American Banker articles from January 2007

American Banker archives from January 2007

Review 2006/Preview 2007: Small Banks' Market Rule Reaches End.
January 2, 2007... Bank investors and analysts last week were doing their usual end-of-the-year math to figure out whether banking companies outperformed the broad market in 2006 but ultimately decided that making a definitive call was difficult, and possibly...

Review 2006/Preview 2007: What's on Tap (And on Hold) In Regulation.
January 2, 2007... This was supposed to be the year that the country's largest banks began operating under a new capital regime, marking the completion of the most ambitious bank regulatory undertaking in recent memory. Regulators initially planned the...

Reverse PIN Finds Niche: Urban Myth.
January 2, 2007... Nearly nine years after Joe Zingher patented the reverse PIN, his idea for protecting customers being robbed at automated teller machines has yet to catch on -- except as an urban legend. An e-mail that circulated late last year claims:...

Conversion Vote's Over, Fight Isn't At Lafayette.(Lafayette Federal Credit Union)
January 2, 2007... Lafayette Federal Credit Union in Kensington, Md., has won membership approval to convert to a mutual thrift, but a vocal group of members who oppose the plan has refused to give up the fight. The group is urging the National Credit Union...

In Brief: U.S. Sues Sovereign, Others on SBA Loan.(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Friday against Sovereign Bancorp Inc.'s banking subsidiary and three people it said could result in a fine of up to $96 million. Sovereign Bank, John Torkelsen, Richard Propper, and Daniel Beharry are...

In Brief: Fed Sets Cutoff for HMDA Exemption.(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... Banks whose assets were $36 million or less at the end of 2006 are exempt from collecting Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data in the new year, the Federal Reserve Board said Friday. The Fed adjusts the asset-size cutoff for HMDA data...

In Brief: OCC Allows Closings On Day of Mourning.(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency )(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency told banks they could close today, a national day of mourning for Gerald R. Ford. The former president died Dec. 26. President Bush has ordered the federal government to close Jan. 2 in...

In Brief: AirNet Systems' Chief Exec Resigns.(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... AirNet Systems Inc. announced Friday that Joel E. Biggerstaff had resigned as chief executive and was to leave the board and his post as chairman this past Sunday. The Columbus, Ohio, airline, the nation's largest courier of canceled...

In Brief: Domestic Mutual Fund Assets Rise.(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... Assets held in domestic mutual funds increased 2.6% in November, according to data from the Investment Company Institute. The Washington trade group said the combined assets of the nation's mutual funds increased to $10.281 trillion in...

Doral Earnings Up to Date; Loss Worse than Expected.
January 2, 2007... With the filing of its third-quarter report last week, Doral Financial Corp. of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was finally able to call its earnings current. But analysts say two years of accounting woes, earnings restatements, and late quarterly...

In Brief: Western Union Share Seen Growing in '07.(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... A Soleil Securities Group Inc. analyst expects Western Union Co.'s market share to grow significantly this year, despite legal issues that have slowed traffic on its lucrative money transfer business to Mexico. Craig J. Maurer, managing...

In Brief: Asta Increases Pay For Execs, Directors.(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... Asta Funding Inc., an Englewood Cliffs, N.J., buyer of distressed consumer receivables, approved salary increases for its top executives and directors. The company said last week in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that...

In Brief: A Mich. Debt Buyer Appoints Counsel.(Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. names Edwin Herbert as general counsel.)(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... Asset Acceptance Capital Corp., a Warren, Mich., buyer of defaulted consumer receivables, has named Edwin "Skip" Herbert its general counsel. Mr. Herbert joined Asset Acceptance from the law firm Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP, where he was...

In Brief: Discover's Sign-Up Share Rises to 15%.
January 2, 2007... Discover Financial Services LLC acquired more customers than any other card company in October and November, according to research by Auriemma Consulting Group Inc. of Westbury, N.Y. The Morgan Stanley unit's share of domestic card...

