New York State of Mind
Whither the state charter system?
Richard Neiman, the superintendent of banks for New York, largely supports the Obama administration's proposals for regulatory reform — except for the parts that he worries will prove devastating to the state banking system.
Testifying this week before the New York Assembly Committee on Banks, Neiman said that a plan to subject state-chartered banks to a new examination fee from the Federal Reserve or Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. "would create strong incentives for state banks to change charter to avoid paying double fees."
Neiman said he would continue to work with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors to urge Congress to drop the idea of the assessment.
"The president's plan asserts that it is supportive of dual banking, but one element — the imposition of federal examination fees on state banks — would have serious unintended consequences," he said.
Charter conversions also could result from the consolidation of exam authority at the federal level, said Neiman, who suggested that having a new federal regulator for all state banks with deposit insurance could ultimately lead to an industry with less diversity and fewer regulatory checks and balances.
One Man's Trash …
As JPMorgan Chase & Co. begins to wipe the Washington Mutual name from the face of the financial business, the WM ticker symbol has a new lease on life.
The other company with a W and an M in its name?
Waste Management Inc. of course.
The trash company started trading under Wamu's old WM symbol on the New York Stock Exchange in August.
A Connected Fellow
David Boyer Jr., 58, has joined BB&T Corp.'s board.
Boyer is a co-founder and CEO of GlobalWatch Technologies Inc., a northern Virginia company that provides information risk management and software engineering services to private companies and the federal government.
Boyer also sits on Virginia's Treasury Board, which oversees the investment of state funds and financing for state buildings.
Quick Exit
Rohit D'Souza, hired last year to build an investment bank at the hedge fund manager Citadel Investment Group LLC, is leaving Citadel, spokeswoman Devon Spurgeon said.
D'Souza, a former Merrill Lynch & Co. executive, was hired last October to help the company take market share in investment banking and trading from larger banks.
Patrik Edsparr, currently the president of Citadel Europe, will succeed D'Souza.
