US Banker articles from September 2004

US Banker archives from September 2004

Rants and Raves.
September 1, 2004... Discrimination vs. Indiscretion I wholeheartedly agree that individuals should be held accountable ("Morgan Bias Case Settled. Will This Stop Abuses?" August 2004). The question I ask is why the media didn't ask the last chief executive of...

M&A Pace Picks Up, But To Whose Advantage?: Banks have more than Eliot Spitzer to contend with as mergers pick up and bigger banks are created. There are shareholders, consumer activists and communities to worry about.(mergers and acquisitions)
September 1, 2004... It's taken some time, but bank mergers are on pace this year to top 1998's record performance. This is good news for the financial advisors on these deals-more mergers, more fees. Look beyond the big numbers and it is clear that with...

Quid Pro Quo? Commerce Reeling From Charges in Bond Probe: Rivals of CEO Vernon Hill less than sympathetic.(chief executive officer)
September 1, 2004... Vernon Hill and his Commerce Bancorp have taken the Northeast-and Wall Street-by storm, with a formula that emphasizes convenience, service and de novo branches. Assets, deposits and earnings have been growing at a 30 percent-plus annual clip,...

Scene and Heard.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... "It's a snowball coming down the hill and it's getting pretty big. Is it an avalanche? No, not yet. But it might be." Anthony Sabino, associate professor of law at St. John's University, on New York AG Eliot Spitzer's press to overturn new...

Hits and Has-Beens.(Banking)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Suzanne Timble has jumped from Bank of America, where she was svp and trust officer of its Winnetka, IL, branch, to Chicago-based The Private Bank and Trust Co. She is managing director and senior trust officer in the Winnetka branch of the...

Fresh Ink.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... 1. Fifth Third Bancorp expanded its Florida presence with the $1.6 billion acquisition of First National Bankshares, the largest bank headquartered in the state. Its branches are located in fast-growing markets like Orlando, Tampa Bay,...

Business Strategy: Ackermann is Off the Hook. Let Deutsche Dealing Begin.: After Mannesmann brouhaha, a refocus on growth.(Josef Ackermann)
September 1, 2004... Not long ago Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann, one of the most powerful men in Europe and head of a troubled E90billion ($111 billion) institution, walked out of a Dusseldorf courtroom with no apologies and a gleeful, some would...

Pipeline.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Compliance: Culture of Waste TowerGroup estimates that compliance waste-or the duplication of compliance technology-today gobbles up to 30 percent of all IT spending associated with compliance in the financial services industry; in dollar...

Foreign Exchange: AIB Avoids Sanctions and Fixes Forex Risk Controls: Irish regulator files tough law in response to lapse.
September 1, 2004... Banks Around THE GLOBE are reassessing risk management of their foreign-exchange operations after a banking regulator confirmed that Allied Irish Bank's risk controls failed, prompting AIB to voluntarily refund corporate and retail clients 34.2...

Cops and Robbers: Underworld Romp Of Money Launderers, Drug Traffickers.(Book Review)
September 1, 2004... Crime School: Money Laundering True Crime Meets the World of Business and Finance by Chris Mathers Firefly Books, 240 pages, $16.95 The promise of Chris Mathers' expose of the gritty underworld of money laundering and drug...

A Bank Nearly Forgets Why It's On the Shores of the Rio Grande.
September 1, 2004... When is a bank not a bank? Maybe when it's only made nine loans in its decade-old history? Certainly we're not talking about your average bear, and no, this isn't in '60s-era Romania, either. This is in San Antonio, TX, ground zero for...

Noted and Noteworthy.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Proclaimed the summer of geek movies, this year is providing a leading role for a character most likely never seen before-a nerdy Korean-American junior-level investment banker from New York. Gaining notice in Danny Leiner's "Harold & Kumar Go...

Banks, the Reluctant Warriors: The latest terror alerts did their job, spreading fear in three cities whose financial centers were identified as Al Qaeda targets. But they also bring a price tag for banks.
September 1, 2004... If Al Qaeda strikes again, the East Coast's financial services firms will be ready. Or will they? Warnings in early August that Al Qaeda could be planning attacks on financial centers in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Newark, NJ,...

Secutiry: The Inside Job: Your employees wouldn't rip you off, right? Think again. Their theft will cost banks $2.4 billion this year.
September 1, 2004... It's the dirtiest of a bank's dirty secrets, that pernicious and persistent threat that dare not speak its name: insider fraud. Bank managers may argue existing employees are more than trustworthy and that background checks ferret out dishonest...

The Changing Face Of Loyalty Programs: A flurry of new breeds of loyalty schemes is bringing varied brands together through coalitions that multiply rewards, lower risk and spread cost. Financial firms are profiting.(Loyalty coalitions)
September 1, 2004... Loyalty coalitions, which target a demographic or affinity group-like moms or Scottish-Americans-are proving successful for financial firms. Designed to tap consumers' emotions, they're often associated with a lifestyle or life stage. ...

AD Beat: This Little Bank is a Big Spender: New Hampshire's Laconia Savings Bank goes against the community bank grain with pricey TV spots.(Loconia Savings Bank)
September 1, 2004... Unlike most community banks, Laconia Savings Bank spends big on mass media advertising. With growth in mind, It recently plunked down $350,000 to create and run a series of TV spots it hopes will hold their own next to those of the big banks....