Review 2006/Preview 2007: Can New Online Features Find an Audience?
January 2, 2007... Within the next year plans call for more banks to start letting their customers chart their spending online, make last-minute bill payments from a credit card, check their balances from a cell phone screen, and program automated teller machines...

What consumer financial publications wrote about this week: Wealth Management Media Scan.
January 2, 2007... Outlook on REITs Expect a mild new-year hangover in the real estate investment trust market, warned Kiplinger's Personal Finance. REITs beat the market every year from 2000 through 2006, when they returned 30% through October. But it's...

Marsh's Putnam Sale Deal To Give Buyer a U.S. Entry.(Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.)(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. of New York has agreed in principle to sell Putnam Investments to Power Corp. of Canada for $3.9 billion, according to sources at the fund company. Power Corp. is Canada's largest mutual fund owner, but the deal,...

Newcomer 1st Reverse Eyes Fast Rise to Top 20.(1st Reverse Financial Services LLC)
January 2, 2007... A new reverse mortgage specialist plans to begin lending today and aims to crack the top 20 in this booming field within a year by providing "concierge-level" service to small originators, a co-founder said. 1st Reverse Financial Services...

In Brief: Greater Atlantic to Restate Earnings.(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... Greater Atlantic Financial Corp. of Reston, Va., has uncovered irregularities in its financial reporting and said that its earnings reports for fiscal 2004 and 2005 and the quarters that ended March 31, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2005, should no longer...

In Brief: MetLife, N.Y. AG Reach a Settlement.(Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.)(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... MetLife Inc. announced Friday that it will pay $19 million to resolve an investigation by the New York Attorney General's Office into payments made to brokers to steer clients to its Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. subsidiary. The New York...

In Brief: PHH Gets Another Extension for Filings.(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... PHH Corp., the Mt. Laurel, N.J., mortgage outsourcing and fleet-management company, said its major creditors had again waived financial-reporting covenants and extended its deadlines for filing its financial statements for this year. In a...

In Brief: N.H. Trade Group To Join National One.(National Association of Mortgage Brokers)(Brief article)
January 2, 2007... To help out its smaller members, a New Hampshire mortgage group has joined the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. The members of the state group, the Mortgage Bankers and Brokers Association of New Hampshire, include local managers...

FDIC Unit To Explore Megafailure Scenario: New team not geared toward 'it's going to happen' but 'if it did'.
January 3, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Though it has been more than two years since the last bank failure, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is spending much of its time preparing for an event that may never come: a megabank collapse. As part of a series of...

Review 2006/Preview 2007: Mutual Conversions Starting To Draw Institutional Attention.
January 3, 2007... Less than a year after converting from a credit union to a mutual thrift, ViewPoint Financial Group in Plano, Tex., went public in October at $10 a share. On its first day of trading the stock shot up 50%, and by yearend it was trading at...

CheckFree Finds Way Into Imaging.
January 3, 2007... CheckFree Corp.'s deal to buy Carreker Corp. would combine the top bill payment software and services vendor with one of the last independent check imaging software providers. Acquiring Carreker's imaging software would give CheckFree,...

Cost Controls Seen as Key To Big Banks' 4Q Results.
January 3, 2007... Fee revenue and expense control could make all the difference to the fourth-quarter results the nation's largest banking companies report as they search for counterweights to normalizing credit costs and continued margin pressure. Several...

Executive Changes.
January 3, 2007... NEW ENGLANG State Street Corp. of Boston has given Edward J. Resch the additional job of treasurer. He will remain State Street's chief financial officer, a job he has held since joining the company as an executive vice president in...

With New CEO, U.S. Bank Opts For Live 4Q Call.
January 3, 2007... U.S. Bancorp is going live, again. When it reports fourth-quarter earnings Jan. 16, the Minneapolis company will hold its first live earnings conference call since July 2005. Richard K. Davis, who succeeded Jerry A. Grundhofer as chief...

