American Banker articles from January 2006

American Banker archives from January 2006

Factoring in the Risks.
January 3, 2006... Lots can go wrong in the asset-based lending game -- your borrower can play tricks on you, the collateral can go out of style. But hundreds of banks have learned that there is money to be made if you hire the right people and keep close tabs....

Unfinished Business Confronts New Crop of Top Regulators.(Industry Overview)
January 3, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Long-anticipated changes at the top of the banking agencies finally occurred in the second half of last year, but the new leadership probably will have little effect on regulatory priorities. The breadth of the turnover is...

UMA Potential Went Untapped In Past Year.(unified managed accounts)
January 3, 2006... Hyped by some as the future of fee-based investment products, unified managed accounts have not lived up to expectations. Just pinning down what the product is has proved difficult. "I think a lot of comments and positions on unified...

Small Banks Lose Sizzle In Deal Slump.(Industry Overview)
January 3, 2006... The streak is over. For the first time since 1999, bank stocks failed to outperform the broad market last year. The long rally in regional bank stocks over the previous several years had less to do with fundamentals than takeover...

SVB Financials Catch Up; Nasdaq Deadline Missed.(SVB Financial Group of Santa Clara, California)
January 3, 2006... SVB Financial Group of Santa Clara, Calif., finished out 2005 by filing first-time financials and earnings restatements covering much of the past five years. The $5 billion-asset holding company for Silicon Valley Bank warned investors in...

Another Restructuring -- at MB.
January 3, 2006... MB Financial Inc. of Chicago has joined a list of banking companies that are hedging against interest rate hikes by restructuring their securities portfolios. The company said Friday that it sold $147 million investment securities during...

Executive Changes.
January 3, 2006... MIDDLE ATLANTIC Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. of New York has named Mary Ann Bartels its chief market analyst. She succeeded Richard McCabe, who has retired after 43 years with the firm. Ms. Bartels will remain the director of global...

In Brief: Doral President Zoila Levis Retiring.(Zoila Levis, Doral Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... Doral Financial Corp. of San Juan, Puerto Rico, announced Friday that its president and chief operating officer for the past 14 years, Zoila Levis, is retiring Jan. 31. Ms. Levis will remain a director. The new president and chief...

In Brief: Countrywide Changes Its Options Policy.(Countrywide Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... Countrywide Financial Corp. has changed how options would be treated in the event of "a change of corporate control." Holders of unexercised options would now be paid in stock, according to the fair-market value on the day before the...

In Brief: Servicer Rating Upgrade for PHH Unit.(PHH Mortgage Corp., home equity loans)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... Fitch Inc. raised its residential primary servicer rating for PHH Mortgage Corp.'s home equity loans to RPS1, its highest rating, from RPS1-minus. The agency also affirmed its RPS1 residential primary servicer rating for the Mt. Laurel,...

In Brief: Morgan Stanley, Pirelli Buy Italian Loans.
January 3, 2006... We are not authorized to publish this article provided by Bloomberg News. (c) 2006 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.americanbanker.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

In Brief: American Capital Invests in JPM Trust.(American Capital Strategies Ltd., J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... American Capital Strategies Ltd., a Bethesda, Md., buyout and mezzanine fund, has invested $81 million in tranches of a JPMorgan Chase & Co. commercial mortgage-backed security trust. The investment, announced last week, was made at a 41%...

Storm Victims Say Servicers Bottling Up Insurance Money.
January 3, 2006... Mortgage servicers' control over insurance proceeds for homes damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita has sparked complaints. Last week Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti announced a probe into servicers' handling of the funds....

Confident About Plan B After Fed Roadblock.(Federal Reserve Board's refusal of request by Southern Connecticut Bancorp Inc.)
January 3, 2006... After failing to win Federal Reserve Board approval of its application to open a bank in New London, Conn., Southern Connecticut Bancorp Inc. has withdrawn the bid and decided to open a branch there instead. Michael M. Ciaburri, Southern...

