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Efforts to track the money flow of criminals – in place before Sept. 11 — were almost totally revamped in the years following the attacks.
September 9 -
From the perspective of New York City's community bankers, 9/11 bred a new era of caution and governmental oversight that will not go away anytime soon.
September 9 -
As the United States commemorates the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack, the financial community, among many others, is taking time to reflect on those lost. We should also remember how difficult it must be for their surviving families.
September 8 -
It was impossible to estimate the loss of life Tuesday when two planes crashed into the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center. But when those giant buildings crumbled to the ground, it's likely many people in the financial services business were killed.
September 12 -
Thomas OBrien, the president of Atlantic Bank of New York, watched the World Trade Centers twin towers collapse from the banks headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. But most of his friends and family, as well as the general public, assumed that he and other Atlantic Bank employees had met their fate on Tower Twos top floor.
September 17 -
Jimmy Dunne talks about right-hand issues and left-hand issues. And when he switches back and forth between those two classes of concern his tone and demeanor change.
September 20 -
The devastating loss of lives in the attack on the World Trade Center robbed many community bankers of their closest relationships with the investment community, relationships in which boutique firms like Sandler ONeill & Partners LP and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. often played a key role.
September 28 -
We have waded deep into an awkward stage of the mourning process.
September 11
New York bankers have indelible memories where they were and what they were doing during the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Whether working in a high rise down the street from the World Trade Center or attending a convention in the Rockies, each remembers how events of that day have shaped his life and world. Following are some of their reflections.
Louis J. Cappelli
Chairman and CEO, Sterling Bancorp New York
A big post-9/11 challenge for Sterling came in 2004 when the company leased space at 42 Broadway a few blocks from the World Trade Center site and found it hard to convince employees it was safe to move back downtown. "There was a long period of time when we were struck by the tragedy of it. We are right across from St. Patrick's Cathedral and [in 2001] there were three or four funeral masses a day. And they had this situation where they [employees] were dealing with the grief of it."
Kevin Cummings
President and CEO, Investors Bancorp Short Hills, N.J.
Cummings was a KPMG consultant working for a client across the street from the World Trade Center. "I was supposed to be [at work] for a 9 a.m. meeting, but a funny thing happened. My shower door was off its hinges and I had to fix it. I ended up taking all my kids to school that day and was on the phone with my secretary when the second plane hit. … I think for a time 9/11 taught us that sometimes you have to lead with your heart. Maybe we've moved away from that again, but for a time there was more to business than getting the last 10 basis points on a transaction."
John G. Duffy
Chairman and CEO, KBW New York
Duffy was co-CEO of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, which lost more than a third of its New York employees, including Duffy's son Christopher. "In most cases, when you see something that's a challenge you have some sense in knowing how to tackle it. Rebuilding after 9/11, there was no text book. When you go through something like that, it gives you a level of confidence in terms of tackling anything. … It has a very definite and dramatic impact on your philosophy about life, especially if you have somebody close to you die and you lose that many people."
Joseph R. Ficalora
President and CEO, New York Community Bancorp, Westbury, N.Y.
Ficalora was among a group of New York community bankers in Colorado for an annual convention. "The first plane was tragic, but the second plane was horrifying. … I went back [to New York] on a bus that was usually used to take people skiing. As we drove across the country, there were signs hanging over the roads across the country that read 'We are with you.' "
Edward Grebow
CEO, Amalgamated BankNew York
As president of the Metropolitan Television Alliance, Grebow was responsible for overseeing the rebuilding process for New York broadcasters and emergency service providers that had shared equipment on the roof of the World Trade Center. "I worked for JPMorgan for 13 years on Wall Street, so my first thoughts were about the buildings and the lunches I had at Windows on the World [at the top of the north tower]. I had a lot of friends and colleagues who worked at the World Trade Center. Two of them died, and it was a very sad time for me personally."
Thomas L. Hoy
Chairman, president and CEO, Arrow Financial, Glens Falls, N.Y.
Around the time that the first plane hit, Hoy was at the Independent Bankers Association of New York State's annual convention in Lake Placid, where he was set to become the group's president. "Obviously we canceled the rest of the meeting and many of us started home. The interesting thing was there were some people at that meeting who might have been at that tower had they not been at the meeting. … I can remember the ride back with some of my senior officers and hearing the news on the radio. There was absolutely dead silence in the car."
Thomas M. O'Brien
President and CEO, State Bancorp, Jericho, N.Y.
Ten years ago, O'Brien was president of Atlantic Bank, which was in the process of moving out of the south tower to a new office in Midtown Manhattan. The move, which was originally planned for October, proceeded ahead of schedule and most employees had already relocated. O'Brien was scheduled to have a meeting in the south tower around 10 a.m. "I think of all the people that I rode with in the elevators, so many nameless, faceless. I've lost God knows how many friends. I can't even count any more. … Even after 10 years, I can't watch it on television or go down to lower Manhattan."
Michael P. Smith
President and CEO, New York Bankers Association
Smith had a meeting scheduled with then Sen. Hillary Clinton, and he was on his way to the airport. "Obviously the airport was closed and I was supposed to come down from upstate New York. I was about ready to leave and I heard it on the news, but the initial outbreak was a single plane crashed. A lot of people just assumed it was an accident. … We were in touch with our members. Everything goes into a different mode at that time and we were doing whatever we could do to be supportive."
