| Current Bank & Financial Articles |
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The Motley Fool July 17, 2008 Morgan Housel |
Wells Fargo Dominates Emerging from the smoke of the banking industry, this bank shows 'em how it's done.  |
The Motley Fool July 17, 2008 Anand Chokkavelu |
Fool Blog: Financials Drop a Bomb The editor in chief of the financial sector for this publication gives his thoughts on the recent banking crisis.  |
The Motley Fool July 17, 2008 |
Fool Blog: Lessons From IndyMac Five analysts voice their opinions on the bank that went bust.  |
The Motley Fool July 17, 2008 Ollen Douglass |
Is a Sagging Fannie Attractive? Even with the recent upticks, shares of the ailing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are both down over 80% from their 52-week highs. Is now the time to invest?  |
The Motley Fool July 17, 2008 Beyers & Yochim |
5 Reasons the SEC Wants to Quash Short Sellers The SEC says it will limit shorting of liquidity-dependent financials for at least 30 days. A slightly tongue-in-cheek look at five reasons why they are doing so now.  |
The Motley Fool July 17, 2008 John Reeves |
Fool Blog: Short Selling and the Death of Satire Do the big investment banks really need our protection?  |
Bank Systems & Technology July 15, 2008 Orla O'Sullivan |
Tech a Factor in Fannie, Freddie Bailout, Analyst Says Technology failed mortgage lenders, the Street and the government-sponsored enterprises that buy their loans in several ways.  |
Wall Street & Technology June 23, 2008 Melanie Rodier |
SOA Threatens Security With customers accessing systems themselves through Internet banking and other self-serving channels, core systems are vulnerable to security threats.  |
Wall Street & Technology June 23, 2008 Cory Levine |
SunGard Introduces New Compliance Module Within Asset Arena Asset Arena Compliance improves compliance workflow and data management from the front to the back office.  |
Wall Street & Technology June 23, 2008 Melanie Rodier |
Ex-ICAP Chief Jack Jeffery Joins SuperDerivatives as COO Jack Jeffery, previously CEO of electronic broker ICAP, has been named COO at SuperDerivatives, the provider of real-time options pricing and multi-asset trading and risk solutions.  |
Wall Street & Technology June 23, 2008 Melanie Rodier |
NYSE Euronext Hires Former Lehman Brothers Exec NYSE Euronext Advanced Trading Solutions names Benjamin J. Chrnelich SVP and chief administrative officer.  |
Wall Street & Technology June 23, 2008 Melanie Rodier |
Wachovia Hires BNY Vets Thomas F. Scaturro and John M. Dowd join Wachovia Wealth Management.  |
Wall Street & Technology June 20, 2008 Cory Levine |
MEGA Improves Its GRC Suite Version 3.0 of MEGA International's governance, risk and compliance software offers solutions designed to appeal to different types of users and ensure integration with current systems.  |
Wall Street & Technology June 19, 2008 Cory Levine |
Firms Resist Outsourcing Content Security New AIIM survey shows that firms are reluctant to adopt an out-of-house model for content security.  |
Wall Street & Technology June 19, 2008 Cory Levine |
Transition Managers Become Increasingly Popular As the markets grow increasingly complex and risk-aware, the primary focus of transition management has shifted from operations to risk management, and the preservation of the value of clients' assets is the most important aspect of a transition.  |
Wall Street & Technology June 19, 2008 Cory Levine |
Stopping ID Theft With Biometrics Accenture recommends the use of biometric solutions -- specifically, fingerprint readers -- to prevent identity theft.  |
Wall Street & Technology June 19, 2008 Cory Levine |
Older Advisers Just as Likely to Tap the Web as a Business Tool A new report dispels the myth that older advisers spend less time using the Web as a business tool than their younger colleagues.  |
Wall Street & Technology June 18, 2008 Penny Crosman |
Wall Street Outsourcing to New, Exotic Corners of the Globe While India still rules the world of IT offshoring, China, the Philippines, Romania, Poland, Hungary, South Africa, Vietnam, Cambodia and even Iceland are starting to attract bigger pieces of Wall Street's IT action.  |
Wall Street & Technology June 18, 2008 Penny Crosman |
Niche Outsourcing Destinations Eastern Europe, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Iceland all are emerging as outsourcing destinations for Wall Street firms.  |
The Motley Fool July 16, 2008 Morgan Housel |
Will Fannie and Freddie Go to Zero? An activist investor has proposed a plan to save Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from a complete demise, but it's anything but good news for shareholders.  |
The Motley Fool July 16, 2008 Tim Beyers & Dayana Yochim |
5 Signs Your Bank Is the Next IndyMac A tongue-in-cheek look at whether or not your bank may be the next IndyMac.  |
The Motley Fool July 16, 2008 Morgan Housel |
