US Banker articles from March 2006

US Banker archives from March 2006

Taking Stock of 115 Years Of Financial Innovation: Innovation was never in short supply with Citibank's Walter Wriston, J.P. Morgan's Till Guldimann and CheckFree's Peter Kight. What's more, their contributions helped build empires- and cinched their legacies.
March 1, 2006... The late Walter Wriston was a man known for not mincing his words. "The person who figures out how to harness the collective genius of his or her organization is going to blow the competition away," he once said. Wriston knew a thing or...

Sagging Confidence: Bankers' Mood Plunges On Economy, Sector in '06: Do dark clouds portend a recession?
March 1, 2006... Bankers were generally optimistic about their industry in late 2005. Credit quality was high, demand for commercial loans remained strong, and the yield curve had been flat for so long that it was bound to improve soon. Right? In a word,...

Scene and Heard.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2006... "The Internet really leveled the playing field, so you are no longer in charge of the customer. Now the customer is in charge of you." Celia Rocks, marketing consultant, on how easy it is for customers to identify alternative banking...

Economic-Capital Planning: Technique No Longer Only for the Big Boys: Review prompts banks to kill sub-par products.
March 1, 2006... Financial institutions can realize the full potential of economic capital as a planning tool to fulfill shareholder wealth if they are savvy in applying it, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report. Economic capital, says Guillermo...

Hits and Has-Beens.(Robert P. Kelly joins Mellon Financial Corp)(Steven F. Stein joins Washington Mutual)(Al Tappe joins Citigroup)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2006... Former Wachovia CFO Robert P. Kelly was named to succeed Martin McGuinn as chairman and CEO of Pittsburgh-based Mellon Financial Corp. Wachovia's CFO post will be filled by Tom Wurtz, formerly the bank's treasurer. Ellen Alemany has...

Fresh Ink.(Cascade Bancorp acquires Farmers and Merchants State Bank)(First Place Financial plans to acquire Northern Savings and Loan)(Marquette National Corp acquires Hemlock Federal Financial)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2006... 1. Cascade Bancorp will buy Idaho-based Farmers and Merchants State Bank for $147 million in cash and stock. The deal, which gives Cascade $2 billion in assets, provides a strategic expansion opportunity in that area. 2. First Place...

Branch Security: Can Rural Banks Learn From Bank of Kenny?: High-tech systems are key for small town banks.
March 1, 2006... Rural community banks are especially vulnerable to robberies, which soared 25 percent nationwide between 1999 and 2001, according to the FBI's most recent data. Witness the Jan. 27 attempted robbery of a Bank of America branch in rural...

Spin City: Taylor's FDIC Nomination Gets Pulled by White House: NRA denies involvement in the withdrawal.(Federal Deposit Insurance Corp)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2006... The truth behind why the White House pulled the name of Diana Taylor, superintendent of the New York State Banking Department, as a potential nominee to head the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. may never be known, but that hasn't stopped the...

Pipeline: Americans Fret Most about ID Theft.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2006... What keeps Americans up at night? According to a survey recently released by Visa International, 64 percent of respondents said the loss of personal or financial information was their biggest fear, more so than environmental damage (62...

Peeking Around Economic Corners: Seeking Realistic, Accurate Predictors.(Ahead of the Curve: A Commonsense Guide to Forecasting Business and Market Cycles )(Book Review)
March 1, 2006... Ahead of the Curve: A Commonsense Guide to Forecasting Business and Market Cycles By Joseph H. Ellis Harvard Business School Press 276 pages, $29.95 GDP, inflation, unemployment, consumer confidence, durable-goods orders, the...

Supreme Court Win Tallied For Wachovia Corp., OCC.
March 1, 2006... Wachovia Corp., other national banks and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency scored a big victory in January when the Supreme Court ruled that lawsuits against national banks may be heard in federal courts rather than in multiple...

Noted and Noteworthy.(new rules for executives' pay and perks)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2006... The Securities and Exchange Commission is backing sweeping new rules to increase disclosure to stockholders on executives' pay and perks. SEC chairman Chris Cox said the rules would give investors more and better information about the companies...

Changing the Way We Work: Globalization is wreaking havoc on America's labor market, with more jobs lost to outsourcing and wages of remaining jobs lagging inflation. The U.S. must adapt or die.
March 1, 2006... The outlook for the majority of America's workers is cloudy, eroded by stagnating wages, increased outsourcing of jobs and unchecked illegal immigration. Over the last five years, from 2000 to 2005, Americans' wages have not kept pace with...

Wealth Management: Removing the Dark Veil Of Ultra-Wealth Stealth: A group of cashed-out executives channel their disappointment in mega-money counseling into a service that private bankers use for a rich client's query: How much am I worth?
March 1, 2006... It's a nice problem to have, but it's still a problem. The growing diversity of investments made by ultra-rich clients of private banks and top brokerages leave these Daddy Warbuckses unsure of what they're worth at any given time. The...

Authentication: The Big Security Choice: To Be Visible or Not?: WaMu, Boiling Springs take different security paths.
March 1, 2006... When the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council established its two-factor authentication guidelines in October 2005, it gave the industry until the end of 2006 to conform. Two banks at opposite ends of the size spectrum-Washington...

Fraud Scoring: An Early Look At Corporate Trouble: D&B, Experian products gain bankers' attention.
March 1, 2006... Banks have long analyzed prospective corporate customers before extending loans. But that analysis is usually limited to the creditworthiness of the firm and, in the case of small businesses, the credit scores of the principals involved. Now,...

