US Banker articles from July 2005

US Banker archives from July 2005

Rants and Raves.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2005... Purcell's Post-Mortem I thought your commentary was right on target ("By Day? Man of Steel. Night? Sweating Bullets," June 2005). I met with Morgan Stanley's CFO shortly after the much-hyped, but disappointing presentation by CEO Philip...

Want to Make a CEO Wince? Talk About Fraud.: When bankers refer to fraud in public, it often comes off as if the theft does not involve a human being. Behind the financial losses and data breaches are people-on both sides of the problem.
July 1, 2005... In spite of the rhetoric, debate and campaigns aiming to educate consumers about fraud and identity theft, bankers can't run fast enough to keep up with security threats to their organizations. When bankers refer to fraud publicly, it often...

Data Theft: States Force the Issue Of Customer Notification: Regulators reiterate guidance for banks.
July 1, 2005... As news continues to surface that banks' customer data are being compromised, institutions are being forcefully reminded that consumer notification is the right thing to do. Wachovia, Commerce Bancorp, PNC Financial Services Group, Bank of...

Scene and Heard.
July 1, 2005... "You could spot them the two Ds in DDA and they still wouldn't know what you were talking about." Frank Sanchez, president of Fidelity Information Services' product development, on how most programmers lack the knowledge to deliver...

Money Management: Taking the Conflict Out Of Conflicts of Interest: Do pension consultants need their own SOX?
July 1, 2005... Who gets invited to money manager beauty contests? Plan sponsors hire pension consultants to screen managers, but the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating allegations that managers don't make the list unless they buy services...

Hits and Has-Beens.(people in financial services)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... The Securities and Exchange Commission's William Donaldson is stepping down as chairman. Appointed in 2003, he became the 27th person to head the nation's top stock market regulator. KeyCorp's Jack Kopnisky, president of consumer banking,...

Fresh Ink.(banking industry)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... 1. Webster Bank is buying J. Bush & Co., an investment management firm focused on HNW clients and institutions, from PNC Financial. J. Bush, founded by an uncle of George W. Bush, was acquired by Riggs National Corp. in 1997, which was acquired...

Hit By More Departures and Fines, Morgan's Good News is Relative.(Morgan Stanley, Philip Purcell )
July 1, 2005... Could Morgan Stanley be having a worse year? More than 50 bankers have fled the white shoe firm since an open feud broke out between CEO Philip Purcell and a group of eight dissident shareholders. While Purcell held on tenaciously, he finally...

Noted and Noteworthy.(CME Federal Credit Union)(German pensioners known as Grandpa Gang robs the bank)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Who says banking can't get any easier? Dayton, OH-based CME Federal Credit Union last month unveiled the world's first freestanding drive-up ATM with digital imaging capability and bunch-note acceptance. That's right: Drive-up banking has gone...

All the President's Men (and Women): George Bush's high-profile economic team may be topnotch, but it doesn't have all the power. Keep your eye on the less well-known Council of Economic Advisors.
July 1, 2005... Though it's tempting to apply the phrase "Bush League" for just about any team George W. pulls together, it's not really fair to call his current batch of economic advisers "not exactly major league," as The Economist recently did. These...

Incentive-Pay Software: Rewarding Results, Not Just Account Openings: Banks are rewarding salespeople to create new accounts, but some funds are merely transferred from closed CDs at the same bank. Software can help sort fact from fiction.
July 1, 2005... Banks don't have to rob Peter to pay Paul when it comes to running multifaceted incentive-pay programs. Sometimes, Paul can earn his own way. Take, for instance, an institution that brought in a Peter-Peter Djokovich, CEO of...

Wooing HNW Clients Takes Beaucoup Finesse: When marketing to the affluent, it's not about selling. It's about making a connection, developing common interests and having fun. The less said about money, the better.
July 1, 2005... When Renee Hanson, a Phoenix-based senior advisor at American Express Financial Advisors, wants to land an upscale client, she doesn't say a word about money. She works hard to develop a level of comfort and trust-and then waits for the client...

AD Beat: Playing the 'Heart Strings' Card: JPMorgan Chase's new ad connects with consumers on an emotional level-a marketing strategy unusual in an industry that tends to be more blunt. Unusual or not, the ads are the cornerstone of a new branding campaign.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co)
July 1, 2005... JPMorgan Chase launched a campaign in May intended to present a new public face for the combined JPMorgan Chase-Bank One-and it has an unabashedly tear-stained cheek. The score for the television ad is a rendition of "Wind Beneath My Wings,"...