Tuesday's Terrible Financial Stocks These past two days were the worst days financial stocks have seen in recent memory. Take a look at the biggest losers: Fannie Mae... Freddie Mac... MF Global... Corus Bankshares... Central Pacific Financial...  |
Bank Systems & Technology July 14, 2008 Orla O'Sullivan |
Barclays Reports 1m UK Customers Online, Zero Fraud Smart card vendor Gemalto credited with ensuring security.  |
Registered Rep. July 14, 2008 Halah Touryalai |
Morgan Stanley Offers $50 million In Overtime Settlement The settlement covers all financial advisors, trainees, producing branch managers, assistant branch managers and sales managers who live outside of California and were employed with the New York-based firm between Sept. 1, 2002, and April 21, 2008.  |
The Motley Fool July 15, 2008 Alex Dumortier |
Bank Losses: Are We Just Getting Started? Bank losses have spooked the market. They could yet quadruple.  |
The Motley Fool July 15, 2008 Morgan Housel |
Who's the Next IndyMac? The glory days are over. Get ready for more bank failures.  |
Registered Rep. July 14, 2008 Nancy N. DiCostanzo |
Vanity Un-Fair? An article in the New York Post alleges that rumors started by short-sellers about Bear Sterns made their way to the business news station CNBC where they, perhaps, exacerbated an already-volatile situation.  |
The Motley Fool July 14, 2008 Alex Dumortier |
Why Fannie and Freddie Were Doomed After a stunning week in which the government-sponsored enterprises saw nearly half their stock market value erased, the Treasury and the Federal Reserve announced three measures to reassure the market. But how did we get into this mess in the first place?  |
The Motley Fool July 14, 2008 Morgan Housel |
The Death of IndyMac IndyMac was seized by the FDIC, the government organization that insures bank deposits, in what could go down as one of the costliest bank failures ever. Get ready for more dark days in the banking sector.  |
Bank Systems & Technology July 8, 2008 Orla O'Sullivan |
Banks to use Radio Tags to Track Computers and Cash Plans have been announced to create a universally compatible tagging system within the banking industry.  |
The Motley Fool July 11, 2008 Tom Hutchinson |
The Financial System Is Cracking Banking news: Things got worse in the credit crisis this week as the market speculated that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could need a government bailout.  |
The Motley Fool July 11, 2008 Morgan Housel |
Stock Rehab: Bank of America Bank of America could quickly and easily boost its perception in the market and save boatloads of cash immediately. Read on to see how.  |
The Motley Fool July 11, 2008 Tom Hutchinson |
Freddie and Fannie Free-Fall There may be no choice but to bail out the behemoth mortgage lenders.  |
Registered Rep. July 10, 2008 |
Wachovia: Oops, We Did It Again Yesterday Wachovia announced a new CEO to replace Ken Thompson: Robert Steele, previously a vice chairman at Goldman Sachs, and currently undersecretary of the Treasury until Wednesday.  |
The Motley Fool July 10, 2008 Morgan Housel |
For IndyMac, What Goes Around Comes Around Around and around the mortgage market goes. When it'll stop, nobody knows.  |
The Motley Fool July 10, 2008 Dayana Yochim |
Get Ready for Baby's First Credit Card The author explains the concept of a credit card to a 6-year-old. Well, she tries to.  |
Registered Rep. July 8, 2008 Kristen French |
Post Bear, Regulatory Reform May Squeeze Brokerage Margins Could increased regulation of the brokerage industry in the wake of the subprime crisis and Bear Stearns debacle tighten the screws on brokerage business revenues and margins?  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 James J. Green |
United We Grow United capital's Joe Duran on the state of advisory firms, and his strategy for acquiring financial advisory firms nationwide.  |
The Motley Fool July 9, 2008 Rich Duprey |
Getting Burned by Bernanke His proposal to expand the Fed's power might incinerate the economy.  |
The Motley Fool July 9, 2008 Morgan Housel |
A Thief? A Burglar? Nah, Just JPMorgan A house-buying couple becomes the latest victims of a mortgage industry struggling to sift through a mountain of foreclosures.  |
Bank Systems & Technology July 1, 2008 Maria Bruno-Britz |
Mobile Money Ventures Tests Android Platform Mobile Money Ventures, a joint venture between Citi (New York) and South Korea's S.K. Telecom, announced that its mobile financial services solution is now available for the new Android mobile platform.  |
Real Estate Portfolio Jul/Aug 2008 Allen Kenney |
Sovereign Wealth Rising As rising foreign economic powers such as China and Russia established their own sovereign wealth funds, U.S. policy-makers and pundits are devoting more time and attention to questions regarding their proper regulation.  |
The Motley Fool July 8, 2008 Alex Dumortier |
