WASHINGTON - (03/22/06) A little lobbying muscle helpedpay off big for Community CU during last years fight overits conversion to mutual savings bank. The Plano, Texas,institution, now known as Viewpoint Bank, paid Washingtonsuper-lobbyist Jim Butera $60,000 for what amounted to six weekswork last summer to help cultivate support in Congress for itsconfrontation with NCUA, according to disclosures with the Senatelobbying office. Butera, who has represented many of the biggestfinancial entities before Congress, including the Federal Home LoanBanks, thrift giant Charter One and even failed hedge fund LongTerm Capital Management, was hired recently to represent DFCUFinancial, the Dearborn, Mich., credit union giant converting tobank. OmniAmerican CU, the other Texas credit union giant thatconverted to bank last year, reported a similar lobbying bill withBracewell & Giuliani.
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Synovus Financial demonstrated at an industry conference how it is using Microsoft's Copilot to help its staff address customers' concerns.
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The U.S. arm of Spanish banking giant Santander has hired Swati Bhatia to oversee retail banking and its digital transformation efforts. Bhatia joins at "an inflection point" for the company, which aims to be "a digital bank with branches," CEO Tim Wennes said.
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Mariya Rosberg is named Americas head of banking and financial services at Marsh McLennan's Oliver Wyman unit; startup ZayZoon raised $15 million in a new funding round; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.
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Last year, the Raleigh, N.C.-based Integrated called off a deal to sell itself to MVB Financial after bank stocks took a hit in the aftermath of the regional bank failures. Capital hopes to expand its government-guaranteed lending with the transaction.
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Once a prominent figure spurring financial institutions to engage in cryptocurrency, Bankman-Fried's downslide began with the collapse of the digital asset exchange FTX in late 2022 and hit rock bottom with his sentencing to 25 years in prison.
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But the 30-year fixed rate mortgage is still near 7%, and that remains the overhang on the housing market, Freddie Mac said.
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