Community Banks with Largest Farm Loan Portfolios.
January 3, 2007... On June 30, 2006. Dollars in thousands* Farm loans Total loans June 30 Year earlier Change and leases 1 First Financial Bank El Dorado, Ark....

Review 2006 - Adviser: Portfolio Buys Remained Small and Costly.
January 3, 2007... The market for credit card portfolios continued to show signs of tightness last year, with premiums staying high and fewer sizable transactions taking place, according to data compiled by a firm that brokers such deals. The results were in...

Cards Get Reshuffled.(Brief article)
January 3, 2007... Sales of portfolios by banks '05 '06 Receivables sold $44.8B $90.26B Number of transactions 70 83 Premiums: Average 20.4% 19.8% Highest 31% 32.9% ...

In Brief: Online Resources in Cell Phone Banking.
January 3, 2007... The online banking and bill payment provider Online Resources Corp. has announced a mobile phone banking product, which it says three banks are testing. The Chantilly, Va., payments technology vendor said Tuesday that it has been testing...

VeriFone Adds Rival Sales Trio.
January 3, 2007... The San Jose point of sale terminal vendor VeriFone Holdings Inc. has hired three sales executives from its rival Hypercom Inc. The Tuesday announcement came on the heels of VeriFone's November purchase of the Israeli terminal maker Lipman...

In Brief: Munder Buyout Completed.( )(Brief article)
January 3, 2007... Munder Capital Management of Birmingham, Mich., announced Tuesday that it has completed the management-led buyout it announced in August. John Adams, who became Munder's chief executive officer Tuesday, and other members of the management...

In Brief: BW Insurance Buys in Oregon.(Brief article)
January 3, 2007... Bank of the West in San Francisco announced Tuesday that its BW Insurance Agency of Fargo, N.D., has bought Contractor's Insurance Services Inc. of Tualatin, Ore. It also said Tuesday that the subsidiary completed a deal for Nabity-Perry...

Outsourcing Out: S.C. Firm Starts Broker Subsidiary.(First Citizens Bancorp Inc. of Columbia)
January 3, 2007... After referring customers in need of investment advice to a North Carolina bank for the past seven years, First Citizens Bancorp Inc. of Columbia, S.C., has launched a broker-dealer unit to bring that work in-house. The unit, First...

ING Unit Goal: Distribution Boost from Banking Trend.
January 3, 2007... ING Investment Management Americas' top executive said his firm expects more distribution of its products through banks this year with banks continuing their move to broader, open-architecture platforms. Robert W. Crispin, the New York...

Data Security Fears Growing, Could Lead To Lost Customers.
January 3, 2007... Consumers are increasingly concerned about online banking security, and many are willing to vote with their feet, according to a recent survey by Unisys Corp. The survey, conducted by the Ponemon Institute in November and released by the...

Financial Web Watch.(Brief article)
January 3, 2007... Nielsen rankings for selected categories for week ended Dec. 17 Audience* Page views Active Time spent (thousands) reach** per person Top full-service bank and credit union...

Home Loan Unit Taps CFO, 2 More.(Brief article)
January 3, 2007... The Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati said Tuesday that its board of directors had approved executive changes aimed at improving risk management and consolidating management. Andrew S. Howell was promoted to executive vice president of...

Ownit in Bankruptcy, Lists Creditor Banks.(Ownit Mortgage Solutions Inc.)
January 3, 2007... Ownit Mortgage Solutions Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing $170 million of unsecured claims, including $93 million of repurchase requests from Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., its largest creditor and a 20% owner. The...

Retail CDs: Special-Term Competition.
January 3, 2007... Top rate premiums offered on special-term CDs in 15 largest deposit markets, from Novantas and Market Rates Insight. Week ended Dec. 29 Denominated in irregular maturities, "special-term" CDs can help achieve select funding objectives and...