Women Business Owners Face Fears, Hopes in KeyBank Push: Women run businesses differently than men: They need more details to make decisions and they're not afraid to ask for help. Enter, KeyBank's Key4Women.(Maria Coyne)(Interview)
July 1, 2005... Maria Coyne, svp of KeyBank's Business Banking division, is betting big on women. In heading the bank's women-owned business banking initiatives, Key4Women, she is tasked with coordinating the institution's plans to lend at least $1 billion to...

Stalled Deposit Growth Challenges Community Banks: The value of community bank stocks remains high, but many challenges await. Buckle up. The road ahead could get bumpy.
July 1, 2005... Community bankers better prepare for a tough road over the next few years. They face a slew of challenges, including increased competition from bigger banks, slimmer margins, slowing deposit growth and the often-cited increase in regulation....

Top 200 Publicly Traded Community Banks: Banks & thrifts with assets up to $1 billion. Ranked by 3-year average ROE.(Illustration)
July 1, 2005... (part 1 of 3) Institution Ticker 1 Pelican Financial PFI 2 Smithtown Bancorp SMTB 3 First South Bancorp FSBK 4 Epic Bancorp ...

The OCC's Ambitious Agenda.(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)
July 1, 2005... The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has heard the battle cry of community banks declaring war on hyper-regulation. Acting comptroller Julie Williams, for example, has been talking bluntly for the last year about reducing banks'...

The Growing Urgency Of IT Spending: As security threats beckon on every front, banks sharpen their weapons for battle.
July 1, 2005... IT spending by U.S. banks is expected to pick up in 2005, rising by four to six percent over last year, according to industry estimates. This push will provide significant outsourcing opportunities as virtually all banks, including community...

Changing Of The Guard: When security vendors used to attempt to call on bank CEOs and CFOs, they'd typically get ignored or handed off to the IT department. Those days are long gone. Fraud is becoming trickier to combat and posing more reputational risk for institutions. And compliance regulations are getting tougher. No wonder the C-suite is taking charge of the security detail.
July 1, 2005... Jim Stickley likes the element of surprise. On a typical day, he and a few colleagues might show up unannounced to a bank branch for an impromptu fire-code inspection. Dressed in their uniforms, they walk in and flash their Fire Department...

CNB Seeks Key Leads At the Teller Window: The industry is mixed about how much tellers should pursue cross selling. County National Bank is sure the teller window is a great place to find leads.
July 1, 2005... County National Bank of Pennsylvania isn't planning on turning its tellers into salespeople, but that doesn't mean customer-facing personnel are left out of the sales equation. "We want the people who talk to the customers the most to get...

Hey (Freddie) Mac, Can You Spare a Mortgage?: Never mind the rising interest rates. The quasi-government firms are rolling out products aimed at low- and mid-income workers to help them become first-time homeowners. They've got banks' attention.
July 1, 2005... Freddie Mac has reorganized its single-family lending division, moving away from a geographic orientation to one that groups institutions by size in a bid to more precisely design and deliver new products, services and technology to different...

Getting Down To (Small) Business: Credit-card firms consider small companies an important source of future growth. But these card holders are picky: They're demanding all the bells and whistles usually associated with personal cards.
July 1, 2005... Small businesses are in fact big business in the United States. They account for roughly 50 percent of the nation's GDP, employ half of the non-farm workers, and are boosting their spending by 20 percent a year-compared to nine percent growth...

CUs Aim To Knock Out Banks' Commercial Loan Portfolios: Credit unions want to lend more money to businesses, but banks say the aggressive efforts don't square with their mom-and-pop business model. Or is it just sour grapes?(Credit unions)
July 1, 2005... Credit unions have been increasing their level of commercial loans-up 51 percent in 2004 over the previous year-and are expanding more aggressively in that realm, says Keith Leggett, senior economist at the American Bankers Association. He says...

U.S. Banker Advertising Contacts.(Brief Article)(Directory)
July 1, 2005... GROUP PUBLISHER Jay Berfas SourceMedia 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 RREPRESENTATIVES...

Dangerous Defisits, or Are We Too Easily Scared?: With red ink spreading on both sides of the Atlantic, global markets are certain to react. Will they handle EU and U.S. government deficits as discrete entities or as weather systems feeding off of each other?
July 1, 2005... The consumer spending propelling the U.S. economy is a volatile force. If a household gets a raise in its credit-card limit, it's only a matter of time-and, given the way things are trending, that time is usually short-before debt is bumping up...

Five Common Mistakes Of Branch Building.
July 1, 2005... Despite proclamations that the Internet would make branch banking obsolete, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reports that the number of bank offices has grown eight percent in the past 10 years, and the average number of branches per...