Dan-E

¶4 November, 2009

Bank of Scotland could be forced to sell Citizens

The Royal Bank of Scotland, which nearly collapsed during last year’s financial panic, is trying to avoid a possible sale of U.S. banking arm Citizens Financial Group, according to Reuters news service.

http://bit.ly/2BIay1

RBS fights to keep US retail bank Citizens (telegraph.co.uk)
2 British banks in major shake-up (money.cnn.com)

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¶27 June, 2009

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Forget Lotto, just bank at Westpac NZ for a jackpot

AUCKLAND: THE Westpac bank in New Zealand, which last month mistakenly transferred $NZ10 million ($8.06 million) into the account of a man who is still on the run, has been involved in another big-figure error.

The administration manager at computer firm Elite Business Systems, Graeme Richer, couldn’t believe his eyes when he received a Westpac fax last week telling him $NZ4.3 million had been transferred into the firm’s account by a client paying a bill. But the sum owed was just $NZ43,000. Mr Richer said the correct amount was transferred into the firm’s bank account.

“We were hopeful, almost had our tickets booked to fly out to Hong Kong,” he told The Waikato Times newspaper.

A Westpac spokesman, Craig Dowling, said the mistake was “a typing error” on the fax. He said the most important thing was that the correct amount was transferred and that controls, including a verification process, were in place to ensure accuracy.

Last month, Rotorua couple Leo Gao and Kara Hurring skipped the country for Hong Kong after Westpac mistakenly put $NZ10 million into Mr Gao’s account.

Mr Gao had asked for a $NZ100,000 overdraft. Westpac said most of the money had been recovered but $NZ3.8 million was still outstanding.

Forget Lotto, just bank at Westpac NZ for a jackpot

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¶26 June, 2009

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Bank Failure Friday

crazynutjob:

It looks like 4 banks were added to the FDIC Failed Bank List today:

Metro Pacific Bank, Irvine, CA - Total deposits of $73 million and an estimated cost to the FDIC fund of $29 million.

Horizon Bank, Pine City, MN - Total deposits of $69.4 million and an estimated cost to the FDIC fund of $33.5 million. However, the acquiring institution, Stearns Bank, entered into a loss sharing agreement with the FDIC on $65.1 million of Horizon’s assets. There’s a little less certainty on this loss estimate.

Neighborhood Community Bank, Newnan, GA - Total deposits of $191.3 million and an estimated cost to the FDIC fund of $66.7 million. Another loss share agreement on $178.5 million of Neighborhood Community Bank’s assets.

Community Bank of West Georgia, Villa Rica, GA - Total deposits of $182.5 million and an estimated cost to the FDIC fund of $85 million. The bank was shut down, and there are an estimated $1.1 million in deposits that exceeded the insurance limits. For the rest, the checks are in the mail (well, soon).

That makes 44 failures this year. Georgia is at 9 and California is at 5 with this week’s additions. We’re trying to catch up, Georgia, but you’re pulling ahead. For now. Remember, a Santa Barbara bank has had to suspend the dividend payments on their TARP money. We’re just warming up.

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※26 June, 2009

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BofA Merrill Lynch Sees Mexican Private MBS Issuance In 2H '09

MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)—Mexico’s mortgage-backed securities market will likely see activity among private-sector issuers following the successful sale earlier this week of 3.5 billion pesos ($264.4 million) in mortgage bonds by a government housing fund, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch acted as joint bookrunner and structuring agent for federal employee housing fund Fovissste’s first-ever issuance of mortgage bonds Thursday.

“We definitely see it as a positive sign that the market was receptive of a new issuer,” said Reggie de Villiers, the bank’s head of Latin American securitization. “I think what this does is it probably opens the door more for bank issuances.”

Government and private-sector lenders have turned to the securitization market to finance their mortgage operations in recent years.

Infonavit, Mexico’s No. 1 home lender and its biggest issuer of mortgage-backed securities, has sold MXN37.49 billion of its mortgage bonds, called Cedevis, in 19 placements since it first went to market in 2004.

Banks and home-finance companies have issued just over MXN57 billion in mortgage-backed securities in 46 issuances since December 2003, according to data from federal development bank Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal, or SHF.

Lenders were able to issue mortgage bonds last year even as the global financial crisis roiled markets, with Infonavit selling MXN14.44 billion in Cedevis, and banks and home-finance companies selling MXN15.96 billion in mortgage-backed securities.

So far this year, only Infonavit and Fovissste have gone to market. Infonavit has budgeted MXN10 billion of Cedevis in 2009, while SHF sees private-sector lenders, mainly banks, issuing about MXN16 billion in mortgage bonds.

De Villiers expects housing funds to be active issuers during the second half of 2009, with banks also likely to go to market.

The outlook for home-finance companies, which rely heavily on mortgage bonds for funding because of regulations prohibiting them from collecting deposits, is less clear given investor risk aversion to nonbank lenders.

