To put a spotlight on community banks, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has created a special unit run by a veteran examiner of smaller banks.
Stuart A. Scherer, who has been with the OCC since 1975, takes his post as director of Community Bank Activities at the end of the month. Mr. Scherer's appointment comes as the agency is considering changing rules affecting community banks, including those on stock interests and lending limits.
"The vast majority of the banks we regulate are community banks," Comptroller John D. Hawke Jr. said. "I want the industry to know and appreciate that we recognize their special needs."
AT&T Family Federal Credit Union of Winston-Salem, N.C., is changing its name to Truliant. That's tru-LYE-ent, a combination of "true" and "reliant."
Marc Schaefer, the president and chief executive officer of the $690 million-asset nonprofit, said the new name "reflects the growing diversity of membership." Founded in 1952 to serve the employees of Western Electric, AT&T Family now serves 170,000 employees of nearly 400 companies. The name change is also a nagging reminder of the banking industry's failure to rein in credit union growth.
In February 1998 the Supreme Court ruled that the government violated the law by allowing AT&T Family to accept members from dozens of unrelated companies. Six months later, President Clinton signed legislation effectively reversing that ruling. Since January, AT&T has added 39 firms to its membership.
Lippincott & Margulies of New York, which has helped Bank of America and other financial service companies develop their brands, came up with AT&T's new name.
"Truliant" takes effect Aug. 16.
Capital and risk management guru John Mingo has left the Federal Reserve Board to start a consulting firm, Mingo & Co.
Asked who would make up the "& Co.," Mr. Mingo said, "It's just me. I intend to have very few" clients "and focus very narrowly."
Mr. Mingo served two stints at the Fed, first in the 1970s and then in the 1990s. In between, he was a managing director for BEI Golembe Inc. and a founding partner of the Potomac Financial Group. As a consultant, Mr. Mingo helped troubled banks restructure and manage their capital.
At the new firm, Mr. Mingo envisions helping banks manage risks. Most of his duties as a senior adviser in the Fed's research and statistics division are being assumed by David Jones. Mr. Mingo's Web site, www.johnmingo.com., was slated to be up and running this weekend.
This Washington person will be a contestant on "Jeopardy." Who is Ellen Lamb, a senior vice president at the Conference of State Bank Supervisors?
Though the spokeswoman talks regularly to print journalists, her job has never landed her on the air. "Banking regulation doesn't lend itself to TV unless you're having a problem. We haven't had a problem for eight years," she said.
As luck would have it, banking did not pop up as a category on the taped program. Instead, Ms. Lamb said she had to contend with "Top 10 Country Music Hits," "Continents by Volcano," and "Bugs."
Despite the enthusiasm of lawyers, lobbyists, and others invited to a party on Friday to watch the show, Ms. Lamb said, "I have not been able to shake the inner suspicion that this is a geeky thing to do."
Citing an agreement with the show's producers, Ms. Lamb declined to comment when asked whether she won.
