American Banker articles from April 2003

American Banker archives from April 2003

Powell Uses Pay-Scale Fix To Ensure Accountability.(Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairman Don Powell)
April 1, 2003... The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has told nearly 50% of its top-tier staff members they will no longer be considered "executives." It is part of a major reform designed to help ensure the upper ranks are in sync with Chairman Don...

From Home Run to a Shallow Fly: The Street's Split on FleetBoston.(analyst ratings of FleetBoston Financial Corp.)
April 1, 2003... Wall Street analysts are divided on FleetBoston Financial Corp.'s efforts to reinvent itself. A leading voice in the pro-Fleet camp, Anthony Polini of FTN Financial Securities Corp., said that "when this economic environment can finally...

Tremors in Lending's Top Echelon.(competition among lenders for market share)
April 1, 2003... The horse race among the top U.S. syndicated lenders drew tighter during the first quarter as a dearth of deals forced competitors to share. Expectations of a war with Iraq weighed on the market for most of the quarter. Loan proceeds sank...

Wachovia Buyback Tactic Back To Haunt it?(profits data; share repurchase investigation)
April 1, 2003... Wachovia Corp. mixed good news with bad on Monday, saying it will post better-than-expected first-quarter profits but also disclosing that regulators are investigating share repurchases in the months before the Wachovia-First Union merger. ...

In Brief: Vote Soon on Deposit Insurance.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The House is scheduled to vote as early as Wednesday on bills that would overhaul the deposit insurance system and permit banks to pay interest on corporate checking accounts. The House Rules Committee is scheduled today to decide which...

In Brief: Rating Agency, HUD Hearings Set.(Department of Housing and Urban Development mortgage regulation reform)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Congressional hearings are set for this week on credit rating agencies and next week on the Department of Housing and Urban Development's proposed reform of mortgage regulations. The House Financial Services capital markets subcommittee...

In Brief: Fed Clarifies Regulation Z.(Truth-in-Lending and Home Ownership, Equity Protection act implementation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The Federal Reserve Board has issued a rule to clarify parts of its Regulation Z, which implements the Truth-in-Lending and Home Ownership and Equity Protection acts. The rule, issued Friday, revises the staff commentary on Reg Z to...

Net Shrinks at Home Loan Banks; So Does Thrift Risk.(Federal Home Loan Bank System)
April 1, 2003... The Federal Home Loan Bank System said its net income fell 16.5% last year as it struggled with low interest rates and losses on derivatives and hedging arrangements. Separately, the Office of Thrift Supervision, which oversees many...

Spare Change: Who Gets A Quacker? Lucky Duck.(Bank of Smithtown gives Lucky Duck awards to employees)
April 1, 2003... Some chief executive officers show their appreciation for their workers with handshakes, plaques, or holiday parties. Bradley Rock, the CEO of Bank of Smithtown, located in the eastern Long Island county known for its duck farms, makes...

FDIC Adds Chinese `Money Smart'.(Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Chinese version of Money Smart curriculum)
April 1, 2003... Financial literacy courses usually focus on teaching unbanked people how to get into the mainstream, but the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has found that for Chinese people who already have accounts, learning how to navigate that stream is...

Portfolio Trend Readers Get Wider Following.(loan portfolios)
April 1, 2003... Credit card issuers and other lenders, stuck in a second year of rising chargeoff rates, are turning to outside help in predicting the effects of growing unemployment and geopolitical unrest on their loan portfolios. Companies that...

Creativity Is Key to Cashing In On Shift Toward E-Payments.
April 1, 2003... Any organization that is puzzled about what consumers want need look no further than this statistic: Today only 61% of U.S. consumer spending involves the use of checks or other paper-based payment options, down from 81% in 1990. ...

In Brief: Exchange-Traded Funds Shrank.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Assets in exchange-traded funds declined in February, according to data from the Investment Company Institute. Exchange-traded funds fell 3.1%, to $92.83 billion, that month, the institute said on Friday. Equity index exchange-traded funds...

