WASHINGTON
Will Premium Stay At Zero? Why Not?
How long can bank deposit insurance premiums stay this low? "There really are no estimates," says Roger Watson, the FDIC's director of research and statistics. "But on the other hand, until you start to see problems that are not isolated, you're not going to see an increase."
November 27
18565
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan acknowledged that problems at Daiwa Bank's U.S. branch might have been uncovered earlier if examiners had been more diligent.
November 28
18773
Former thrift executive William A. Longbrake is the man responsible for making sure the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. runs more like a business and less like the feudal kingdom he says it has resembled in years past.
November 28
18762
The Supreme Court appeared poised to give the federal courts jurisdiction over interbank check-clearing disputes.
November 29
18833
The Senate Banking Committee's regulatory relief bill could be sent to the Senate floor for a vote in early December, industry sources said. The package would provide banks with reduced paperwork requirements, protection from environmental liability and allow small institutions to undergo less frequent examinations and other regulatory breaks.
December 1
18914
REGIONAL BANKING
The Atlanta Fed Promotes from Within
The Atlanta Fed said its chief operating officer, Jack Guynn, will succeed Robert P. Forrestal as president next year. The operations expert would become a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee in 1997, but he gave few clues as to how he would approach monetary policy issues or interest rates.
November 28
18772
First Bank System is under fire from Minnesota. "There are going to be severe (job) cuts here" if the Minneapolis bank buys California's First Interstate, said Commerce Commissioner James Ulland. "They are going to move the headquarters if the deal goes through. ... They aren't being honest with Minnesotans."
November 27
18593
John Tugwell, head of National Westminster's U.S. operation, told employees "there is no news to report" about the British parent's attempt to sell it. But sources say failure to find a buyer at the $4 billion asking price has driven executives to consider selling the bank piecemeal.
November 29
18799
Without refunds of FDIC premiums, one-third of the biggest U.S. banks would have had flat or lower earnings in the third quarter.
November 30
18860
Keycorp has tapped its top Florida executive, with a record of turning banks around and developing them, to oversee the burgeoning Rocky Mountains market.
December 1
18916
COMMUNITY BANKING
Small-Bank Start-Ups Making a Comeback
Suddenly there's a boom in community bank start-ups. Charter applications and actual openings this year total 187 so far. Only 50 start- up charters were granted all of last year.
December 1
18907
Federal regulators have eased restraints on a New York-area thrift even though a fifth of its assets are nonperforming.
November 28
18758
Here's a new twist on the merger-of-equals concept: a CEO of equals. In Philadelphia, the presidents of Execufirst Bancorp and Republic Bancorp. have agreed to serve as co-CEOs of the post-merger successor company.
November 30
18847
$3 billion First Midwest Bancorp in Illinois has beefed up its defenses against hostile takeover bids - but says it didn't have a particular one in mind.
November 29
18810
The Farm Financial Standards Council wants more farmers and lenders to adopt its reporting guidelines.
November 27
18582
COMPLIANCE
Thinking Big Pays Off For Price Waterhouse
From its start eight years ago, the regulatory advisory group at Price Waterhouse has focused on giant banks. Now it has mammoth bank clients around the world, including eight of North America's top 10.
November 30
18865
Nearly a year after being acquired, hard-sell Bankers Systems, the compliance software firm, has undergone an attitude adjustment. "Our investors have a very strong commitment to technology," an official says. "They carry that through by devoting a substantial amount of money to the development of products.
November 30
18875
The government isn't doing enough to keep information in suspicious- transaction reports safe from computer hackers, the IBAA charges.
November 30
18874
CREDIT UNIONS
Top Job at CUNA? He's Not Interested
Ever since Ralph Swoboda was ousted last month as president of the Credit Union National Association, David L. Chatfield has been considered a possible successor. But the president of the California Credit Union League says he doesn't want the job.
November 27
18577
Regulator-bashing is a popular sport at trade conferences, but the complaints at the California Credit Union League's confab about NCUA chairman Norman D'Amours at times went beyond ordinary.
November 27
18576
U.S. Central Credit Union, the industry's primary liquidity facility, has hired the president of a National Cooperative Bank subsidiary as chief executive.
November 27
18583
Two ex-employees of San Clemente Financial Group, a California brokerage under federal investigation because of complaints from some of its credit union clients, have accused it of racketeering. They say there were asked to make illegal trades and sales and to train unfit staff.
