American Banker back issues from November 2004:
President Pitching: Shelby Gives Bush Edge as Free Marketeer.(U.S. Senator Richard Shelby on economic policies of President George W. Bush)(Interview)
Nov 01, 2004; ... Richard Shelby wears two chairman's hats: one for the Senate Banking Committee and one for the Bush-Cheney campaign in his home state of Alabama. Blending the roles in an interview last week, he said the financial industry would be better off if President Bush were reelected. ...
Presidential Pitching: Kanjorski Says Kerry's Fiscally More Sensible.(U.S. presidential election, 2004)(Representative Paul Kanjorski, Senator and presidential candidate John Kerry)(Interview)
Nov 01, 2004; ... The No. 2 Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee has two words for why John Kerry would be better than George W. Bush for the financial services industry: fiscal responsibility. "President Bush is hardly conservative" on fiscal matters, said Rep. Paul Kanjorski, who ...
Wachovia, a Holdout, Abandons Bill-Pay Fees.(Wachovia Corp.)(Industry Overview)
Nov 01, 2004; ... Wachovia Corp., a prominent skeptic of free online bill payment, is reversing course. The Charlotte company planned to announce today that it is waiving all its fees for online bill pay. It is also set to complete its acquisition of SouthTrust Corp. today, which, along with a ...
North Fork Changes Plan;Will Integrate GreenPoint.
Nov 01, 2004; ... When he announced in February that his company was buying GreenPoint Financial Corp., John Adam Kanas, the chairman and chief executive of North Fork Bancorp Inc., said he wanted the banks to remain separate under a combined holding company. Last week Mr. Kanas acknowledged he ...
Executive Changes.
Nov 01, 2004; ... Middle Atlantic Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. of New York has hired Michael Pepe as its director of global utilities. Mr. Pepe was the head of project finance at Banca Intesa SpA in New York. Before that he had worked for seven years at Credit Lyonnais, first as a ...
Schwab Looks to Its Bank for Revenues.(Charles Schwab Corp.)
Nov 01, 2004; ... Charles Schwab Corp. said that with hope dwindling for a rebound in trading commissions, it will rely more on its 18-month-old bank to increase revenues. Chairman and chief executive Charles Schwab said during an investor update Thursday that he would like to increase return on ...
In Brief: Change at Helm for S.C. Banking Company.(SCBT Financial )(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004; ... C. John Hipp 3d, the president and chief executive officer of SCBT Financial Corp. of Columbia, S.C., has resigned, saying he did so for personal reasons. Robert R. Hill Jr., the president and chief operating officer of the company's South Carolina Bank and Trust, took over as ...
In Brief: Hudson City Plans Staten Island Branches.(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004; ... Less than six months after announcing plans to open four branches on Long Island, Hudson City Bancorp Inc. of Paramus, N.J., says it plans to expand further in New York. The $19.3 billion-asset company said Thursday that it intends to open branches in New York City's borough of ...
Full Speed Ahead for Wintrust Acquisition Spree.
Nov 01, 2004; ... Wintrust Financial Corp. of Lake Forest, Ill., has been growing fast in the past year, mainly through acquisitions, and the $5.8 billion-asset multibank holding company has no plans to slow down. Two weeks ago, on the same day it bought the $238 million-asset Town Bankshares ...
In Brief: Global Axcess to Run Credit Union's ATMs.(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004; ... Global Axcess Corp., an electronic transaction processor, said its Nationwide Money Services Inc. unit has a five-year contract to manage and support automated teller machines for ADP Federal Credit Union. The Roseland, N.J., credit union, which serves employees of Automated ...
In Brief: Payment Firms Offering Prepaid Game Card.(DuoCash and Internet Payment Solutions)
Nov 01, 2004; ... Two micropayments companies have partnered to enable people to pay for online game subscriptions with prepaid phone cards instead of credit cards. DuoCash Inc. of Fort Lauderdale and Internet Payment Solutions Inc. of Charlottesville, Va., said the payment option will work at 29 ...
Barclays Chiefs on Juniper.(to officials at Barclays PLC comment on the bank's purchase of Juniper Financial Corp.)
Nov 01, 2004; ... Executives of Barclays PLC, whose purchase of the credit card issuer Juniper Financial Corp. is set to close within a month, told American Banker that the deal would allow it to compete with U.S. giants like Capital One Financial Corp. and MBNA Corp. In separate interviews last ...