In Brief: Hedge Funds Up 0.81% in Feb.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Hedge funds gained slightly in February, according to data from the MSCI Hedge Fund Composite Index. The index showed that hedge fund values rose 0.81% in February. In January, the index rose 1.38%, Morgan Stanley Capital International...

In Brief: CGU Life Alters Name to Aviva.(CGU Life Insurance Company of America changes its name to Aviva Life Insurance Co.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... CGU Life Insurance Co. of America, a provider of life insurance and fixed- rate annuity products, said it has changed its name to Aviva Life Insurance Co. The company said on March 24 that the name change, which applies to all its U.S....

Harris Bank Hopes to Boost Wallet Share via Online Unit.
April 1, 2003... After an online brokerage buying spree last year that resulted in the creation of HarrisDirect, its CEO says the Chicago-based unit of Bank of Montreal plans to help Harris Bank cross-sell to current customers who use the Web. An analyst,...

Insurer-Owned Thrift Maps Growth Strategy.(Principal Bank )
April 1, 2003... Executives at Principal Bank of Des Moines, an insurer-owned thrift, say the brand-name backing of its parent and a growing acceptance of online banking will help it grow to $5 billion of assets by 2005. But analysts said the verdict is...

In Brief: Amro Subsidiaries Funded More Loans.(ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc.'s National Lending Center funded $820 million of loans in 2/03)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc. says its customer retention and e-commerce lending division, National Lending Center, funded $820 million of loans in February - nearly twice as much as it did in February 2002. In a press release Friday, the...

In Brief: Capital Trust Links Loss to Conversion.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Capital Trust Inc. lost $14 million in the fourth quarter, or 84 cents a share, versus a profit of $2 million, or 11 cents a share, a year earlier. In a press release Friday, the commercial real estate finance firm reiterated that it had...

In Brief: Fairbanks Ratings Safe, for Now: Fitch.(Fairbanks Capital Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Fitch Inc. said Monday that, despite impending regulatory investigations into Fairbanks Capital Corp.'s practices, it does not expect to change its ratings for the Salt Lake City servicing company. The agency said it would maintain...

Some Lenders Turning to Compliance Software.
April 1, 2003... Facing an array of state and federal laws against predatory lending, some lenders have started using automated due diligence programs to help them avoid the legal hassles that can come with the subprime business. This group now includes...

Bond Group: Rule Would Hurt NYC.(predatory lending ordinance)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... New York City's predatory lending ordinance would restrict the availability of credit to subprime borrowers and could increase the city's borrowing costs, according to the Bond Market Association. The trade group filed an amicus brief with...

In Brief: Allegiant Has Tellers Doing Image Capture.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Allegiant Bank has begun teller-window capture of check images. Kimberli Palmer, the senior vice president of operations and information technology at Allegiant Bank, said Allegiant spent a year testing the system with two vendors. "We...

In Brief: Ohio Bank Shores Up Its Hacker Defenses.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Putting an extra layer of security on key server computers has helped Ohio Savings Bank improve its data protection and hacking prevention, an executive says. Ohio Savings' core business is wholesale mortgage origination. It provides...

In Brief: Citywide's Addition By Encryption.(Citywide Banks of Colorado Inc. tightens security with Sigaba secure e-mail software)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... By encrypting the e-mail messages it sends to customers, Citywide Banks of Colorado Inc. has tightened security and reassured account holders, it says. "I'd be better off sending a postcard with my personal information on it than an...

In Brief: Huntington Explains Its Move to BEA.(satisfied with performance of BEA Systems Inc. for Internet banking applications)
April 1, 2003... Huntington National Bank is giving the story behind its switch to BEA Systems Inc. for Internet service, a move that it made some time ago but that only came to light last month. The story goes back the fall of 2000 and spring of 2001. The...

In Brief: SunTrust Uses Watchfire Tools.(SunTrust Banks Inc. licenses Internet and privacy monitoring software from Watchfire Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... SunTrust Banks Inc. has started using software that helps it see how its brand is being depicted on the World Wide Web and keep an eye on its own site and those of partners. Monica Champion, the senior vice president of Internet and...

