policy adopted by the United States Federal Reserve chairman and his renomination for the job)
July 1, 2004... It's been two years since the last time someone pointed out that Alan Greenspan was the oldest Federal Reserve chairman in history. It's easy to remember, when walking away from the Bull on the Bowling Green, what that means-Gertrude...

Institutional Custody: Union Bank Corrals E-Ballot Functionality: Calls for transparency and more responsible mutual fund investing fuel demand for on-line proxy voting. With technology support, the public gets what it asks for.
July 1, 2004... In a time when there's a high priority on regulatory compliance and calls for corporate transparency in mutual funds, pensions and other types of institutional investing, proxy voting is becoming much more complex. Some institutions, such as...

An Internet Nation Calls For Vigilance On-Line: With more and more customers banking on-line, there's a need to step up rigorous brand and marketing practices, lest banks see their images erode in the ether.
July 1, 2004... The impact of Internet activity on brand and the bottom line goes far beyond the business it brings. Financial firms must be vigilant of dubious marketing that can sweep in and damage even the strongest of brands. Assessing on-line...

AD Beat: With Seuss-Like Looks, Umpqua Keeps Face Fresh: Umpqua banks with comfy chairs. Umpqua shows it really cares. Its very own coffee blend is just the thing from Blaine to Bend. Message is? They're your hip friend.(marketing techniques adopted by Umpqua Holdings Corp)
July 1, 2004... Upstream swimmer Umpqua Bank is invigorating its marketing stroke with a feel-good effort challenging people to rethink the way they bank and live their lives. The $3 billion bank that analysts say was one of the first to make a splash...

Big Fish or Small, At Nat City They'll Still Get on the Phones: In a bid to make clients feel special and win over new ones, National City works monthly blitzes for small business prospects. Not even Dave Daberko's safe.(National City Bank)(Interview)
July 1, 2004... National City Bank is in its second year of conducting corporate-wide calling efforts that enlist senior company execs to pound the pavement and meet with potential small business customers and the bank's 300,000 small business clients. These...

SubdivIsions: A home, a grill, a dog-even in gritty D.C., it computes. For the country's financial giants promising massive investments, the math gets more complicated.(effect of community investment on Banks)
July 1, 2004... It's a hot, sticky afternoon and the cicadas are buzzing, sidewalk's too bright to look at and the white dome of the nation's capitol gleams far across the Anacostia river. Stewart Williams stands with his dog Onyx on his porch overlooking busy...

The Secrets of Success for Community Banks: Many echo the battle cry for fee-based services. Many are benefiting from location. Some say focus is key. And if possible, be lucky.
July 1, 2004... About three and a half years ago, Norman Morales came on board as CEO of Vineyard National Bancorp and reaped the rewards of a huge influx of residents into his southern California community. He lists the various yardsticks of the bank's growth...

Top 200 Publicly Traded Community Banks: Ranked by 3-year avg. ROE.(average return on equity)(Illustration)
July 1, 2004... (part 1 of 4) Institution Ticker 1 Crescent Banking Co. CSNT 2 Pelican Financial PFI 3 Redwood Empire Bancorp REBC 4 Smithtown...

Not Just Lollipops, But Dogs And General Lee, Too: It's not quite the oldest living link to the Confederacy-she died last month, and this link is brick and mortar-but just outside D.C., B&H recalls old-time ways. And makes money.(Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co.)
July 1, 2004... In Virginia's old Alexandria, cobblestone streets reflect the town's long history. It's a place where many institutions, buildings and people claim deep historical roots, but where few run as deep as the state's oldest bank. The Army of...

Park Place, Baltic Avenue: Is Banking Like Monopoly?: A decade ago there was talk of the inevitable march toward branchless banking. Today, de novo branching is hotter than ever, and banking is once again about street corner strategy.
July 1, 2004... Vernon Hill, chairman and CEO of $24 billion-asset Commerce Bancorp, has become one of the country's hottest bankers by way of the branch. This year, his fast-growing Cherry Hill, NJ-based banking company plans to open more than 50 new outlets,...

Starting with Green, But Not Necessarily Staying: Amex gains ground at the expense of MasterCard; Visa holds at number one. But the fight for small businesses-however they're defined-will make loyalty to labels a fleeting commodity.(American Express)
July 1, 2004... The idea of marketing cards specifically to small businesses has been around for almost 20 years, but banks still don't have the formula down pat. Maybe. Small business owners make use of their plastic in mysterious ways, a new study...

Rural America Is Dialing Into Wall Street. Collect.: Here's a deal appealing to slow-growth firms with a strong cash flow, and there's a lot of that going around in the rural telecom industry. But the IRS looms large.(Income Deposit Securities, Internal Revenue Services)
July 1, 2004... There's a new type of initial public offering making noise on the Street that could open up an avenue of potential customers for market wheeler-dealers. It's a variation of a deal structure that started in Canada but is just now making its...

First Republic Wields Hammer For Do-It-Yourself Bonds: The top-tier private bank, whose spate of HNW-originated asset-backed securities has grown by one-fifth over the last year, has tapped AFS to help handle the booming business.(First Republic Bank, Automated Financial Systems)
July 1, 2004... First Republic Bank is hoping to turbocharge its asset-backed securities business, which has been exploding as HNW clients seek to capitalize on low mortgage rates to restructure their debt. Like institutional investors, wealthy clients have...

U.S. Banker Advertising Contacts.(Directory)
July 1, 2004... GROUP PUBLISHER Jay Berfas Thomson Media One State Street Plaza New York, NY 10004 Tel: 212.803.8690 Fax: 646.264.6800 Outside the U.S. Please contact the Publisher U.S. BANKER ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVES...

Check 21 and ARC: Convergence or Divergence in Payments.(accounts receivables conversion)
July 1, 2004... As Check 21 Act goes into effect this year, the main question is whether it will replace accounts receivables conversion (ARC) in the payment stream. The two processes have been discussed as if they are similar, competitive payment processes,...