In Brief: Another to Leave Chase Home Finance.
Nov 01, 2004; ... Luke Hayden, an executive vice president at Chase Home Finance, plans to leave the J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. unit next quarter, American Banker has learned. A JPM Chase spokesman said that Thomas Wind, who recently joined the Edison, N.J., unit from Nexstar Financial Inc., is to ...
In Brief: A Principal Team Turns Up at AmNet.(former employees of Principal Residential Mortgage Inc. move to AmNet Mortgage Inc.)(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004; ... AmNet Mortgage Inc.'s new correspondent lending division is made up of the former eastern region team of Principal Residential Mortgage Inc., which Citigroup Inc.'s mortgage unit acquired, American Banker has learned. The San Diego company announced the new channel Oct. 19 and ...
In Brief: Earnings Plummet At Irwin Financial.(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004; ... Irwin Financial Corp. of Columbus, Ind., on Friday said third-quarter profit fell 44% from a year earlier, to $17.2 million, and said revenues and profit could fall further this quarter. In a press release, chairman and chief executive Will Miller blamed tough market conditions ....
Hartford: Bank Life Market 'Needs to Mature'.
Nov 01, 2004; ... Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.'s new head of individual life insurance distribution sees a lot of opportunities for the product in the bank channel but says major growth will take time. Jeffrey Carleton, the new senior vice president and director of distribution in ...
In Brief: 2 Firms Plan 401(k)Managed Account.(Zacks Investment Research, AdvisoryWorld)(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004 ... Zacks Investment Research said Friday that it has teamed up with AdvisoryWorld to create a managed account solution for 401(k) plan sponsors and their employees that offers both professional investment management through Zacks and guidelines to help employees invest as much as needed to ...
In Brief: Principal Adds Tools To Income Annuities.(Principal Financial Group)(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004 ... Principal Financial Group in Des Moines has announced two tools designed to give retirees more flexibility and control over how they spend their life's savings. Principal Income Protector and Principal Income Manager secure a paycheck for life while letting retirees decide how ...
In Brief: AIM Hires Director of Distribution Strategy.(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004 ... AIM Investments in Houston said it has hired Brian C. Lee to be the director of sales strategy and planning for AIM Distributors Inc., the fund company's retail marketing subsidiary. Mr. Lee joined AIM in a role designed to help build investment solutions for AIM's retail ...
In Brief: Sun Life to Revamp Asset Management.(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004 ... Sun Life Financial Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, have announced that their boards of directors approved, subject to regulatory approvals, a reorganization that would transfer most of the latter's asset management businesses, including its U.S ....
Focusing on Share? Wise Up, Analysts Say.(market share)(Industry Overview)
Nov 01, 2004; ... It may be time to reconsider long-held notions about the importance of market share. Many banking experts say that being one of the biggest banks in town is of little value, even though they acknowledge the fundamental advantages of scale. Surging to the top in deposits -- a ...
S1 Sees Big Things, New Clients from Enterprise.
Nov 01, 2004; ... S1 Corp. says its new Enterprise software platform was instrumental in its improved profits and that it expects the product to provide an earnings lift through next year. "S1 is at the very early stages of a growth cycle," chief executive Jaime Ellertson said in a phone ...
In Brief: KeyCorp Deal for U.S.B. of N.Y. Seen Near.(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004; ... KeyCorp of Cleveland is said to be near a deal to buy U.S.B. Holding Co. Inc. of Orangeburg, N.Y., for $570 million to $610 million. On Sept. 24, U.S.B. said it hired Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. to "evaluate strategic opportunities." It had done so last year as well, but U.S.B ....
In Brief: Restraints on Fidelity Federal of Ind. Lifted.(Fidelity Federal Bancorp., Evansville, Indiana)(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004; ... Fidelity Federal Bancorp in Evansville, Ind., said its nearly 6-year-old supervisory agreement with the Office of Thrift Supervision had been ended. The $190 million-asset holding company of United Fidelity Bank entered the agreement in January 1999. It was coming off a year in ...
In Brief: HUD: Privacy Concerns Block Report.(Department of Housing and Urban Development asked to release report on Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight )(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004; ... Privacy laws preclude the public release of a report on how the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight handled its investigation of Fannie Mae, according to a letter from the report's authors. Rep. Barney Frank, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services ...
