Straight Talk
It's all well and good for big banks to offer equal benefits and diversity training — the types of policies that have earned them accolades from gay rights group. But if banks really want to create an inclusive work environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered employees, they need to start talking about the restroom.
That was one humorous-sounding but serious takeaway from Out on the Street, the first-ever Wall Street summit on LGBT issues, where panelists — LGBT executives and their "straight allies" in equally high-ranking jobs — talked less about the official human resources handbook than about the day-to-day interactions that have occurred as a result of their sexual orientation.
Sonelius Kendrick-Smith, a senior portfolio manager for Deutsche Bank's institutional asset management business, struck a chord with the audience when he talked about the discomfort he felt in the men's room, where male colleagues from the trading floor would sometimes contort themselves in obvious ways so as to shield their bodies below the belt buckle from what they presumed would be prying eyes.
"Hey, unless you deal with this [issue], you are not helping people to deal with the fears of coming out," or with the feelings of straight workers whose colleagues have come out to them, said Brian McNaught, a diversity consultant who has worked with big banks and other large companies on gay-sensitivity training.
Out on the Street was organized by Todd Sears, a former Merrill Lynch & Co. executive who now does consulting work, in collaboration with six big Wall Street banks.
Take It to the Court
Former NBA player Cory Alexander is challenging Bank of America Corp. to a little one-on-one. This contest, though, is not being played out on the court, but in.
A lawsuit Alexander filed in March in Richmond Circuit Court accuses B of A and two of its employees of "grossly negligent" wealth management practices, specifically concerning a commercial property he invested in and a line of credit he had with the bank.
According to the suit, Alexander, 37, was a client of U.S. Trust, B of A's private wealth management division, from July 2003 to October 2009. At the start of his relationship with the bank, Alexander "was financially stable and a multimillionaire," the claim states.
But instead of growing his financial portfolio as promised, "defendants deviated from their fiduciary and contractual obligations and the applicable care standard in that they purposefully failed to disclose material information, provided grossly substandard services and advice and engaged in a pattern of self-dealing," the complaint says.
Alexander is seeking $15 million in compensatory damages, attorney's fees, prejudgment interest, and punitive damages from each defendant in the amount of $350,000.
In an email, B of A spokeswoman Shirley Norton said the bank believes "the lawsuit is without merit and will vigorously defend against the allegations."
Alexander isn't the only ex-basketball player to tussle with his wealth management advisers. Horace Grant won $1.46 billion in arbitration from Morgan Keegan & Co., a unit of Regions Financial Corp., in 2009. The dispute involved mortgage-related investments that tanked during the crisis.
A Nod to Motor City
In an
He invoked the words of Howard J. Stoddard, the founder of Michigan National Bank, B of A's predecessor in Detroit.
" 'The average man is honest. When you get a debt within the capacity of a man to pay, it is a sound debt,' " Moynihan wrote.
The piece coincided with the bank's announcement that it would be opening two customer assistance centers in Detroit to help clients struggling with mortgage and other debt, as well as partnering with the city in an initiative to help law enforcement officers find affordable housing. B of A agreed to donate and refurbish 10 vacant homes for that program.
Additionally, B of A plans to help the city identify as many as 100 vacant properties for demolition and donate the land for green space or redevelopment.
More Friending
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is upping the ante in its online charitable giving program.
The bank said Thursday that it would donate an additional $25 million over a two-year period to its Chase Community Giving initiative, which lets consumers elect charities to receive grants through a Facebook site.
Since the program's establishment in 2009, JPMorgan Chase has donated $10 million to 300 local charities. More than 2.4 million "fans" and 500,000 charities are registered on the program's Facebook page.
The next contest period begins Monday and will focus on charities with annual operating expenses between $1 million and $10 million. The contest period after that will address charities with annual operating expenses of $1 million or less, the bank said.
Key to Success?
Renowned corporate consultant Cindy Solomon will be the main speaker at a series of conferences for female business owners that KeyCorp is sponsoring from May through November.
Solomon, president of Solomon & Associates Inc., writes books and advises companies on strengthening customer relationships. Her clients have included General Motors Corp. and Microsoft Corp.
Solomon will offer advice on how to move past "the fear of risk and failure" at KeyCorp's annual Key4Women conference series designed to "empower women in business," Key said in a press release.
The first of the 14-city events is scheduled for May 5 in Cleveland, KeyCorp's hometown. After that, there's a conference every week or two in Oregon, Indiana, Florida, New York, Washington, Alaska, Vermont and Maine, where the series ends in Portland on Nov. 4.
Key4Women is a program Key started in 2005 to help women business owners network and raise capital. Through it, KeyCorp says it has made $3 billion of loans to women-owned businesses since 2005. It hopes to lend another $3 billion by 2012.
