Community Banker articles from January 2004

Community Banker archives from January 2004

Ringing in the New Year.(front matter)
January 1, 2004... As 2003 comes to a close, this is an appropriate time to look back at the events that have shaped our industry. The past year ushered in several changes on the regulatory and business fronts. During the last 12 months, lenders posted...

The latest news from Washington.(president's message)
January 1, 2004... You have my very best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year! As we look ahead to 2004, some unfinished business from last year still requires our attention. All of these issues are important to our industry, and to your...

Main Street meets Wall Street in ACB NASDAQ stock index.(chairman's corner)
January 1, 2004... A new wave of excitement is running through community banking, and Americas Community Bankers is making it happen. One month ago, ACB and the NASDAQ stock exchange launched the America's Community Bankers NASDAQ Index. It includes 545...

Turning lemons into Lemonade at Gate City Bank.(grass roots)
January 1, 2004... The newspaper headline told the story. BANK GIVES $2M: Gate City backs home program. All local television stations carried the story on the evening news. The local newspaper's opinion page editorial column deemed Gate City Bank worthy of a...

Mutual banks should be free to determine their future.(of mutual interest)
January 1, 2004... Directors and trustees of mutual banks pondering the future of their institutions often ask: what does it mean to be mutual, who owns the wealth that's been built up in the institution over the years, and what are our obligations to our various...

Live from New York: America's Community Bankers NASDAQ Index.(acb news)
January 1, 2004... ACB's National Winter Management Conference got off to a bell-ringer of a start on Dec. 8, as the first representative stock index for community banks went live. The America's Community Bankers NASDAQ Index includes 545 community banks...

ACB's Winter Management Conference delivers insights on economy, strategies.(acb news)
January 1, 2004... Bankers attending ACB's National Winter Management Conference in New York on Dec. 7-9 heard expert insights into the economy and portfolio management, gleaned ideas about cultivating workers and thriving as mutuals, got the latest Washington...

Congratulations to the 2003 Class of the Senior Leadership Institute.(acb news)
January 1, 2004... The graduates are: (Seated, left to right), Rosemarie McGillicuddy, vice president and director of human resources, South Shore Savings Bank, South Weymouth, Mass.; Program Director Gloria Pritchard-Becker, ACB's vice president of education;...

City and Suburban's chairman honored by Habitat for Humanity.(Spotlight)
January 1, 2004... Martin S. Berger (left), chairman of-City and Suburban Federal Savings Bank, was recently named Builder of the Year by Habitat for Humanity of Westchester County, here represented by Executive Director Jim Killoran (right). City and Suburban is...

MBank Council chairman Guerra named Banker of the Year by CABA.(Spotlight)
January 1, 2004... Joseph M. Guerra (right, pictured with wife, Blanqui), president and chief executive officer of UniBank, was named the 2003 Banker of the Year by the Cuban American Bankers Association in Miami on Nov. 21. Guerra, an ACB board member and...

Bush signs Fair Credit Act.(nationwide news)
January 1, 2004... In December, President George Bush signed into law the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. The act, Public Law 108-159, permanently preempts state credit information sharing laws, sets a uniform standard for preventing identity...

Freddie Mac names Syron as new chief executive.(nationwide news)
January 1, 2004... In December, Freddie Mac's board of directors named Richard F. Syron as chairman and chief executive officer of the country's second-largest government sponsored enterprise. Syron, 60, will succeed Gregory J. Parseghian, who was asked to...

Fannie, Freddie raise limits to maximum.(nationwide news)
January 1, 2004... Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have raised their conforming loan limits to the maximum permitted by law. Effective for deliveries after Jan. 1, 2004, the limit on single-family loans will be $333,700, up from $322,700. The higher limit was...

Flood Insurance gets three-month extension.(nationwide news)
January 1, 2004... In December, President George Bush signed a bill keeping the National Flood Insurance Program in force through the end of March. The bill had been set to expire Dec. 31. The short-term extension was passed to give the Senate Banking...

In memoriam: William F. McKenna.(nationwide news)
January 1, 2004... William F. McKenna, who was known as the "dean of the thrift lawyers," has died in California. He was 88. Word of McKenna's death reached many of his former colleagues, friends, and clients belatedly in October 2003. Colleagues confirmed...

Broadway Federal: keeping community mortgage needs in sharp focus.
January 1, 2004... Community banks serve the neighborhoods they are located in, and sometimes that requires special tactics. Lending in low-income, high-cost inner city neighborhoods populated primarily by minorities and recent immigrants is often a risky...

Bank deposits heading toward change.
January 1, 2004... Most banks around the country have no concerns about having enough deposits to meet loan demand. Deposits have risen dramatically since 2000. But if the economy picks up steam, some banks may have to scramble once again to find deposits....

Check truncation: the countdown begins.(Cover Story)
January 1, 2004... When President Bush signed check truncation into law on Oct. 28, he began an important, one-year countdown for all banks. The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act--commonly referred to as Check 21--goes into effect next October. Under...

Bankers feel the squeeze: in a changing debit card landscape.
January 1, 2004... Community banks that were beneficiaries of the debit card boom in recent years now face a few storm clouds. The $3 billion settlement last May of a class-action antitrust lawsuit between the nation's largest retailers and the credit card...

Did community banks miss the fixed-annuity boom?
January 1, 2004... During the long bear market, an old standby product came to the rescue of bank securities brokerages. As nonbank securities firms were bleeding red ink and disgorging staff, most bank investment services units were toting up revenue that...

Reading the tea leaves in an uncertain rate environment.(investment management)
January 1, 2004... When I run training seminars or workshops for community banks on understanding the markets and making better investment or funding decisions, I always ask the following question: "How many of you have a statement in your Investment or Asset and...

Strategic benefits are in the cards: credit cards, that is.(business solutions)
January 1, 2004... Unlike playing the card tables in Las Vegas, the strategic benefits of a well-managed agent credit card program are proven and time-tested. Community banks gain bottom-line revenue, stronger customer relationships, and way to expand a...

Bank-owned life insurance presents a window of opportunity.(legal briefs)
January 1, 2004... Bank-owned life insurance, or BOLI, is a single premium life insurance contract especially designed for banks to earn tax-free income. With the specter of new federal legislation being enacted that would make BOLI financings slightly more...

Competing for payment processing business.(technology report)
January 1, 2004... Banks aren't paying enough attention to their payment processing businesses, according to a recent report from TowerGroup, a research firm based in Needham, Mass. Clearing and settling payments has always been an exclusive franchise for...

Consumers trust banks to protect personal information.(surveys & trends)
January 1, 2004... Banks are well trusted by consumers when it comes to protecting and securing their personal information, but with that trust comes high expectations, according to a recent survey. More than three out of four respondents (78 percent) were...

Branches growing amid decline in number of banks.(surveys & trends)
January 1, 2004... Who said the branch is dead? Insured depository institutions added 1,204 branches in the year ending June 30, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. That's more new branches than in the two previous years combined. The 1.4...

What's in a name?(bank on it)
January 1, 2004... Bank names are a reflection of their history, and of their promise to customers. ACB editors perused the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s database on financial institutions to look for trends, and found some fascinating ones. Hail to the...