Two of Mexico’s largest home-finance companies, Metrofinanciera SA and Credito y Casa SA, have defaulted on debt in recent months amid rising loan losses and difficulty in refinancing their short-term liabilities.

“Hopefully, somewhere down the road, [home finance companies] will be able to return to the market, but I still think we are a ways away from that,” De Villiers said.

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※26 June, 2009

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SmartyPig Deposits Up 10-Fold with High-Rate Strategy

thebanks:

Maintaining one of the highest rates in the country, currently 2.75% (see note 1), SmartyPig’s deposits have grown ten-fold since January (see chart 1, below). And the company…

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Bank
Samrtypig

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¶19 June, 2009

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Bank Failure Friday

crazynutjob:

It has turned out to be a Friday true to form, and three banks have been added to the FDIC Failed Bank List:

First National Bank of Anthony, Anthony, KS — Total deposits of $142.5 million and an estimated hit to the FDIC fund of $32.2 million.

Cooperative Bank, Wilmington, NC — Total deposits of approximately $774 million and an estimated cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund of $217 million.

Southern Community Bank Fayetteville, GA — Total deposits of approximately $307 million and an estimated cost to the FDIC fund of $114 million.

All three banks had deposits acquired by other banks (this is the happiest option for depositors). Looks like a hat trick tonight.

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¶28 May, 2009

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Some Quirky Ways Banks Attract New Customers

Hanmi Bank Will Give You a Bag of Rice

To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Hanmi is giving away a free checkbook (valued at $75), a premium coffee mug and a bag of rice (while supplies last) if you open a regular checking account (personal or business) by 6/30. To learn more please click here.

PlainsCapital Bank Will Connect You With a 1GB Flash Drive

To promote their eGreen Checking, PCBank is offering a 1GB flash drive if you open an account online. Requirements include a $50 minimum deposit, the use of eStatements, and a write-up of 5 checks a month. To learn more click here.

Riverside Bank Will Stick a Bumper Sticker

Love your bank? Well, Riverside wants you to prove it by placing a “Riverside Loves Me” or “Riverside Loves My Business” bumper sticker on your car. By participating in this contest, your license plate number may be one of the five selected to win $100. Winners are chosen weekly. To learn more click here.

Redneck Bank

Last but not least, we have to give the award for most creative bank branding to Redneck Bank. “Redneck Bank is here for you with experience and good old-fashioned service.” We at My Bank Tracker, give credit to their ability as forward-thinking bankers in the field of lifestyle bank branding. To visit the site for “Redneck Rewards” click here.

Some Quirky Ways Banks Attract New Customers | Bank News, Bank Deals, My Bank Tracker

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†18 April, 2009

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Stock offering for new “Green” bank. e3bank

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¶26 March, 2009

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Swiss banks ban top executive travel

Switzerland’s private banks are banning top executives from travelling abroad on fears they will be detained

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/df9ce572-1a36-11de-9f91-0000779fd2ac.html

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†23 March, 2009

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What a beauty!

However, Investors should sell bank stocks after they rallied 12 percent today because the Treasury Department’s plan to buy toxic assets won’t stop profits from dropping, Bank of America Corp.’s Richard Bernstein said.

Removing devalued loans and securities from banks’ balance sheets is a short-term solution that will delay the problem’s ultimate solution, which is bank takeovers, Bernstein said. The government won’t be able to inflate the prices banks receive for selling bad assets indefinitely, he added.

“The history of bubbles shows quite well that financial sector consolidation is inevitable,” Bernstein, Bank of America’s chief investment strategist, wrote in a research note. “Financial stocks will be attractive when the government tries to speed up that inevitable process. However, to the contrary, the government continues to attempt to stymie that inevitable consolidation.”

-Bloomberg.com

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†21 March, 2009

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In 2005, Wal-Mart (WMT) applied to the FDIC for an industrial loan bank license that would be located in Utah and allow the company to forgo the fees it pays to other banks to process credit and debit card charges. Wal-Mart contended, at the time, it had no intentions of expanding into customer-facing banking operations, yet many regional banks vehemently protested the plan; believing that Wal-Mart would eventually move into other facets of banking.

Bankers Oppose Wal-Mart as Rival [NY Times]

A coalition has formed to keep Wal-Mart out of banking and includes the Independent Community Bankers of America (which provided a sample letter for its members to send to the F.D.I.C.), the National Grocers Association, the National Association of Convenience Stores and the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which is trying unionize Wal-Mart workers. A coalition of community groups called Wal-Mart Watch has sent a petition to the F.D.I.C. with 11,000 signatures opposing Wal-Mart’s application.

The debate has even reached Capitol Hill, where Representatives Paul Gillmor of Ohio and Barney Frank of Massachusetts, both members of the House Financial Services Committee, have asked the F.D.I.C. to hold hearings. “This is a very controversial application filed by the company that is the largest retailer in the world,” they wrote.