In Brief: TD Banknorth Closes N.J. Deal.(Brief article)
January 3, 2007... TD Banknorth Inc. said Tuesday that it has completed its purchase of Interchange Financial Services Corp. of Saddle Brook, N.J. The Portland, Maine, company announced the $480.6 million cash deal for Interchange in April and announced the...

In Brief: Nat City Sells First Franklin.(Brief article)
January 3, 2007... National City Corp. said Tuesday that over the weekend it completed the sale of First Franklin Financial Corp., its nonprime mortgage origination and servicing platform, to Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. The $139 billion-asset Cleveland banking...

In Brief: Suit Over Countrywide Options.(Stull, Stull and Brody announced the suit against Countrywide Financial Corp.)(Brief article)
January 3, 2007... A law firm that specializes in shareholder cases said it has filed a suit against some directors and executives of Countrywide Financial Corp. for allegedly backdating stock option grants. Stull, Stull & Brody announced the suit against...

Open Remote Capture Field Lures Kodak.
January 4, 2007... Eastman Kodak Co. is entering a business where it says banking companies have been slow to fill customer demand: corporate check-image capture. The Rochester, N.Y., company already has struck a deal with a technology company that will...

Panel Chief's To-Do List: ILCs, Data Rules, Freezes.
January 4, 2007... WASHINGTON -- When Rep. Carolyn Maloney talks about the balancing act between tighter consumer protection and the need to relieve financial institutions of overreaching regulation, nowhere is the tension clearer than in the area of data...

Frank Offers 'Bargains' to Businesses (And Banks): Freer trade for wage hike? Tradeoffs on GSEs and ILCs?
January 4, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Incoming House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said he wants to strike a "grand bargain with business interests." If executives back improved health care for employees, higher wages, and easier union...

A Chairman's Parting Shot At Management, Advisers.
January 4, 2007... A clash over the future of the troubled Doral Financial Corp. has led to the resignation of its nonexecutive chairman, John A. Ward 3rd. Mr. Ward resigned his position and his board seat Friday, Doral revealed in a regulatory filing...

M&T Merging, Branch Opening.
January 4, 2007... M&T Bank Corp. of Buffalo announced Wednesday that it has merged M&T Mortgage Corp. into M&T Bank and, in what it called an unrelated move, opened its first New Jersey branch. The $56 billion-asset company said the goal of the merger, which...

Executive Changes.
January 4, 2007... NEW ENGLAND Eastern Bank in Boston has promoted Richard E. Holbrook to chairman and chief executive officer and Robert F. Rivers to president. Mr. Holbrook joined Eastern in 1996 as its chief financial officer and had been its...

Master's Program Getting Good Marks from Bankers.
January 4, 2007... A lifetime construction worker, Chad Patten was looking for a career change after the Provo, Utah, steel mill where he worked shut down in late 2002. After receiving his bachelor's degree in technology management in 2004, he tried working...

Deposits: by product line across industry segments, as of Dec. 29.(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... Internet Broker Bank Credit union High Low Average High Low Average High Low Average High Low Average Money market $10,000 5.25 0.30 3.27 4.84 1.01 2.73 5.25 0.02 1.18 4.33 0.25...

U.S. Banking Companies with Highest Multiples of Net to Salary, Benefits.
January 4, 2007... On June 30, 2006. Dollars in thousands* Salaries and Return on Multiple Net income benefits average assets 1 Amboy Bancorp. Old Bridge, N.J. 5.58 $21,865...

Discover Enters Reloading Fray with Green Dot Deal.(Green Dot, of Monrovia, Calif)
January 4, 2007... Discover Financial Services has agreed to offer prepaid cards that can be reloaded through Green Dot Corp.'s network. The Morgan Stanley unit's deal follows announcements last month that Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard Inc. had developed reload...

In Brief: First Data Urged to Name Outsider as CEO.
January 4, 2007... Some financial analysts are questioning First Data Corp.'s plans to promote a current executive to chief executive this year. Henry C. Duques, the Denver processor's current CEO, said last month during a conference call with analysts that...