Goldman's $100 Million Man Walks U.K.-based hedge fund manager GLG Partners announces that it has hired Goldman Sachs partner Driss Ben-Brahim. In 2006, Ben-Brahim sent the London press into a frenzy when it was reported that he earned a $100 million payday.  |
Bank Systems & Technology July 2, 2008 Orla O'Sullivan |
U.S. Core System Vendors Face Foreign Threat, Say Analysts The $8.5 billion banks invest in core systems will by 2013 have substantially shifted into new, possibly foreign-owned technology, analysts from Financial Insights said.  |
Banking Strategies Jul/Aug 2008 McAdam & Cline |
Time for Mavericks HSBC's Kevin Newman is Maverick Banker of the Year for endeavoring to put the customer first.  |
Banking Strategies Jul/Aug 2008 Joe Reifel et al. |
Pruning 'Bad' Complexity Customized products can help or hinder financial institutions depending on how they manage the attendant complexity.  |
Banking Strategies Jul/Aug 2008 Gary Stein |
Strategic Drivers of Retail Sales Productivity To boost sales, bankers need to look to the factors that really drive sales.  |
Banking Strategies Jul/Aug 2008 Lubahn & Brown |
Contact Centers: Overcoming the 'Three Rs' Contact center conversations tend to be rushed, routine and robotic because managers often value speed over good customer service.  |
Banking Strategies Jul/Aug 2008 Jerry Miller |
Training as a Risk Management Solution As regulatory scrutiny mounts, training should be viewed as a risk management tool. While seldom a singular solution to increased regulatory risk, focused training represents an important management tool.  |
The Motley Fool July 7, 2008 Morgan Housel |
All Right, Now This Is Shady, Lehman Brothers Lehman has sold around $4.5 billion worth of assets to a newly formed hedge fund named R3 Capital Partners. Probe a little deeper, and the deal starts to look a bit shady.  |
The Motley Fool July 7, 2008 Alex Dumortier |
KKR Wants Your Money A spate of new hires has left buyout giant KKR looking more corporate and less clubby, signaling an IPO could be in the cards once more.  |
The Motley Fool July 3, 2008 Tom Hutchinson |
Bracing for More Bad News From Banks The earnings forecasts from the financial sector for the second quarter are increasingly pessimistic.  |
The Motley Fool July 3, 2008 Alex Dumortier |
Christmas Comes Early at Lehman Lehman Brothers decides to award its employees with a down payment on their 2008 bonus, paid in Lehman shares.  |
Advisor Today July 2008 Maggie Leyes |
The Other Side of Retirement Advisors, it may be the much-overlooked blue-collar workers who will help you build a lucrative practice of loyal clients.  |
Advisor Today July 2008 Preeti Vasishtha |
Follow Up the Right Way These six simple steps will let you move the sales process forward.  |
The Motley Fool July 2, 2008 Tom Hutchinson |
UBS Purges Board Heads roll as UBS faces a myriad of financial and legal problems.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Suzanne McGee |
Global Exposure Only a tiny handful of advisors have taken the step of steering clients into the $2 trillion foreign exchange market.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Jim Grote |
The Matchmaker A financial planner proposes a merger to a large regional accounting firm. Read on to hear how their marriage is working out.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Stacy Schultz |
Get Fees? Young, high-net-worth investors care about the amount they are paying in fees and are only willing to cough up high costs in management fees if they are getting above-average performance in return.  |
The Motley Fool July 1, 2008 Alex Dumortier |
The Big Banks Fire, Lazard Hires This contrarian move speaks volumes.  |
The Motley Fool July 1, 2008 Morgan Housel |
Welcome Home, Countrywide May your new life be jollier than before.  |
The Motley Fool July 1, 2008 Morgan Housel |
Is Lehman Brothers for Sale? Some of the worst news in a while: Somebody is interested in Lehman.  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 |
Advisor Emporium Fidelity offers dual business platform... Symetra offers guaranteed retirement income... Pershing launches trust network... Arrow offers DWA tactical fund... KBS opens REIT investment... New generation of Laserfiche available...  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 Evan Simonoff |
Editor's Note This year's Pershing INSITE conference provided an opportunity for a hero of the 1990s, Alan Greenspan, whose image has been tarnished in the last 12 months, to shed some light on our current economic predicament.  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 |
Frontline News News of interest to the financial community: CFP Board's New Conduct Standards... SEC Examining More RIAs... Advisors Await Word On New Privacy Regulations... First Western Buys Fourth RIA Firm, Doubles Size...etc.  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 Robert Casey |