In Brief: OCC Names Gillespie Deputy Chief Counsel.(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)(Brief Article)
Nov 01, 2004; ... James F.E. Gillespie has been promoted to deputy chief counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the agency said Friday. Mr. Gillespie, who had served as assistant chief counsel since 1995, previously managed legal projects involving ...
Guidelines on Registering FHLB Equities.(Federal Housing Finance Board)
Nov 01, 2004; ... The Federal Housing Finance Board on Friday issued guidelines to help the 12 Home Loan banks register their equity securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission by August. The board will retain jurisdiction over the banks' capital structures and the combined financial ...
Merrill Hands Out 7 'Buys'; Commerce of NJ a Target?(Merrill Lynch and Company Inc.'s security rating for Commerce Bancorporation Inc. and other companies)
Nov 01, 2004; ... Merrill Lynch & Co. has reinstated research coverage for a number of midsize and small-cap bank stocks and suggested that Commerce Bancorp of Cherry Hill, N.J., might sell itself. "Our merger probability analysis suggests that the likelihood of Commerce's being sold is higher ...
Pivotal Day For Makeup Of Industry Regulators.(federal elections, 2004)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Crucial financial services regulatory matters are riding on today's elections. The two key questions -- who will be President and which party will control the Senate next year -- have implications for financial companies because several top agency jobs are vacant or expected to ...
Hanging On To Loan Reps After a Deal.(human resources management at mortgage businesses following acquisitions)(CitiMortgage Inc., Principal Residential Mortgage Inc.)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Buying a mortgage business always carries a risk: The best members of the sales force may bolt shortly after the ink dries. Acquirers can heighten that risk by centralizing the back-office staff, because doing so can alienate salespeople who prefer to have that support nearby. ...
Spinoff Plan For 2 Risky Loan Lines.(Republic First Bancorp Inc., First Bank of Delaware, Republic First Bank)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Republic First Bancorp Inc.'s plan to spin off its profitable but higher-risk First Bank of Delaware could make its lead bank, the $650 million-asset Republic First Bank, more attractive to investors and potential acquirers, analysts say. At first glance, the proposal, which the ...
Banks Start Bidding Up CD Rates.(certificates of deposit)(Industry Overview)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Despite three increases in the federal funds rate since the end of the second quarter, banking companies have not felt pressure to raise deposit rates. Consumers continued to pour money into bank accounts rather than the stock markets from July through September. Strong deposit ...
HUD Eases Affordable Housing Goals (Somewhat).(Department of Housing and Urban Development)
Nov 02, 2004; ... The Department of Housing and Urban Development issued easier affordable housing goals Monday for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than it had first proposed. But the goals are tougher than existing ones and may not have been lowered enough to reassure the government-sponsored ...
Citizens of N.C.'s In-Store Strategy Has Twist.(Citizens South Bank of North Carolina's strategy for reaching out to Hispanic-Americans)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Most banks aiming to reach Hispanics are doing things like making branches more colorful and posting signs in Spanish, but a North Carolina bank is taking a different approach: setting up shop in the small grocery stores known as bodegas. Last month the $500 million-asset ...
Alabama National Consolidating.(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Alabama National Bancorp plans to consolidate five of its bank subsidiaries into two to provide better service to customers in north-central Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. By February the $4.29 billion-asset Birmingham company would unite its two largest subsidiaries, the ...
Calif. Bill on ATM Fraud May Reappear in 2005.(prevention of automated teller machine fraud, California)
Nov 02, 2004; ... A California assemblyman may reintroduce next year a recently vetoed bill to require background checks on nonbank automated teller machine owners and distributors. Dan Reeves, the chief of staff for Assembly Majority Leader Dario Frommer, D-Glendale, said he probably would not ...
Big Apple Mulls The Possibility Of Official Card.(New York City)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants New York to have its own official credit card. On Oct. 22 the Mayor's Office of Contract Services sent banks and other financial institutions a request for information about their willingness to issue and promote purchasing cards for city employees, ...
In Brief: MassMutual Model To Spur 401(k) Use.(MassMutual Retirement Services)(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004 ... MassMutual Retirement Services in Springfield, Mass., announced a participant communications model Monday that is intended to help motivate employees to enroll in their companies' retirement plans and to allocate their investments. The system is supported by software that lets ...