This wasn’t the first time Wal-Mart tried to work its way into financial services. In the late 90s the Waltons tried to expand the State Bank & Trust Company [which they also owned] by opening branches in Wal-Mart stores. That move was shut down due to the Gramm-Leach-Bailey Act. Three years later, Wal-Mart tried buying Franklin Bank of California but that too was stopped by legislative action.

Fast forward to 2009 and consider what might have been. Had Wal-Mart been successful in its bid for an industrial bank, would it have expanded into customer facing operations as feared? If so, is there any question Wal-Mart could’ve carved out an important role in the banking system by now? And had that happened, how might the world look at the company differently? One could argue [and I would], that Wal-Mart’s lack of exposure to a large financial arm is a big part of why it remains on [relatively] solid footing among investors. Had Wal-Mart gotten what it wanted, we might be seeing the same kind of fear mongering and lack of confidence that plagues seemingly any institution with financial exposure these days.

via woodrow.typepad.com

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¶14 March, 2009

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Banks and Credit Unions on Twitter

If you haven’t been following Twitter the last few months, you may not realize it now has almost eight million monthly unique visitors according to Compete. That’s almost double the traffic it had just two months ago and a nearly a nine-fold gain from a year ago.

To put that traffic in perspective, it’s more than half that of the NY Times and slightly more than banking giant Wachovia (see Compete chart below).

Banking activity
Financial institutions are pretty new to the micro-blogging platform. In a search today, we found 13 U.S. banks and 14 credit unions with active Twitter feeds (see note 1). There were also and eight international banks for a total of 35.

See the table below for the non-inclusive list ranked by number of Twitter users that follow the bank’s feed (note 2). Wachovia (now owned by Wells Fargo), the only major bank that has promoted Twitter on its main website, leads with 2,000 followers (see previous post on Wachovia’s foray on to Twitter).

Opportunity
Participating in Twitter is a low-cost entry into social media that can actually help save a customer relationship or three. Compared to blogging, it is much less labor intensive. It’s also less of a marketing platform given the 140-character limit in posts. But in the current environment, perhaps less truly is more. By all means, find a gung-ho Facebook devotee in your bank and let him or her get you into the Tweeting game .

NameTwitter URL (4)UpdatesFollowers1. Wachovia (Wells Fargo)/wachovia2572,0582. Bank of America/bofa_help5571,4863. Wells Fargo/wellsfargo4 (note 3)

548

—Via http://www.netbanker.com/2009/03/banks_and_credit_unions_on_twitter.html

Sign of the Times: Wells Fargo & Wachovia launch a Merger Blog (web-strategist.com)
Twitbacks - free twitter backgrounds (twi5.com)

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¶8 March, 2009

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Glass-Steagall, the Sequel?

Image via Wikipedia

Is it time for U.S. to consider going back to the future and bringing back some Great Depression-era regulation to help fix the current economic mess? As Floyd Norris points out, Thursday’s slide in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index means today’s markets have fallen as far as in the first few years of the Great Depression. And the job losses “from this recession are now worse than in 1981-1982, which is generally considered to have been the most severe economic downturn in the U.S. since the Great Depression,” writes Justin Fox. So is it time for the government to consider bringing back Glass-Steagall? That piece of Great Depression regulation separated commercial banks from investment banks. Congress repealed it in 1999 so Citicorp and Travelers could get together. Paul Volcker, who heads President Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, thinks instituting something similar to the separations created under Glass-Steagall might not be such a bad idea, Bloomberg reports. Volcker wants to create a two-tiered banking system. On one tier would be commercial banks, which provide customers with depository services and access to credit and would be highly regulated. On the other would be securities firms, which would have the freedom to take on more risk and practice trading, “relatively free of regulation.” There is at least one difference, in volcker’s plan commercial banks would be able do stock-and-bond underwriting and provide merger advice.

Volcker backs much needed banking system reforms (dailyfinance.com)
Paul Volcker: “Even The Experts Don’t Quite Know What’s Going On” (huffingtonpost.com)

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¶3 December, 2008

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FDIC: Bank overdraft fees hit young, low-income customers

Overdraft fees are boosting banks’ profits at the expense of consumers, especially young and low-income people, finds a new Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. study.

The 18-month survey found that most banks automatically enroll consumers in overdraft programs — some don’t allow them to opt out — and then cover overdrawn transactions for a per-item fee of up to $38.

The survey excludes many of the largest banks in the nation, because it covers only FDIC-regulated banks. Still, it’s the largest study of overdraft programs by a bank regulator and helps “fill an important universe of information that has not been available to policymakers,” says Andrew Gray, agency spokesman

FDIC: Bank overdraft fees hit young, low-income customers - USATODAY.com