In Brief: No Cash Bonus in '02 for Bank of N.Y. Execs.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Executives at Bank of New York Co. did not receive cash bonuses last year, according to a proxy filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. The filing states the company did not pay a cash bonus to its chairman and chief...

In Brief: Metavante Picks New President and CEO.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Metavante Corp. said Monday that its chairman, president, and chief executive, Joseph L. Delgadillo, had resigned. The financial technology subsidiary of Marshall & Ilsley Corp. named Frank R. Martire, the president of the financial...

In Brief: MBNA Makes CFO, Committee Appointments.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... MBNA Corp. announced Monday that it had named Vernon H.C. Wright its chief financial officer, succeeding M. Scot Kaufman, who has been appointed the chairman of the finance and loan committee, and a member of the executive committee. ...

In Brief: Lakeland of N.J. in Deal for CSB Financial.(Lakeland Bancorp Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Lakeland Bancorp Inc. announced Monday that it had agreed to purchase CSB Financial Corp. of Teaneck for $34 million in cash and stock. The move would expand Lakeland's presence in New Jersey's affluent Bergen County. Lakeland, with...

Fiserv Says Apparent Scam Cost It $10M.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Fiserv Inc. reported Monday that it recently lost $10 million, or 5 cents a share, as a result of an apparently fraudulent trading scheme at a short-seller. The case involved a broker-dealer client of its securities processing division...

Linux Poised To Move into Retail Banking.
April 1, 2003... Just two years ago, Linux was hardly more than a curiosity in the financial services industry. Intrigued by the free "open source" operating system, a handful of brokerage firms began testing it deep in their backrooms on gnarly,...

As Others Leap In, Insurance Firms Wait and See.(insurers' conservatism slows adoption of Linux operating system)
April 1, 2003... Even though more financial services players are starting to use the Linux operating system, insurers are hanging back, citing concerns about product support and business disruption. Insurers' adoption "is going to be slower, just because...

An Industry's Early Adopters Move Ahead.
April 1, 2003... Linux is winning converts in the brokerage industry for the robust performance it delivers at bargain prices. The open-source-code operating system offers as much power as Unix or Windows NT systems and probably more speed, at much lower...

After 9/11, Lehman Turns to Linux for the Long Haul.(Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. switches to Linux for cost reasons)
April 1, 2003... In the months after the 9/11 terror attacks Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. made a technology decision that would have been surprising a few years earlier. The New York investment bank lost 60% of its computing capacity in the attacks,...

Lehman and Linux.
April 1, 2003... The Goal: * Firm lost 1,000 servers in terrorist attacks on World Trade Center * Computer hardware acquisition costs too high in down market * Proprietary systems provide limited flexibility The Solution: * Run Linux...

Moglen: Banks and Free Software a Perfect Fit.(Free Software Foundation )
April 1, 2003... Eben Moglen is the general counsel for the Free Software Foundation, a Boston group that promotes computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The Linux-based version of its GNU operating system...

Budget Crunch Motivates Banks to Look at Linux.
April 1, 2003... Because of the slumping economy, financial services companies' technology budgets are tight. This spending squeeze comes at a particularly bad time, with customer relationship management, online banking, trade processing, and other data-heavy...

TODAY'S NEWS.
April 2, 2003... New York's governor has promoted Barbara Kent to acting banking superintendent. Page 2 WASHINGTON A provision of the Fair Credit Reporting Act that bankers like will get its first airing in Congress next month. Page 5 House...

Retailers Claim Edge In the Wal-Mart Case.(Wal-Mart Stores Inc. antitrust case against MasterCard International Inc., Visa U.S.A. Inc.)
April 2, 2003... A partial summary judgment victory for retailers in the Wal-Mart suit against Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard International means that the much-anticipated trial, slotted for April 28, is already more than half won, retailers' attorneys said...