In Brief: Wachovia Trust Unit Hires a Sales Chief.(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004 ... Wachovia's corporate and institutional trust division in Charlotte, N.C., said Monday that it has hired Richard Scott to be a managing director of sales for institutional trust. The banking company's institutional trust services group offers custody, securities lending, ...
In Brief: Scudder Broadens Pathway Fund Series.(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004 ... Scudder Investments in Chicago introduced Scudder Pathway Growth Plus Portfolio on Monday, the latest entry in the Pathway Series of fund-of-funds products that use asset allocation strategies. The growth-plus option seeks to diversify into a pool of Scudder mutual funds ...
In Brief: BlackRock to Run $470M for Century.(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004 ... Century Bank and Trust Co. in Boston has announced an investment management agreement with BlackRock Financial Management Inc. for Century's securities portfolio. New York-based BlackRock Financial is to get portfolio management authority for about $470 million of the Boston ...
Acordia's New Cross-Sell Chief to Write 'Chapter 2'.(Wells Fargo and Co.)
Nov 02, 2004; ... The new head of cross-selling at Acordia Inc. says that expanding this effort with parent Wells Fargo & Co. is a top priority for the Chicago insurance agency. Wells has made cross-selling its mantra, and though it makes sense in theory that customers would buy products from ...
In Brief: Fidelity National Gets OK on InterCept.
Nov 02, 2004; ... Fidelity National Financial Inc.'s pending acquisition of InterCept Inc. received antitrust clearance last week. InterCept, an Atlanta outsourcer of data processing services to community banks, said Friday that it had received early termination of the waiting periods required ...
In Brief: Wachovia Adds ARC To Lockbox Services.(Wachovia Corp., accounts receivable conversion)(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Wachovia Corp. of Charlotte has begun offering accounts receivable conversion capabilities to retail lockbox customers. The service, announced last week, allows treasury services customers to convert paper checks into automated clearing house payments at the lockbox, either ...
In Brief: PayPal Waives Some Web and Debit Fees.(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004; ... PayPal Inc. has waived some of its fees as an apology for a recent service blackout that affected both the Web payment service and its PayPal debit cards. The San Jose payments subsidiary of the online auction giant eBay Inc. said it will refund transaction fees incurred Oct ....
In Brief: N.J.'s Fundtech Has A Deal for CashTech.(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Fundtech Ltd. in Jersey City announced one acquisition deal and closed another last week. The payment software vendor said it is buying CashTech Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. for $3.3 million ($2.9 million immediately and $400,000 when the transaction closes, which is expected ...
In Brief: Sovereign Extends Fiserv Servicing Pact.(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Sovereign Bancorp Inc. of Philadelphia has extended by five years an agreement to use Fiserv Inc.'s MortgageServ system for loan servicing. The banking company, which has used MortgageServ for nine years, also decided this year to switch to Fiserv's UniFi Pro Mortgage eX loan ...
In Brief: Alliance-Leicester Signs for S1 Hosting.(Alliance and Leicester PLC, S1 Corp.)(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004; ... S1 Corp. of Atlanta will host the online business banking operations of the $91 billion-asset Alliance and Leicester PLC of Leicester, U.K. The company's Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank will replace several applications with S1's Corporate Banking International software ....
In Brief: Official Payments Extends Va. Pact.(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004; ... The Commonwealth of Virginia has extended by two years an agreement with Official Payments Corp. that lets Virginia businesses and individuals pay a variety of taxes and fees electronically. The subsidiary of Tier Technologies Inc. of Reston announced the extension last week ....
In Brief: Intrieve, Zions Have Clearing Agreement.(Intrieve Inc., Zions Bancorp.)(check clearing)(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Zions Bancorp. has agreed to clear digital check images for customers of the Cincinnati outsourcing provider Intrieve Inc. Technology provided by Zions' NetDeposit Inc. is used to convert checks into images. They are then transmitted to the Salt Lake City bank, which acts as a ...
Community Banks with Highest Return on Assets: In the second quarter of 2004. Dollars in thousands*.(Illustration)
Nov 02, 2004 ... (part 1 of 3) Rank <Pre> 1 International City Bank Long Beach, Calif. 2 Bryant State Bank S.D. 3 First Bank of Delaware Brandywine 4 First Bank of Northern Kentucky Fort Mitchell 5 Community State Bank Milbank, S.D. ...