Move Over, Information Age. Here Comes the 'Attention Economy.': Consultant Dave Hutchinson says consumers are in control because their attention is at a premium. Huh? What did you say? I was zoning out.(Conversion Partners)(Interview)
September 1, 2004... It's time to stop celebrating the digital revolution. We're moving out of the information age and into an "attention economy," or so says marketing consultant Dave Hutchinson, president of Conversion Partners. People's attention is now the hot...

Pride and Predilection.(banking industry)
September 1, 2004... Once dubbed the "Magic City," Birmingham is home to four top-50 banks-AmSouth, Regions Financial, Compass Bancshares and SouthTrust-despite having fewer than one million people in the community. But with Wachovia's recent acquisition of...

Deals on the Fly again: The value of deals in 2004's first six months hit $118.7 billion. Here's a tantalizing thought: Bank M&As could beat the 1998 record.
September 1, 2004... Minutes before grabbing a plane bound for Amsterdam, a Wall Street banker noted that he had flown more miles in the first half of 2004 than in all of 2003. "Now that," he said, "is a good leading indicator of M&A." The pace and pricing of...

Top 25 Advisors' Fees: Bank & Thrift Mergers through June 30, 2004 Ranked by deal price at completion.(Illustration)
September 1, 2004... (part 1 of 3) Rank Buyer Target 1 JPMorgan Chase Bank One 2 Bank of America FleetBoston Financial 3 Regions Financial Union Planters...

Top 50 Advisors by Deal Value: Bank & Thrift Mergers through June 30, 2004 Ranked by announced deal value*.(Illustration)
September 1, 2004... Announce Deal Number Rank Firm Value ($millions) of Deals 1 JPMorgan Chase 72860.2 5 2 Lazard Freres 59239.7 1 3 UBS Securities ...

Mergers & Acquisitions By Region: Bank & Thrift Mergers through June 30, 2004 Ranked by announced number of deals*.
September 1, 2004... Announced Total # Deal Value Rank Firm of Deals (Millions) NORTHEAST 1 Sandler O'Neill & Partners 8 7568.8 2 Ryan Beck &...

How to Offer Investments Is Perennial Headache: Community banks are offering more investment products than ever to retain their customers, but they continue to grapple with control issues over who owns the customer relationship.
September 1, 2004... Retaining customers is crucial to community banks and offering investment products even in a tough market is one way to do so, says Bill Reid, president of Independent Community Bankers of America's Financial Services subsidiary. Nearly 30...

Don't Stick a Fork in It Yet: OCC Debate Isn't Done: Are national banks subject to state consumer-protection laws? That issue comes to a head this fall, when New York state AG Eliot Spitzer takes on the OCC over new rules. Is it Supreme Court bound?(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)(Attorney General)
September 1, 2004... New York state is emerging as the battlefield to challenge controversial new rules by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency saying that the 2,200 national banks are not subject to state consumer-protection laws. The issue is so hot that...

Grants to Poor Entrepreneurs Nurture Future Business: Community development organizations like Trickle Up, which provides seed money to the poor for micro businesses, can help banks forge lasting relationships-not to mention fight poverty.
September 1, 2004... Melissa Hull used to lay down blankets on the bare plywood floors of her Brooklyn apartment to keep her two little girls from getting splinters while walking around. She mopped with shampoo. Cleaning supplies cost too much. "My...

Arnold Webifies His War Chest, Streamlining Compliance: The Governor of California is the most well-known client of Calnet Business Bank. But the ability to have real-time access to cash and efficient accounting is sure to catch on.(Arnold Schwarzenegger)
September 1, 2004... The series of events that led Arnold Schwarzenegger from the set of films like "The Terminator" and "True Lies" to the California governor's office was unusual and high profile to say the least. A subtler nugget of the "Kindergarten Cop's"...

As HNW Investor Pool Shrinks, Banks Go Mano a Mano: With the number of HNW investors sliding to 1998 levels, there just aren't enough rich people to go around anymore. Add high costs to the mix-and the result is a new wave of consolidation.(High-net-worth)
September 1, 2004... PNC's July acquisition of troubled Riggs National Corp. exemplifies today's private banking/wealth management business-a business characterized by an intense drive for customers who can be elusive. Wealth management is one of the crown...

Thank PCE for 'Measured' Rise in Interest Rates: A wonkish acronym no more, the PCE has surpassed the CPI as Greenspan's favorite tool for measuring inflation. And that choice explains the logic behind the Fed's interest rate strategy.(Personal-consumption expenditure index )(Consumer price index )
September 1, 2004... Most Americans would agree that Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has been a worthy steward of monetary policy since he assumed the helm in 1987. Aside from steering the country through the stock market crash of 1987, the Internet bubble...

Watch Out, Technology Is Moving to Center Stage Again.
September 1, 2004... It's time to refresh our high-tech vocabulary and reintroduce ourselves to the virtual economy. A few things have changed since the last time the tech sector played a starring role in the economy, but like the proverbial bad penny, it keeps...

Bankers Weigh Added BPO as Compliance Demands Grow.(business process outsourcing)
September 1, 2004... While banks have been outsourcing Information technology the past two decades, the notion of outsourcing entire business processes to a third party is increasingly being considered a viable alternative to IT investment. But many bank CFOs are...