Profitable But Risky, Subprime Stress-Tested.(higher-risk borrowing)
April 2, 2003... First of two parts Consumer finance has been a savior in the latest recession -- yielding double-digit returns that offset declines in investment banking and other capital markets activities. Spending by individuals has continued...

NCUA Re-Ups Push for CUs To Do More Biz Lending.(U.S. National Credit Union Administration, credit unions )
April 2, 2003... On the heels of its decision to dramatically loosen its field-of-membership rules -- making it easier for federal credit unions to adopt all-inclusive community charters -- the National Credit Union Administration has proposed a series of...

PayPal Said In Violation Of Patriot Act.
April 2, 2003... eBay Inc.'s PayPal unit has again come under legal scrutiny for its online gambling business. The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri sent PayPal a letter Friday contending that by providing services to online gambling...

Gold Details Fraud Allegations vs. Ex-CEO.(Gold Banc Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... An investigation into the financial dealings of Gold Banc Inc.'s former chief executive officer, Michael W. Gullion, found that he diverted nearly $2 million of its money into his own account and that he spent another $600,000 on personal...

Deputy Appointed Acting Leader of N.Y. Banking Department.(Barbara Kent)
April 2, 2003... New York Gov. George Pataki has named Barbara Kent the state's acting banking superintendent. The move came just days after the resignation of the state's longest-serving banking regulator. Ms. Kent, who begins her new post today, was...

Executive Changes.(Federated Investors Inc. of Pittsburgh has hired Philip J. Orlando and Uri D. Landesman)
April 2, 2003... MIDDLE ATLANTIC Federated Investors Inc. of Pittsburgh has hired Philip J. Orlando and Uri D. Landesman as senior portfolio managers. Mr. Orlando will manage its large-cap growth portfolios. He was the chief investment officer at the...

In Brief: 10-K Delay for Provident.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Provident Financial Group Inc., the parent company of Provident Bank, said Tuesday that it had been forced to delay its annual 10-K filing with Securities and Exchange Commission. The delay stems from the company's disclosure last month of...

In Brief: Lower Outlook on Fifth Third.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday lowered the outlook for its ratings on Fifth Third Bancorp. to "stable" from "positive." The agency confirmed the Aa2 rating on the Cincinnati holding company and the Aa1 rating on its main subsidiary,...

In Brief: House Passes Corporate Account Bill.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... The House approved legislation Tuesday that would let banks offer interest-bearing corporate checking accounts as early as 2005. The bill, which passed in a voice vote, also would allow banks to sweep funds into interest-bearing accounts 24...

In Brief: Deposit Insurance Reform Amendments.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... House lawmakers were preparing three amendments to deposit insurance reform legislation on Tuesday, the eve of a vote.Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., was expected to offer an amendment that would remove all deposit insurance coverage increases...

In Brief: Committee Vote Set on Reg Relief Bill.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... A House Financial Services subcommittee is expected to vote April 9 on a bill that would ease some regulations for banks, thrifts, and credit unions. Most of the measure is noncontroversial, but the Federal Reserve Board has expressed...

In Brief: Mortgage Overhaul Witness Slate Set.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... The Senate Banking Committee named witnesses Tuesday for its scheduled April 8 hearing on the Department of Housing and Urban Development's pending proposal to overhaul mortgage regulations. They include John Courson, the chairman of the...

Hearing Planned for FCRA Extension.(Fair Credit Reporting Act)(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... A provision of the Fair Credit Reporting Act that the financial services industry wants to protect will get its first public airing in Congress next month. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby announced Tuesday that he plans to...

Comment: What King Arthur Can Teach About Officer Meetings.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... If you need a recipe for a successful officers' meeting, here are the ingredients: Recognizing accomplishments, informal seating arrangements, and plenty of good food. I recently attended the annual meeting of $2.8 billion-asset Columbia...

Canada Life Mailer Pushes Great-West Deal.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Canada Life Financial Corp. said it has mailed shareholders a circular that recommends they approve its deal to be bought by the Colorado company Great-West Lifeco for $5 billion. Shareholders are to vote May 5 on the deal, which was...