In Brief: Freddie: Back to Timely Reporting by 2Q.(Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp)(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Freddie Mac released its unaudited third-quarter business results Monday and said it plans to return to timely reporting by the second quarter. The government-sponsored enterprise said that its mortgage portfolio grew at an annual rate of 7.1%, to nearly $1.5 trillion at the ...
In Brief: Riggs' Shares Fall After Analyst Downgrade.(Riggs National Corp.)(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004; ... Riggs National Corp.'s stock tumbled 4.12% Monday after Gerard Cassidy of Royal Bank of Canada's RBC Capital Markets downgraded it to "underperform" from "sector perform," citing the possibility that its sale to PNC Financial Services Group Inc. of Pittsburgh may get delayed or scrapped. ...
In Brief: ABN Mortgage Unit's Revenue Drops 92%.(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004; ... The U.S. mortgage business of ABN Amro Holding NV was hit by the slowdown in home lending in the third quarter. Revenue from ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc. fell 92% from a year earlier and 82% from the second quarter, to $33 million. Originations fell 71.3%, to $10.2 billion. ...
In Brief: BancWest Buys Community First and USDB.(Brief Article)
Nov 02, 2004; ... BancWest Corp. of Honolulu, which is owned by BNP Paribas, said Monday that it had completed its purchase of Community First Bankshares Inc. of Fargo, N.D., and USDB Bancorp in Stockton, Calif. BancWest said it would merge Community First's branches into Bank of the ...
Correction.(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
Nov 02, 2004 ... In Friday's paper, a page 16 story reversed the trend in Accredited Home Lenders' 2004 earnings guidance. It raised the low end of its forecast range last ...
Wachovia Cuts Not Seen Providing a Profit Boost.
Nov 02, 2004; ... Wachovia Corp. executives have tantalized investors with talk of cutting $600 million to $1 billion of expenses over the next few years, but one analyst warned Monday that the savings may not goose earnings. Mike Mayo of Prudential Equity Group wrote in a research note that the ...
AmSouth Selling Card Business to MBNA.
Nov 02, 2004; ... AmSouth Bancorp on Monday agreed to sell its $550 million credit card portfolio to MBNA Corp., saying it lacks the size to compete in the business without "substantial" new investment. The Birmingham, Ala., company did not reveal the price but said it expects a pretax gain of ...
What Spitzer Might Target At Banks.(Eliot Spitzer)
Nov 03, 2004; ... The big brains of the banking industry are trying to anticipate Eliot Spitzer's next step to avoid getting caught underfoot. The New York attorney general has gone after brokers, the mutual fund industry, and now insurers. Can commercial banking be far behind? Mr ....
B of A Gaining Wiggle Room for Deal.(Bank of America)
Nov 03, 2004; ... Bank of America Corp. is sinking below the 10% cap on nationwide deposit market share, raising the possibility that the largest U.S. consumer bank might have room for another acquisition. Banking laws prohibit an institution from amassing more than one-tenth of the nation's ...
Visa Makes Big Changes To Its Debit Interchange.(Company Profile)
Nov 03, 2004; ... Visa U.S.A. Inc. is overhauling its interchange fees for PIN and signature debit transactions to make pricing more consistent across the two categories and to better compete with rival network operators. Beginning in April, fees for retail and supermarket purchases processed on ...
Executive Changes.(Industry Overview)
Nov 03, 2004; ... MIDWEST Aon Corp. of Chicago has hired Craig A. Streem as its head of investor relations. Mr. Streem, who has also been named a vice president, was the vice president of corporate relations and communications at Household International Inc. (The HSBC Holdings PLC ...
In Brief: Broker-Dealer Rule Postponed by SEC.(Brief Article)
Nov 03, 2004; ... The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday that it had postponed until next year a controversial rule that would determine which broker-dealer activities may be performed by banks and which must be conducted by SEC-regulated affiliates. The rule, known as Regulation B, ...
In Brief: FDIC Passes Review Of ILC Supervision.(Brief Article)
Nov 03, 2004; ... The inspector general of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has completed a review of the FDIC's supervision of industrial loan companies and found no serious problems. The inspector general said in a report issued Tuesday that repeated questions by Congress about the risks ...
In Brief: President Signs Student Loan Bill.(Brief Article)
Nov 03, 2004; ... President Bush has signed legislation that temporarily eliminates a controversial subsidy for certain nonbanks that make student loans. The law replaces the 9.5% interest rate guarantee for lenders that finance education loans with tax-exempt bonds with an adjustable rate set by ...