In Brief: ClickandBuy Signs Up Music Customers.(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... ClickandBuy LLC, a New York payments processor for online businesses, announced Wednesday that it has signed up three music companies as customers. Icarus Digital of Philadelphia uses ClickandBuy's services to offer a subscription-based...

In Brief: Report Warns of Gift Card Weaknesses.(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... Though demand for gift cards rose last year, new regulations may hinder their growth in the next few years, researchers from TowerGroup concluded in a report published Wednesday. Brian Riley, a senior analyst in the bank cards practice at...

Assessing Outlook for '07 in Bank Brokerage.
January 4, 2007... The bank-brokerage industry has been ramping up for what it hopes will be a good year, but there will be challenges in 2007, including a lack of referrals, uncertain market conditions, and a demographic shift that will require sophisticated...

In Brief: Wamu, Principal Close Deal.(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... Washington Mutual Inc. has completed the sale of its mutual fund business, WM Advisors Inc., the investment manager of WM Group of Funds, to Principal Financial Group of Des Moines. The Seattle thrift company said Wednesday that it sold the...

In Brief: RBC Unit Buys Broker-Dealer.(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... RBC Capital Markets, the corporate and investment banking arm of Royal Bank of Canada, announced Wednesday that it has bought Carlin Financial Group, a New York broker-dealer. Carlin offered a proprietary trade execution platform that is...

In Brief: Willis Buys Fla. Broker Carter.(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... Willis Group Holdings Ltd. of New York has acquired a broker in Tampa. The insurance broker would not say what it spent for Carter Insurance Group Inc., an underwriting manager and program administrator specializing in franchised auto,...

Pipeline.
January 4, 2007... ARM Action The rise in short-term rates and stubbornly impassive long-term rates have set the stage for a continuing slide last week in the share of adjustable-rate mortgage applications, though total activity rose. For the week that...

In Brief: NetBank Offers 6.5M Shares at Discount.(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... NetBank Inc. has priced a private placement of 6.5 million shares of its common stock. The Alpharetta, Ga., online banking company said Wednesday that it would sell the shares to new and existing institutional investors for $3.90 each, or...

In Brief: Fiserv Downgraded; Profit Estimates Cut.(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... Shares of Fiserv Inc. dropped slightly Wednesday morning after Peter J. Heckmann, an A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. analyst, downgraded the Brookfield, Wis., banking technology vendor's stock. Mr. Heckmann lowered his rating to "hold/aggressive,"...

In Brief: Ficalora to Chair N.Y. Community Again.(Joseph R. Ficalora )(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... New York Community Bancorp Inc. said Wednesday that its chief executive Joseph R. Ficalora has become its chairman again. Mr. Ficalora, 60, was the Westbury, N.Y., company's chairman from 1993 until its 2001 merger with Richmond County...

In Brief: Sen. Johnson Said to Show Progress.(Tim Johnson)(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... Sen. Tim Johnson, the No. 2 Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, is steadily improving after undergoing brain surgery last month, but his recovery is expected to take at least several months, his office said Wednesday. The South...

In Brief: NHB Holdings to Buy, Convert Volvo ILC.(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... A Florida mortgage company has evaded a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. moratorium on industrial loan company applications. NHB Holdings Inc. of Jacksonville won approval last week from federal and state regulators to buy and dissolve the...

In Brief: Agencies Pitch Direct Deposit to Boomers.(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board have started a yearlong campaign to persuade to the nation's 77 million baby boomers to use direct deposit. The Countdown to Retirement campaign is meant to encourage baby boomers to...

In Brief: National City Unit Purchases HE Hoffman.(Brief article)
January 4, 2007... National City Insurance Group Inc., a St. Louis unit of National City Corp., has acquired HE Hoffman Group Inc., a St. Louis employee benefits business. The purchase was announced Wednesday. HE Hoffman is one of the top 10 national...