Slower Build Growth slowed last year among in-dependent advisors, due to the lagging stock market.  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 Andrew Gluck |
Process Can Make Your Firm Great Ironically, financial advisors -- planning professionals -- often fail to plan strategically for their own businesses. Creating business processes is key to running a successful financial advisory practice and making your firm great.  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 Rebecca Pomering |
When Is The Price Right? To answer the question -- how much, or equally important, in what way should an advisor be charging -- one has to understand a number of things about an advisor's practice.  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 David Lawrence |
Keeping The Record Straight Financial Planning Association President Mark Johannessen and Andrew J. "Buddy" Donohue, director of the investment management division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, discuss current regulatory issues affecting the financial planning profession.  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 Mitch Anthony |
What Is Your `Fiscalosophy'? Understanding your clients' philosophy on investment and money matters.  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 Karen DeMasters |
Team Players A look at the team atmosphere and philosophy of successful financial planning firm Stepp and Rothwell.  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 Marla Brill |
Keeping Millionaire Clients Happy Millionaire investors are worrying more about the market than they used to. Here are some suggestions to keeping their worries grounded.  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 Tracey Longo |
Can Advisors Protect Retirees From Themselves? Fear of loss and greed for gains accelerates when investors retire. This has financial services firms working overtime to find ways around investors' emotions.  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 Eric Rasmussen |
Taking Cover You can make life easier for clients later if you push them to get excess liability insurance now.  |
Financial Advisor July 2008 Richard B. Wagner |
Who Else Is In The Room? A good financial advisor must be aware of what other opinions are influencing their clients decisions.  |
Registered Rep. June 30, 2008 |
Market Forecast: Lousy To Ugly. A Buying Opportunity? Financial markets should remain in turmoil for at least the rest of the year, according to speakers at Morningstar's recent investment conference.  |
Registered Rep. June 26, 2008 John Churchill |
Tough Morning For Brokerage Sector Stomachs are surely turning at the wirehouse brokerage firms this morning.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Maria Bruno-Britz |
Not Too Early for Lenders to Regroup and Think Ahead Yes, lenders must clean up the mess left by the credit crunch. But, after all, for every down cycle, there's a recovery, too, and they will want to make sure they're ready with the right strategies and technology for the next upswing in the market.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Thompson & Mataconis |
Banks Must Rely On Their Own Risk Models in Future Long-term, it's clear that banks will have to provide more transparency into their credit and risk decisions -- and do a lot more of the work themselves.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Peggy Bresnick Kendler |
The Credit Crisis Leaves Far-Reaching Consequences for the Banking Industry. As a result of the changing environment, banks of all sizes must transform their lending, underwriting and credit risk management practices.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Kathy Martin |
In Wake of Credit Crunch, Service Remains Key to Profits Even with the current shaking of the industry and profit margin compression, it is important to remember that customers still perceive that having someone to talk to -- someone available and concerned -- still drives the quality of the account relationship.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Hank Prybylski |
Effective Risk Management Demands Transparency Across Organization Risk is a necessary byproduct of revenue generation, and central to its effective management is the risk trinity: the relationship between the board that sets risk appetites; senior managers who execute; and risk controllers who design, implement and measure.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Ann Grochala |
In the Aftermath of the Credit Crisis, Some Banks See a Silver Lining The current problems in the credit markets bring both challenges and opportunities to banks. Many community banks still have plenty of liquidity and capital, and they all have ready access to the Federal Home Loan Bank system.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Stephen G. Sargent |