Fidelity Bucks Convergence With Vertical Reorganization.
April 2, 2003... Fidelity Investments Inc. has made its investment advisory, brokerage clearing services, and capital markets units stand-alone businesses. Speaking at Fidelity's fifth annual executive forum Monday, Ellyn McColgan, the president of Fidelity...

Surging Sales for Allstate Fixed Life Product via Banks.
April 2, 2003... Bank sales of one of Allstate Corp.'s key life insurance products grew by more than 50% last year because of an easy application and increased interest in life insurance among customers, an executive at the Northbrook, Ill., company said. ...

Comment: Technology and Other Keys To the Boom in Refinancing.(Industry Overview)
April 2, 2003... Last year, close to 10 million homeowners refinanced their mortgages. They cashed out almost $200 billion of their accumulated home equity, far exceeding any previous record. Low mortgage rates and rising home values made cash-out...

Debit Disputes Could Frame Check 21 Debate.
April 2, 2003... In hearings to be conducted Thursday in the Senate and Tuesday in the House, provisions in the pending check truncation legislation that stipulate the length of time banks have to investigate processing errors will no doubt get a lot of...

Metris Gets $125M Loan Commitment.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... The credit card issuer Metris Cos. Inc. said it has obtained a $125 million term loan commitment from Thomas H. Lee Equity Fund IV LP, which is owned by the Boston private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Co. The backup facility would carry annual...

How Concord Could Reshape First Data-Visa Fight.
April 2, 2003... A deal to buy Concord EFS Inc. would probably put First Data more directly on a collision course with Visa U.S.A., which has been courting Concord's bank clients for their automated teller machine and point of sale debit processing contracts....

In Brief: Wider Probe of Wachovia Share Purchases.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Wachovia Corp. said a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of share purchases between 1996 and 2001 may include shares acquired under forward purchase contracts as well as those acquired through open-market purchases. Wachovia...

In Brief: Smith Barney Replaces U.S. Equities Chief.(Jonathan Joseph )(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Jonathan Joseph took the helm Tuesday as Smith Barney's director of equity research for the United States and the Americas, according to an internal memo. Mr. Joseph joined the Citigroup Inc. unit in March 1999 as its senior semiconductor...

In Brief: JPM, Morgan Stanley to Merge Indexes.(J.P. Morgan Chase )(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley said Tuesday that they will combine six globally traded credit derivative default swap indexes July 25. The firms will structure, market, and trade a set of regional credit derivative...

In Brief: B of A Mexico Transfers: $10 for Anybody.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Bank of America Corp. on Tuesday cut the fee it charges noncustomers for money transfers to Mexico to $10, the same sum customers pay. Noncustomers using the bank's SafeSend service previously paid $15. The service allows transfers of up...

N.Y. Execs Want a New Rebuilding Plan.
April 2, 2003... Three of New York's most prominent financial leaders are pressing state and local government officials to establish a clear plan for the redevelopment of downtown Manhattan and to appoint a leader to guide the process. In a memo last month...

Off-Lease Car Price Drop Hits a Travelers Subsidiary.
April 2, 2003... Disappointing resale prices for leased cars, which have cost banks money for years, have begun to sting insurance companies too. Travelers Property Casualty Corp. said Tuesday that it would take a charge of 8 cents a share against...

Statehouse Report: Texas: Home Equity Loan Ban May Soon Confront Its Alamo.
April 3, 2003... Americans borrowed a record $256 billion against the value of their homes last year, but Texas banks -- and homeowners -- largely missed out on the boom because the state's laws on home equity lending are by far the strictest. That could...

FHLB Income Declining; Chiefs' Paychecks Aren't.(Federal Home Loan Banks)
April 3, 2003... Nearly three and a half years after Congress removed limits on the pay of the 12 Federal Home Loan bank presidents, it continues to rise -- frequently with no clear connection to the banks' performance. On a consolidated basis, the Home...