In Brief: Mich. Bank Forms An Islamic Lender.(University Bancorp of Ann Arbor, Michigan)(University Islamic Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... University Bancorp of Ann Arbor, Mich., announced Friday that it had it has created a unit that will focus on providing banking services to Muslims. University Islamic Financial Corp. will offer deposit products and home loans that adhere...

In Brief: New Okla. Markets For RBC Holding.(RCB Holding Co. of Claremore, Oklahoma, to purchase Pioneer Bancshares Inc. of Ponca City)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... RCB Holding Co. of Claremore, Okla., near Tulsa, has a deal that would bring it into other Oklahoma markets. The $710 million-asset multibank company said last Wednesday that it had agreed to buy the $311 million-asset Pioneer Bancshares...

In Brief: SNB Announces Plan To Pay Down Debt.(SNB Bancshares Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... SNB Bancshares Inc. of Sugarland, Tex., said it would sell $205 million of low-yield securities, use the proceeds to pay down borrowings, and take a fourth-quarter charge of $5.3 million after taxes. Prosperity Bancshares Inc. of Houston...

In Brief: First Data Buying Germany's GZS.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... First Data Corp. is buying GZS Gesellschaft fur Zahlungssysteme mbH, a processor in Bad Vilbel, Germany. In addition to processing payments, GZS provides issuing and acquiring services, fraud management tools, and crossborder debits. First...

In Brief: Unique-Virus Growth in Phishing.(report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group)
January 3, 2006... A report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group says the number of distinct viruses used in phishing scams doubled from the end of May to midyear. Many banks and observers have said that viruses are increasingly being used in phishing. It is...

Webster Guards Top HSA Spot in Latest Deal.(Webster Financial Corp., HSA Bank, health savings account market)
January 3, 2006... The Connecticut banking company Webster Financial Corp. is seeking to fortify its leading position in the health savings account market by hiring Metavante Corp. to provide debit-card processing for its HSA Bank unit. Nathaniel Brinn, an...

Hanover Closes Goldman Sale.(Hanover Insurance Group Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... Hanover Insurance Group Inc. in Worcester, Mass., announced Friday that it had closed the sale of its runoff variable life insurance and variable annuity business to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Proceeds are expected to be about $347 million,...

Predictions and Tactics that Fell a Bit Short.(payments industry, 2005)(Industry Overview)
January 3, 2006... Sure, 2005 was a year of cataclysmic changes and grand gestures in the payments industry. To name a few: MasterCard International's decision to go public; big banking companies' swallowing up credit card-issuing specialists; and JPMorgan...

In Brief: Spanish Firm Might Buy Back MBNA Unit.(Banco Santander Central Hispano SA, Abbey National PLC)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... Banco Santander Central Hispano SA, the Spanish owner of Abbey National PLC, is considering buying back Abbey's credit card operations from MBNA Corp., Financial Times reported last week. The Spanish banking company, which has issued 15...

In Brief: TRM to Renegotiate Deal with Travelex.(TRM Corp., Travelex UK Ltd.)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... TRM Corp., a Portland, Ore. independent sales organization that deploys automated teller machines, said it would renegotiate the deal it announced in September to buy the ATM business of Travelex UK Ltd. for $78 million. The companies have...

In Brief: FTC Asks Bear Stearns for Loan Data.
January 3, 2006... We are not authorized to publish this article provided by Bloomberg News. (c) 2006 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.americanbanker.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

In Brief: Citi Raises Bid for Chinese Deal.
January 3, 2006... We are not authorized to publish this article provided by Bloomberg News. (c) 2006 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.americanbanker.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

In Brief: FDIC Urges Flexibility After Fires.(Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.)(wildfires in Oklahoma and Texas)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. recommended that banks in areas affected by the recent wildfires in Oklahoma and Texas show flexibility with borrowers on repaying their loans. Letting borrowers restructure their loans is in the best...