Automation Allows Banks to Better Navigate Compliance and Risk Management Technology can provide automated reporting functions to help bank managers access data and ensure they remain compliant.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Nancy Feig |
Pursuing the Promise of SOA Service-oriented architecture promises to improve a bank's IT efficiency -- and, subsequently, business agility -- in many ways.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Lisa Valentine |
Peter Makohon Keeps Wachovia Secure on the Cyber Front Lines Wachovia's VP of information security says protecting the bank's network against ever more sophisticated attacks is a constant challenge that requires eternal vigilance.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Judy Ward |
AFCU Slashes Software Testing Cycle With Compuware's TestPartner It used to take Arizona Federal Credit Union nearly two months to test the software updates that it gets every quarter from its core customer-service software provider. Compuware's TestPartner has reduced that time to 25 days.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Paula Damiano |
Debit Card Growth Slows, But Opportunities for Expansion Exist While declining debit transaction growth is indicative of maturing in the marketplace, there are new avenues for debit usage -- such as business debit, bill pay and low-ticket environments -- that may see greater growth.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Maria Bruno-Britz |
Silva Joins S1 Enterprise Jerry Silva joins S1 Enterprise as vice president, product strategy, retail online, where he will be responsible for product management and strategy for the S1 Enterprise retail online and mobile banking business.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 20, 2008 Paula Damiano |
Citizens Bank Rolls Out GoldTracks Records Management System Citizens Bank will use GoldTracks document tracking and imaging solution to automate and centralize its loan operations.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 20, 2008 Maria Bruno-Britz |
NACHA's McEntee to Retire as CEO; U.S. Bank's Estep to Replace Him During his two decades on the job McEntee steered the organization through significant changes to the payments landscape, not the least of which was electronic check conversion.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 20, 2008 Paula Damiano |
Sharon Tan Joins HSBC Singapore's Trade Division As part of HSBC's growth plan for the Asia Pacific region, the London-based bank hired Sharon Tan for the newly created position of senior vice president of structured trade finance, trade and supply chain.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 19, 2008 Paula Damiano |
J&B Software Releases Browser-Based Remote Capture Solution New software from J&B will result in more secure and cost-effective capture of checks.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 19, 2008 Paula Damiano |
Chesapeake System Solutions Releases T-Recs Enterprise Financial Reconciliation Solution T-Recs Enterprise solution is an all-in-one application that automates reconciliation of both cash and noncash accounts.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 19, 2008 Paula Damiano |
RealEC Connects Lenders to Mortgage Services Providers Commerce Bank has chosen RealEC Exchange and iSelect for its appraisal, title and closing services for home equity and mortgage transactions.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Glen Fest |
Intellectual Property on Trial The Financial Services Roundtable and several institutional members such as Bank of America are urging a federal court to overturn the patentability of certain business method processes.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Glen Fest |
IP Practices Core to Patent Strategy John Cronin, managing director of ipCapital Group, but best known as the founder of IBM's "Patent Factory," says banks themselves are to blame for their patent predicament.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Rebecca Sausner |
Catch Them If You Can (Or Not) Former bank attorney turned money launderer Kenneth Rijock headlines at the Financial Controls and Risk Forum 2008 in New York.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Anthony Malakian |
Can Next Generation ATMs Lure Deposits? For banks investing in expensive image-scanning ATMs to encourage deposits, a big question is whether fraud at existing ATMs will curtail adoption.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Anthony Malakian |
Generation N(Y)xt Although Generation Y has been called the "DotNet Generation" members appear more suspicious of Internet banking than Gen Xers.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Rebecca Sausner |
Call It a `Green' FICO Diane Baum hopes that her automated environmental assessment, dubbed "Enviroscore," will simplify commercial lenders' decision-making process when it comes to evaluating the environmental risk of a proposed transaction.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Rebecca Sausner |