Big Consumer Loan Acquirers Undeterred.(G.E. Consumer Finance)
April 3, 2003... Second of two parts G.E. Consumer Finance started out ten years ago with three employees, a $13 billion-asset U.S. private-label credit card portfolio, and a mission: build a consumer lending operation in underserved markets abroad. ...

Today's News.(deposit insurance reform)(Brief Article)
April 3, 2003... WASHINGTON The House voted 411 to 11 to approve deposit insurance reform. Page 18 The House approved a bill giving a reprieve on student loan payments to borrowers on active military duty. Page 3 COMMUNITY BANKING For the...

EFS Deal Is Big -- So Are First Data's Aspirations.
April 3, 2003... With the deal it announced Wednesday to buy the network company Concord EFS Inc., First Data Corp. says it is one step closer to its long-stated goal: "to process every electronic payment transaction worldwide from the point of occurrence to...

In Brief: G.I. Loan Waiver Advances.(Brief Article)
April 3, 2003... The House has overwhelmingly approved a bill allowing the Department of Education to waive guaranteed student loan rules for participants who are called to active military duty. The bill, which the House passed 421 to 1 on Tuesday, would...

In Brief: A 'Needs to Improve' for FDIC.(Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 3, 2003... The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. still needs to improve its internal controls to ensure the "reliability, confidentiality, and availability of financial data," according to a report from the General Accounting Office. The annual...

Executive Changes.
April 3, 2003... MIDWEST LSB Financial Corp. of Lafayette, Ind., has hired James B. Allen as the vice president of branch sales at its $320 million-asset Lafayette Savings Bank. Mr. Allen was a loan officer at River Valley Financial Bank, a $224...

Nazareth of Pa. To Open Downtown Allentown Branch.(Nazareth National Bank)
April 3, 2003... For the first time in three decades a bank branch is set to open in Allentown, Pa.'s downtown business district. Nazareth National Bank said last week that it plans to open a 5,700-square-foot branch at the intersection of 9th and Hamilton...

U.S. Bancorp Unit First Opteva Installation.(Brief Article)
April 3, 2003... Diebold Inc. said Wednesday that the U.S. Bank subsidiary of Minneapolis' U.S. Bancorp has installed the first of the manufacturer's Opteva line of automated teller machines, which were introduced March 11. The advanced function Opteva...

Wamu Suit Seen Stemming From Integration Troubles.(Washington Mutual Inc.)
April 3, 2003... Is a lawsuit accusing Washington Mutual Inc. of charging excessive prepayment penalties just another consumer complaint or further evidence of integration problems at the Seattle thrift company? In a suit filed Tuesday in a Minnesota county...

Fannie Warns on New York Loans.(Brief Article)
April 3, 2003... Fannie Mae has told lenders that it will not buy loans deemed "high-cost" under New York State's predatory-lending law. In a memo Monday the government-sponsored enterprise warned lenders to be especially careful not to "inadvertently...

Agency Outsourcer Lands a Client in Utah.(Banc Insurance Services Inc.)(Mountain America Financial Services)
April 3, 2003... By adding its latest client, Banc Insurance Services Inc. will begin selling insurance in four more states -- Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona. Banc Insurance Services said Tuesday that it has agreed to provide its insurance agency...

A.M. Best Cuts One Rating on Aviva Life Insurance Co.(Brief Article)
April 3, 2003... A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the group financial strength rating to A from A-plus on Aviva Life Insurance Co. and Aviva Life Insurance Co. of New York and has assigned the rating a negative outlook. This reflects a decline in the...

Fidelity Revamping Its Web Broker-Dealer System.
April 3, 2003... Fidelity Investments Inc. said enhancements for its brokerage technology, which are set to be launched today, will help broker-dealers offer more to their high-net-worth clients. At its fifth annual Executive Forum, the Boston-based company...

In Brief: IBM, NBF Expand Processing Pact.(National Bank Financial Inc.)(International Business Machines Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 3, 2003... National Bank of Canada's National Bank Financial Inc. has expanded a partnership with International Business Machines Corp. to revamp the brokerage firm's back-end processing systems and improve response times at its customer service centers....