In Brief: New Trust Chief for JPM Private Arm.
January 3, 2006... We are not authorized to publish this article provided by Dow Jones. (c) 2006 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.americanbanker.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

In Brief: Fed Finalizes Changes to Reg E.(Federal Reserve Board, Regulation E)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... The Federal Reserve Board finalized several changes Friday to its Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Funds Transfer Act. Starting Jan. 1, 2007, the Fed will require merchants and other payees that use information from a check to...

In Brief: South Financial Severance Deal.(South Financial Group Inc., retirement severance package for William S. Hummers III)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... South Financial Group Inc. said Friday that it will pay its former chief financial officer $2.35 million in severance when he retires next December. William S. Hummers 3d, 59, was reassigned in October to the new position of chief risk and...

Risky Business.(asset-based lending)(Editorial)
January 3, 2006... Asset-based lending can be a lucrative business for bankers with the stomach for it. Banks that make loans using customers' receivables as collateral say they can typically charge interest rates of 25% or higher. Get enough of those on...

In Rural Iowa, Back-to-the-Farm Lending.(Hampton State Bank)
January 3, 2006... Hampton State Bank in Iowa wants to make it easier for its county's three high schools to hold their reunions. To persuade graduates who have left Franklin County to return, the $53 million-asset bank recently started offering them home and...

The Art of Attracting Business.(Highlands State Bank)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2006... How does a start-up bank get prospects in the door? Art was Highlands State Bank's answer. The bank, which opened in October in Vernon, N.J., is displaying 46 works by local artists in its branch. George E. Irwin, its president and chief...

Bank Promo Targets ID Theft.(identity theft)
January 3, 2006... Identity theft is often portrayed as a high-tech, Internet-era crime, but many folks' identities are still stolen the old-fashioned way: by thieves rummaging through curbside trash for bank statements and credit-card receipts. With that in...

Who Says We Need an Office on The Ground Floor?(Bank of San Francisco)
January 3, 2006... Bank of San Francisco does not pursue much consumer business, so when it opened in August, targeting small-business owners, it set up shop on the 24th floor of an office building in San Francisco's financial district. It is one of 40...

Asset-Based Lending: Whole Different Ball Game.
January 3, 2006... Bankers in Cole Taylor Bank's asset-based-lending division thought they had a handle on a business customer's activities a couple of years ago. Cole Taylor, of Rosemont, Ill., lent the marketing-brochure firm money on a revolving line of...

Fed Transition: Good Timing for Ben Bernanke.(Federal Reserve Board)
January 3, 2006... Welcome to 2006. Though banks are not without challenges in a climate of rising interest rates and narrowing yield curves, former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Donald E. Powell summed up the state of industry in his Nov. 4...

FDIC on Verge Of Much Freer Hand on Policy.(Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.)
January 4, 2006... WASHINGTON -- A reform law close to enactment is expected to empower the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. like never before, handing the agency broad authority to demand premium payments from many more institutions. The FDIC would also gain...

Why Mutual Holding Company Conversions Are Cooling Off.
January 4, 2006... At first glance 2005 appears to have been another banner year for mutual holding company conversions. Sixteen depositor-owned thrifts became mutual holding companies last year, just one less than in 2004, and more than the number of...

Don't Read Too Much Into Realign, Mellon Says: Asset management put under one roof; efficiency effort cited.(Mellon Financial Corp.)
January 4, 2006... Mellon Financial Corp. said the consolidation of its asset management businesses under a single unit Sunday was an effort to improve efficiency and was not designed to placate or antagonize investors who have called for the company recently to...

In Brief: Compass Restates for CD Accounting.(Compass Bancshares Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Compass Bancshares Inc. of Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday restated earnings for the full years 2002 through 2004 and the first three quarters of 2004 and 2005. Compass, which has $30.1 billion of assets, said a change in its accounting for...

In Brief: N.C. Bank: Brace for Bigger Loss Reserve.(FNB Financial Services Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... FNB Financial Services Corp. of Greensboro, N.C., said Tuesday that it expects to report a fourth-quarter loan-loss allowance significantly larger than it took in the year-earlier quarter. FNB said it is still calculating losses related to...