Banks Take to the 'Net To Share Their Message: In deciding where to spend their marketing dollars, banks increasingly are heading online. The two hottest channels? Email and search-engine programs.
March 1, 2006... Could it be the tech bubble is re-inflating? While the world may never again see the halcyon days of 1999, recent research by Forrester indicates banks' online marketing and advertising is poised for a boom. In 2010, Forrester finds, marketers...

Day-in-the-Park Bench Keeps It Easy for ING: ING U.S. Financial Services might be debuting a new campaign, but it's still sticking with what works best. It realizes that consumers like things to be easy.
March 1, 2006... Just because it's always been a hard-knock life doesn't mean people have gotten used to it. And when it comes to financial planning, the harder it gets, the more likely consumers are to avoid the issue altogether. According to a recent...

Tough Act To Follow: Richard Kovacevich's 20-year run at Wells Fargo is nearing an end. His heir apparent, COO John Stumpf, is the popular in-house choice, and has what it takes to maintain the culture and keep the team together. But can he duplicate his mentor's strategic success?
March 1, 2006... When Wells Fargo & Co. announced another year of record earnings in January, there was plenty of performance data to crow about. So casual observers might have been surprised that one of the first things CFO Howard Atkins addressed in the...

Value of Bank Deals Plunged in 2005: The number of M&A deals remained relatively flat last year, but their combined value fell through the floor. This year is not looking a lot better, but 2007 holds some promise, say analysts.(mergers and acquisitions)
March 1, 2006... Even though the number of bank mergers and acquisitions in 2005 kept pace with the previous couple of years, the aggregate value of those deals plunged by 78 percent. And while there are some hot spots where observers expect to see value over...

Top 50 Advisors by Deal Value.(banks)(Illustration)
March 1, 2006... Bank & Thrift Mergers in 2005 Ranked by announced deal value 2005 2004 No. of Total Deal Rank Rank Firm Deals Value ($ M) 1 21 Bear, Stearns & Co. 4 9,003.0 2 4 Lehman Brothers 6...

Top firms BY Region*.(bank mergers)(Illustration)
March 1, 2006... Announced Deal Value Total Rank Firm (In millions) Deals MIDWEST 1 Keefe, Bruyette & Woods 665.7 9 2 Sandler O'Neill 2,066.5 8 3 Hovde Financial 945.1 7 ...

Top 25 Advisors' Fees.(bnak mergers)(Illustration)
March 1, 2006... Pending and Completed Deals Announced in 2005 (part 1 of 4) Rank Buyer Target 1 Sovereign Bancorp Independence Comm. Bank s. 2 Capital One Financial Hibernia * ...

Top 50 Advisors by Number of Deals.(bank mergers)(Illustration)
March 1, 2006... Bank & Thrift Mergers in 2005 Ranked by number of deals 2005 2004 o. of Total Deal Rank Rank Firm Deals Value ($ M) 1 2 Sandler O'Neill & Partners* 37 6,701.4 2 1 Keefe, Bruyette & Woods* 35...

Community Bankers Face A Slew of Issues This Year: The ongoing fight with big credit unions is far from the only worrisome item for community bankers. In fact, those looking for a reason to worry have their pick of issues.
March 1, 2006... For those who thought that community bankers have a stress-free life of glad-handing and sponsoring local sports events, guess again. Based on a round of interviews with bankers, regulators and industry associations, the executives who run...

Bankers Brace for the Storm That Is Wal-Mart: There is a broad array of opinions among bankers regarding Wal-Mart's request for an ILC, even while the retailer continually gives assurances that banks have no reason to fear.
March 1, 2006... The notion of competing against Wal-Mart has sent many community bankers and their trade associations into a tizzy. The nasty rumors of last year-that the largest U.S. company was preparing an application for a financial foothold-came true and...

Market Players Scrutinize Profitability of Small-Biz Loans: Just how lucrative are small-business loans? That question draws various responses, but one thing is certain: Community banks need to keep issuing them.
March 1, 2006... Small-business lending, the bread-and-butter asset class of many small banks, has seen percentage increases hovering between three percent and four percent over the past two years, reflecting a significant slowdown from the 1990s when increases...

Is It Better To Give Than to Receive?: Gift annuities are the present that keeps on giving. And for banks like Wells Fargo, which administer these annuities, it can be a boon to fee income.
March 1, 2006... Interesting times tend to foster new ways to spend and invest money, and the present is no exception. Those seeking to make large charitable donations-but who perhaps aren't wealthy enough to do so outright-are increasingly finding an...

U.S. Banker Advertising Contacts.(Directory)
March 1, 2006... GROUP PUBLISHER David Cleworth 27700 Pine Point Drive Wesley Chapel, FL 33543 Tel: 813.929.6907 Fax: 813.929.6908 Outside the U.S. Please contact the Publisher U.S. BANKER ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVES ...

Back in from the Cold: Controversial SPACs Return: In a tough IPO market, deals involving special-purpose-acquisition companies are rising. Attracted to the market are Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.
March 1, 2006... It is not a robust IPO market by any stretch of the imagination. But one type of company making an impressive resurgence in the IPO market is the special-purpose-acquisition company, or SPAC. About two dozen SPACs were completed in 2005 in the...

Strengthening AML Programs: The Time is Now, Not Tomorrow.
March 1, 2006... For the past several years, banks have worked to meet the USA Patriot Act's anti-money laundering requirements by modifying and updating existing AML programs. Yet banks still face significant regulatory scrutiny and higher penalties and fines...