Could the U.S. Be the Next Estonia? Gadi Evron, former Israeli Government Internet Security Operations Manager, went to Estonia during the crippling DDOS attacks last May. Here he talks about whether the U.S. is vulnerable to such an attack, and the role banks and home computers play in protecting critical infrastructure.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Michael Sisk |
Imaging Technology Branches Out The ability to convert paper checks to electronic images for processing, transmission and presentment since the Check 21 Act went into effect in 2004 has created opportunities and headaches for banks large and small.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Michael Sisk |
English Goes Global Via Online Training The pace of globalization, which is making cross-border commerce, acquisitions, and exchange of best practices more common, makes English proficiency more vital throughout organizations.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Glen Fest |
Retailers Picking up Tab to Share in Rewards North American cardholders have begun to express frustration with carrying a wallet full of various reward and shopper cards.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Glen Fest |
How Will Payments Ride Rails? When mobile payments become an everyday reality for banks - and few forecast otherwise - experts say there will be crucial business-line decisions on the suitability of ACH, ATM or card association networks for particular payments.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Anthony Malakian |
Top Tools for Tough Times First Interstate Bank joins Wachovia and numerous other big banks in using an automated credit decisioning tool from Zoot Enterprises that allows big and small banks a more detailed, customized credit report for card products.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Glen Fest |
MPLS Frees Banks To Hand-Off The Network By 2010, Forrester Research says most large banks, insurers and brokerages will have transitioned to multi-protocol label switching, a data/voice communications protocol that will be the foundation of an IP-based infrastructure banks need for next-generation network applications.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Shari Krikorian |
B2B Payments Face Major Transformation Across the globe, market forces such as innovation, the need for efficient cash flow management models, cross-border trade and new industry standards are shaping the future of the B2B payments industry.  |
Bank Technology News July 2008 Barry Cox |
Automating Management of the Branch Office Network Some financial services IT departments with high availability requirements and limited staff at distributed locations are turning toward a new remote management approach.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Melanie Waddell |
Globalization Now It's not a question of if, but when, every advisor will embrace the reality that the world is shrinking. Are you ready?  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Savita Iyer-Ahrestani |
Shrinking Planet Even as globalization has opened up the world of cross-border investing and money management, individuals will only be able to realize its full potential if countries support globalization with the right kind of regulatory systems.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Geoff Kirbyson |
Canadian Invasion Canadians are making a run for the border like never before, a migration that's triggering a rash of financial planning issues for investors with dual citizenship.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Robert F. Keane |
Be Positive Taking a positive approach to socially responsible investing has served Reynders, McVeigh Capital Management LLC -- and its clients -- quite well.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Olivia Mellan |
Minority Report By 2050, minority groups will be the majority of Americans. Are investment advisors ready?  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 James J. Green |
Strength From Weakness The author argues that globalization has now come to the provision of investment advice.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 |
Liar, Liar... Letters to the Editor: Liars and Cheats... Minorities in the financial advisory industry... Correction to top ten B/D list...  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 James J. Green |
Pershing Welcomes a Multitude Bolstered by success of registered independent advisors, Pershing, the big broker/dealer clearing and RIA custodial firm, celebrates big.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 James J. Green |
Further Integration at Fidelity Registered independent advisors and broker/dealer arms at Fidelity announce a joint program.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 James J. Green |