In Brief: Settlement Money for Huntington Investors.(Huntington Bancshares Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... The Securities and Exchange Commission has a plan for disbursing $8.6 million that Huntington Bancshares Inc. and current and former executives paid in June to settle complaints that they had inflated earnings. It is not known how many...

Banks Get Win On CU Expansion But Want More.(National Credit Union Administration)
January 4, 2006... A National Credit Union Administration decision to bar certain credit unions from expanding their field of membership has given banks a victory in their ongoing battle against the agency. But they are not completely satisfied. The NCUA...

Editor's Note: Ryan Beck on Sovereign Ties.
January 4, 2006... On Dec. 9, American Banker published an opinion article defending Sovereign Bancorp Inc.'s effort to sell an equity stake and use the proceeds to buy a banking company. The article, "Attacks on Sovereign Unfair, Short-Sighted," was written by...

Bank of East Asia Makes a Deal in Calif.(National American Bank)
January 4, 2006... Bank of East Asia, the largest independent bank in Hong Kong, is beefing up its U.S. operations with a deal to buy the $87 million-asset National American Bank in San Francisco. The deal, announced Tuesday, is expected to close early this...

In Brief: Bank of N.Y. to Open Boston Trust Office.(Bank of New York Co.)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Bank of New York Co., through its trust unit, announced Tuesday that it will open an office in Boston for affluent clients and investment advisers. The office is to house the company's Boston-based registered investment adviser, Gannett...

In Brief: Iowa's West Closes Deal for Amcore Unit.(West Bancorp Inc.)(Investment Management Group)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... West Bancorp. Inc. in West Des Moines, Iowa, closed its purchase of Investors Management Group, an asset management subsidiary of Amcore Financial Inc. in Rockford, Ill., the companies said Tuesday. The deal's price was not disclosed. ...

In Brief: Touchstone Changes Growth Fund's Name.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Touchstone Investments said Tuesday that it had renamed its Touchstone Emerging Growth Fund the Touchstone Mid Cap Growth Fund. The Cincinnati fund company, which is a unit of Western and Southern Financial Group, changed the fund's name to...

In Brief: American National Buys Dallas Agency.(Sleepr, Sewell & Co.)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... American National Bank of Texas in Terrell announced Tuesday that it had bought a Dallas insurance agency, Sleeper, Sewell & Co., with $60 million of premiums. The deal's terms were not announced. Robert A. Hulsey, American National's...

In Brief: Insurer Enhances Single-Premium Annuity.(Protective Life Insurance Co.)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Protective Life Insurance Co. in Birmingham, Ala., said Tuesday that it had introduced a single-premium immediate annuity that adds three options to traditional immediate annuity benefits. Its Protective ProPayer Income Annuity offers a...

N.Y. Payroll Processing Firm In HSA Fray with Mellon Link.(Paychex Inc.)(health savings account)
January 4, 2006... Paychex Inc. became one of the first payroll processing firms to enter the health savings account market last month when it started a small-business health savings account in conjunction with Mellon Financial Corp. The Rochester, N.Y.,...

In Brief: CharterMac Gives Subsidiary New Name.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... CharterMac said it has changed the name of its Related Capital Co. to CharterMac Capital LLC . Marc D. Schnitzer, CharterMac's president, said in a press release Tuesday that his New York multifamily finance company, which bought Related...

In Brief: San Francisco FHLB: Thrift Cost Index Up.
January 4, 2006... We are not authorized to publish this article provided by Dow Jones. (c) 2006 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.americanbanker.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

In Brief: AHBR of Frankfurt to Post Loss for '05.
January 4, 2006... We are not authorized to publish this article provided by Bloomberg News. (c) 2006 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.americanbanker.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

In Brief: Freddie Mac to Issue Reference Remic.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Freddie Mac plans to issue a Reference real estate mortgage investment conduit during the week of Jan. 16. Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., Credit Suisse First Boston Corp., and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's RBS Greenwich Capital will be the...