November 27
18585
CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs
MasterCard Will Drop Cobranding Incentives
MasterCard announced it will discontinue at yearend the financial incentives it offered to banks that chose its brand in cooperation with nonbank partners. It said its money will be better spent on marketing initiatives and other benefits to member banks.
November 28
18775
Visa has lifted its ban on ATM surcharges, a subject of enduring controversy. As of April 1, owners of ATMs in Visa's Plus network will be free to charge cardholders a direct-transaction fee, over and above any bank-to-bank interchange costs or those that appear on the customer's account statement. Smaller banks supported the ban.
November 27
18594
When Verifone forms a division, technology trendwatchers take notice. In November it formed one to promote transaction and information services for screen telephones, cable television boxes, and wireless communications equipment.
November 30
18840
The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that late fees charged by out of state banks before March 1995 were illegal. The ruling runs contrary to a similar case in California, setting the stage for a Supreme Court showdown.
December 1
18902
MasterCard and American Express have joined forces to ensure that smart cards from any issuer will be accepted by a single terminal at the point of sale.
December 1
18903
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
Milestone Class Action On Fund Sales Practices
A federal district court in California has granted class action status to a lawsuit alleging that Great Western Financial improperly induced customers to switch from insured deposits to mutual funds.
November 29
18835
Barbara Colvin, head of First Union's Evergreen Funds, discussed plans for mutual funds the North Carolina bank would get with the acquisition of First Fidelity in New Jersey. Most portfolios would be absorbed into Evergreen's.
November 28
18767
Bank brokerage units, which languished during last year's dismal bond and stock markets, have sprung back. Brokerage chiefs say a surge since April in sales of equity-based mutual funds helped banks generate fee-based profits.
December 1
18917
Imitating nonbank rivals, more banks are offering their small-business customers checking accounts that sweep excess cash into money market mutual funds. The idea is to strengthen ties with small businesses, stem an outflow of deposits, and boost assets of proprietary money market funds.
November 27
18597
SunAmerica's deal to buy Ford's life insurance unit is part of a push to become a force in selling annuities through banks.
November 29
18816
MORTGAGES
Happy Days Ahead For Refi Business?
The mortgage industry, which has been enjoying a boomlet of refinancings in recent months, may soon be enjoying a full-blown boom. The Mortgage Bankers Association of America said its index of applications to refinance home loans stood at about 600 in late November, the highest level since the boom year of 1993.
November 28
18766
Fleet Mortgage Group, long a dinosaur in mortgage technology, is investing $40 million on automation in an attempt to overtake the competition.
December 1
18908
Fannie Mae is parting company with Freddie Mac on the maximum size of loans it will buy. Fannie said it would keep the ceiling at $203,150 next year, even though an index of home prices employed to set it has climbed 2%. Freddie plans to follow the index to $207,000.
November 30
18881
Companies that specialize in mortgage loans with lower credit quality are forming a trade association - a sign that the once borderline business is coming of age. Veteran subprime lenders say their interests diverge from those of conventional mortgage companies with broad product lines.
November 29
18819
The Fed has been studying how shopping for a home and a mortgage can go awry. It was searching for "points where the possibility of discrimination could creep in," an official said.
December 1
18990
TECHNOLOGY
BankAmerica Renews M&I Processing Pact
BankAmerica has agreed to continue outsourcing its non-California retail operations to M&I Data Services for five more years.
November 27
18590
In the war of words over the fate of First Interstate, some of the fiercest battles are taking place in the data processing and operations areas.
November 28
18757
Though ownership of Meca Software has widened, opinions are mixed on its chance of success in the tough home banking business.
November 29
18823
Checkfree has dropped its patent infringement lawsuit against payment- processing rival Intuit.
November 30
18864
W. Kirk Domingos 3d, head of technology at rebounding Hibernia in New Orleans, has presided over a surge in systems spending. His bank is a prime takeover candidate, but "we want to make sure that whatever happens, we are in the position of offering the services that our customers need," he says.
December 1
18886
FINANCE
Time of Record Profits For Wall Street Firms
Riding the same wave that recently pushed the Dow past 5,000, the securities industry enjoyed record revenue and earnings in the third quarter. Pretax profits equaled those of the whole first half.
November 27
18598
Moody's sent another signal that it values size, upgrading the debt of merger partners Chemical and Chase Manhattan and placing BankAmerica on review for a possible boost.
November 29
18828
Bankers Trust shares rose sharply after the bank convinced analysts that its transition to new leadership would entail no major strategic changes - and that the dividend is probably safe.
November 30
18883
Keycorp closed the first securitization of subprime automobile loans generated by its new Auto-Finance group.
November 30
18882