Schwab Smoothes the Road to Independence Schwab Institutional announces a multipronged platform -- with some existing planks, and some newly laid ones -- to ease the transition process for its brokers who wish to become registered independent advisors.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 James J. Green |
NAPFA Asks Its Members to Get On the Bus The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors plans to begin a bus tour throughout the country to spread its message of prudent savings and financial literacy to consumers in 150 to 200 cities.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 James J. Green |
Catching up with... Mark Tibergien The CEO of Pershing Advisor Solutions discusses why it's a good time to be a seller of an RIA firm, according to the latest research on mergers and acquisitions activity in the advisory market.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Kara P. Stapleton |
Taking Flight: Transporting Those in Need This is our second regular report highlighting an individual in the advisory business who is making a notable contribution to the community. Phil Eggers, an LPL Financial-affiliated advisor, flies seriously ill patients to medical treatment as part of Angel Flight South Central.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 |
Upgrades Pershing LLC has added American Funds, JennisonDryden, OppenheimerFunds, and Van Eck Global to FundVest... Advanced Equities Financial Corp. launched Venture Gateway... Direxion Funds has launched the Dollar Bull 2.5x Fund...  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 |
Changes Robert "Bob" Reynolds... Charles "Ed" Haldeman... Diahann Lassus... George Curtis... Scott Friestad... Ken Ziesenheim... Ronald Fiske... Dan Moisand... V. Raymond Ferrara... James Knaus... Yvonne Dean... Michael Ross... Joe Terranova... Chey Payne... John Sawyer...  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 |
Group Think The CFP Board has filed a comment letter with the SEC welcoming the Commission's proposal to improve the quality of information that investment advisors must provide to clients and prospective clients.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Jeff Joseph |
The Vicious Credit Cycle Goes Round and Round Financial institutions remain under threat from a self-feeding spiral of debt contraction that fuels asset liquidation that in turn triggers more debt contraction.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Mark Tibergien |
Awaken Your Inner Manager It seems that financial advisory practices hit a wall at various points -- at a staff of three, again at eight, again at 15, and so on. How can you break through these walls to successfully manage and develop your staff?  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Bob Clark |
With Friends Like These... What's the CFP Board really up to, and will their decisions benefit financial planners?  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Angela Herbers |
Learning to Listen Like many of their clients, it usually takes a few hard knocks for financial advisors to take advice  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Melanie Waddell |
SEC Chairmen of Yore Speak Six former SEC chairmen pointed to quite a few regulatory challenges that loom large -- namely globalization of the world markets, the burgeoning market for complex synthetic securities, and the continued growth of hedge funds.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Lewis Schiff |
A Special Kind of Life Insurance Private Placement Life Insurance is not for everyone, but for those clients who are concerned about estate taxes and have sufficient assets to protect, PPLI offers tax-advantaged hedge-fund investing and other benefits.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Melanie Waddell |
Drivers of Annuity Sales Assets in annuities will jump to $2.9 trillion by 2012 -- a compound annual growth rate of 7.9% -- sparked by demographic trends and product development that addresses both guaranteed income and principal protection.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Kara P. Stapleton |
Women Still Lack Confidence on Retirement Recent study on women and retirement suggest that there remains an educational opportunity for many advisors when it comes to raising awareness among their female clients on preparing for retirement.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 |
News & Products, July 2008 Department of labor will continue to scrutinize the indirect compensation that advisors acting as pension consultants receive... The number individuals participating in HSA-eligible high-deductible health plans jumped significantly since 2004... etc.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Elizabeth D. Festa |
Fight the Power You can take on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and actually come out better than if you had settled.  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 |