In Brief: Brokerage: Carolina Foreclosures Rising.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Foreclosure rates in the Carolinas continued to climb last year, despite solid economic conditions and historically low interest rates, the Charlotte brokerage New World Mortgage Inc. said. Christian Werner, the chief executive officer of...

In Brief: HVB to Sell $1.2B of Covered Bonds.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... We are not authorized to publish this article provided by Bloomberg News. (c) 2006 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.americanbanker.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

La. Attorney General Urges Servicers: Pay Victims Soon.
January 4, 2006... Even though it is standard practice for mortgage servicers to temporarily retain insurance money after a disaster, Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti Jr. believes last year's hurricanes require a different response, a spokeswoman said....

Citi's Settlement of Patent Case Seen Spurring Others.
January 4, 2006... The patent-licensing victory Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing LP announced Tuesday could lead to others, observers say. The Los Angeles company said that Citigroup Inc. had signed a licensing agreement for its interactive voice...

In Brief: Visa Reports Record Volume on Network.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Last-minute holiday shoppers drove up volume on Visa U.S.A.'s payment network to a record 179 million transactions Dec. 23. The San Francisco card association said Tuesday that shoppers made 22% more purchases that day than they did on the...

In Brief: ID Theft Recovery Service from Numerica.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Numerica Credit Union of Spokane is offering a free identity theft recovery service from Identity Theft 911 LLC of Scottsdale, Ariz., to members with checking accounts or credit cards. The credit union, which announced the program Tuesday,...

In Brief: TSYS Stock Drops After a Downgrade.(Total System Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Total System Services Inc.'s stock fell Tuesday after a downgrade by JMP Securities of San Francisco. In a research note, JMP analyst David M. Scharf downgraded the Columbus, Ga., transaction processor from "market perform" to "market...

Barclays Renames U.S. Division.
January 4, 2006... Barclays PLC has rebranded its U.S. credit card division, formerly known as Juniper Financial Corp. The division became Barclaycard US two weeks ago. Ben Brake, its managing director of marketing, said the change is meant to increase name...

In Brief: TIB Sells Portfolio to U.S. Bancorp Unit.(TIB Bank of Naples, Florida)(Nova InformationSystems Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... TIB Bank of Naples, Fla., has sold its merchant processing portfolio to Nova Information Systems Inc., the Atlanta merchant processing unit of U.S. Bancorp of Minneapolis. The TIB Financial Corp. subsidiary announced the $7.25 million cash...

In Brief: Error in Greenpeace Donation Program.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Greenpeace UK said a mistake by a third party led to overwithdrawals from the bank accounts of people who contribute monthly to the environmental group. The British newspaper Blackpool Today reported Tuesday that donors complained that...

North Fork Downgraded Over Originations for 4Q.(Company Profile)
January 4, 2006... An analyst who downgraded North Fork Bancorp. Inc. said it will probably report a 15% to 20% drop in mortgage originations for the just-ended quarter. A.G. Edwards & Sons' David George lowered his rating on shares of the Melville, N.Y.,...

Western Makes Deal for Intermountain.(Western Alliance BanCorp)(Intermountain First Bancorp)
January 4, 2006... Western Alliance BanCorp in Las Vegas did not waste much time deploying the $85 million it raised in an initial public offering in June. The fast-growing multibank holding company, founded in 1994, said Tuesday that it had agreed to buy...

In Brief: HUD to Fine Amro Subsidiary in FHA Case.
January 4, 2006... Federal regulators are expected to announce a multimillion-dollar fine today against ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc., sources said Tuesday. The ABN Amro Holding NV unit has agreed to pay the Department of Housing and Urban Development $16...

In Brief: Activists Want Hearing on Sovereign Deal.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Inner City Press/Fair Finance Watch said Tuesday said that it had asked regulators to hold a public hearing on Sovereign Bancorp Inc.'s deal with Banco Santander Central Hispano SA and Independence Community Bank Corp. The New York...