Rating Cuts for Wachovia, Regions.
January 4, 2007... The analyst who recently took over A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc.'s coverage of Wachovia Corp. and Regions Financial Corp. cut his firm's ratings for the two Southeastern companies' shares and raised concerns about slower loan growth. David...

Sale Gets Mellon Closer To Venture Capital Exit.
January 4, 2007... Mellon Financial Corp., which plans to get out of the venture capital business altogether this quarter, has sold most of its venture capital arm. The Pittsburgh banking company said Wednesday in an 8-K filing with the Securities and...

Review 2006/Preview 2007: Foreign Banks Still Buyers; A Few Pausing.
January 5, 2007... Some foreign banking companies that have been active acquirers in the United States are vowing to turn their dealmaking machines off this year, but others are expected to keep on buying. "The foreigners are absolutely going to continue to...

Mobile Pilots: Banks' First Impressions.
January 5, 2007... Mobile phone banking vendors say that one of the technology's main draws is its ability to reduce call-center costs while raising debit volume, and bankers say early tests seem to show that is exactly what is happening. Several companies...

Usury? Fraud Indictment Yields Suit, Policy Debate.
January 5, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Borrowers at a Nebraska community bank are trying an untested legal strategy in asking a court for half the bank's assets in a battle over who cleans up after an executive's alleged fraud. The lawsuit raises two key public...

People.
January 5, 2007... Regulatory Burden BB&T Corp. chairman and chief executive John Allison is not a big fan of government regulation, and his disdain was apparent Tuesday during an economic forum in North Carolina. While giving his take on the 2007...

In Brief: OTS Examinations Exec to Join JPM Chase.(Brief article)
January 5, 2007... Scott Albinson is stepping down as the Office of Thrift Supervision's managing director of examinations, supervision, and consumer protection to become a managing director in JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s financial institutions and governments group....

In Brief: S&P: Little Effect from FHLB Stock Plan.(Brief article)
January 5, 2007... The Federal Housing Finance Board's proposal to limit the growth of excess stock at the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks would have little impact, according to research from Standard & Poor's Corp. "The overall effect on the credit profiles of...

In Brief: FDIC Pushes Data Systems, CRE Oversight.(Brief article)
January 5, 2007... A Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. publication urged banks to institute data breach response systems, warned institutions they are increasingly engaging in misleading marketing, and offered a bleak assessment of commercial loan underwriting. ...

Lafayette Member Allegations Spark Regulatory Review.
January 5, 2007... The National Credit Union Administration is reviewing the conversion proceedings at Lafayette Federal Credit Union in Kensington, Md., after receiving complaints of voting irregularities leading up to and during the Dec. 16 vote. Members...

Review 2006/Preview 2007: Repeat of Busy M&A Year Seems a Good Bet in Tex.
January 5, 2007... Some of Texas' most prolific acquirers in recent years are being bought out themselves, but even with companies such as Texas Regional Bancshares Inc. and Texas United Bancshares Inc. out of the mix, there are no signs that dealmaking is...

Security Watch.(Wisconsin taxpayers and identity theft)
January 5, 2007... Exposure As if tax season were not stressful enough, 170,000 Wisconsin taxpayers now have to worry about identity theft, as well. About 15% of the 1.1 million tax booklets from the state's Department of Revenue were mailed out with the...

Card Renewals Reflect New Vigor For First Data Unit.
January 5, 2007... Having secured three credit card processing renewals in the past two months, First Data Corp. is finding renewed vigor in a business line it considered selling as recently as a year ago. "This is a validation of the strategy of the card...

Review 2006/Preview 2007: HSA Market Seen Poised for Further Growth.
January 5, 2007... The proliferation of health savings accounts met expectations last year, and analysts say the product is building momentum for long-term growth. The accounts, which allow workers to save for medical expenses tax-free, began to appear in...