In Brief: MBNA Deal Makes B of A Top Card Issuer.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Bank of America Corp. of Charlotte has bought the Wilmington, Del., credit card issuer MBNA Corp. The $34 billion deal closed Sunday. B of A said that it expects the acquisition to be accretive in 2007, and that it expects after-tax cost...

In Brief: Rudman: Fannie Probe to End in Weeks.(Warren Rudman)(Fannie Mae)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2006... Former Sen. Warren Rudman, whom Fannie Mae hired in September 2004 to head an internal investigation into its accounting, said he expects to complete his report "in the next three to four weeks." The investigation will end "hopefully by the...

Editor's Note.
January 4, 2006... After a complaint by Sovereign Bancorp Inc.'s biggest shareholder about an opinion article by a Ryan Beck & Co. executive, American Banker asked Ryan Beck to provide fuller disclosure of its business relationship with the company. The full text...

Visa Pins Key Apps to New Architecture.
January 5, 2006... On a recent tour of its new data center, a Visa U.S.A. executive pointed out the thick blue cables snaking their way through cages mounted on the ceiling. The cables, which led to a row of refrigerator-size servers on the floor of a...

Sovereign Delays Meeting.(Brief Article)
January 5, 2006... The postponement, which the thrift company said would give it time to integrate the Independence Community purchase, was met largely with skepticism. (c) 2006 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved....

Fincen: '05 SAR Filings Surged Past Half Million.(suspicious-activity reports)(Financial Crimes Enforcement Network)
January 5, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Banks, thrifts, and credit unions filed more suspicious-activity reports than ever last year -- but industry representatives and regulators are split on what the increase means. Depository institutions filed 515,001 SARs, 35%...

Why S-Corps May Capture M&A Spotlight.
January 5, 2006... Banks and thrifts structured as S corporations could suddenly start looking more attractive to potential buyers. Though more than five dozen S-corp banks have been sold in the last two years, lawyers and banking consultants said they expect...

Commerce as Outsourcer: Deal gives it 'virtual private bank' to wholesale.(Commerce Bancorp Inc.)
January 5, 2006... Commerce Bancorp Inc.'s purchase Wednesday of a Pennsylvania online wealth management company will enable it to outsource to other banks a "virtual private banker" tool it intends to develop, its chief executive officer said. Commerce said...

Is Trend in Compensation To Reward Performance?
January 5, 2006... Some banking companies are changing elements of the chief executive's compensation packages to tie pay more closely to corporate performance. In recent weeks two of the nation's biggest banking companies eliminated their CEOs' severance...

Loan Demand Drop Seen Hurting Both Wells and Citigroup.
January 5, 2006... An expected decline in consumer loans this year and a flat yield curve may affect Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. more than other large financial services companies, a Banc of America Securities LLC analyst said. John McDonald wrote...

OCC Guidance on BSA Said Linked To Wells Case.(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)(Bank Secrecy Act)
January 5, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Responding to criticism from lawmakers and questions about whether it treats large banks preferentially, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is taking steps to clarify how it deals with anti-money-laundering violations....

Executive Changes.
January 5, 2006... MIDWEST PrivateBancorp Inc. of Chicago has named Thomas J. Olivieri its director of operations, a newly created job. Mr. Olivieri will remain a managing director at the $3.3 billion-asset company's PrivateBank and Trust Co., the main...

Amro Move Shows FHA Won't Go Soft in Bid to Build Share.
January 5, 2006... Even though the Federal Housing Administration is trying hard to woo lenders back after years of losing market share, it is not cutting them much slack for mistakes. On Wednesday federal regulators detailed the largest enforcement action...

Pipeline.(Luminent Mortgage Capital Inc.)
January 5, 2006... Taking a Charge The San Francisco real estate investment trust Luminent Mortgage Capital Inc. expects to take a fourth-quarter noncash impairment charge of about $112 million related to its spread portfolio of mortgage-backed securities....