News & Products, July 2007 Marcia Martin was named senior vice president, operations and partner support, at Cambridge Investment Research... The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority warns investors about the potential downside of using 401(k) debit cards... FINRA appointed James Donovan as senior executive VP...  |
Investment Advisor July 2008 Marlene Y. Satter |
One Forward, Two Back? The Department of the Treasury released its Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory Structure, which sets forth an argument for the need for change in the financial services industry.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Paula Damiano |
Biometrics: The End of Authentication as We Know It? Biometrics -- the science of identifying individuals by their unique physical traits -- always has been cutting-edge technology. But practical for the banking industry? Not so much.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 24, 2008 Paula Damiano |
IBM Unveils Virtual Teller Kiosk of the Future Today's virtual teller solutions are nothing to laugh at. According to experts, the benefits of teller-assisted kiosks for banks range from improved staffing efficiencies to stronger security.  |
Direct July 1, 2008 Larry Riggs |
Small Lender Tries Direct Mail Equities First Holdings LLC wanted to persuade financial advisory firms to offer its new consumer borrowing plan. They got the word out through direct mail.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Donald Jay Korn |
You Gotta Have a Plan By itself, a retirement plan sponsored by a small business or a professional practice might be modest, with $1 million or less in assets. By pursuing several plans, though, advisors may discover that "real money" is attainable.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Elizabeth O'Brien |
Foundation for Retirement Foundations and endowments can teach advisors strategies for constructing and maintaining retirement income portfolios. Here's a look at how.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 John J Bowen |
Can We Talk? Reaching out to clients and communicating with them during periods of intense market volatility is an absolutely essential-and effective-way to differentiate yourself from other advisors and win the loyalty of your clients.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Bob Veres |
Market-Based Withdrawals A new report takes the discussion of sustainable withdrawal rates into an entirely new realm, quantifying what retirees will have to live on when they begin drawing down their portfolios, and offering a promising method for keeping that number reasonable, safe and generous.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Glenn G. Kautt |
Idea Person How should the threat of new financial planning competition drive your firm's thinking and strategy?  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Marion Asnes |
Cream of the Crop Big banks and wirehouses are bleeding reps who have become disenchanted or been downsized. Now, the race is on among independent broker-dealers and custodians to capture the cream of the breakaway crop.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Scott Schutte |
Valuing Your Services Have financial planners themselves compromised the value of the service that is the foundation of nearly all client relationships: investment management? If so, what's the solution?  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Dan Veto |
Open Up! How do you demonstrate to your new prospects the financial services equivalent of good bedside manner? One way is to recognize that clients have differences and preferences in how they would like you to conduct your professional interactions.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Daniel Thurmaier |
Boring Is Beautiful As investors' nerves fray, typically ho-hum mutual fund classes suddenly became sexy as they calmly stay the course, seemingly oblivious to crashing housing markets and lenders gone wild.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Donald Jay Korn |
Better Yields Yield can be found in a variety of places, from the most common to the highly esoteric. Here's a look at some of them.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Marion Asnes |
Super Women Female financial planners have found that their attachment to their clients has taken them some unexpected places.  |
Financial Planning July 1, 2008 Jane Worthington |
Deficiency Letter 411 The SEC is running a pilot program to develop a standardized approach to the SEC deficiency letters presented to firms after an SEC examination.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Karen Krebsbach |
Waiting for the Call Cellphone banking is emerging as an important link that could bring the most basic financial services to the globe's billions of unbanked cellphone users.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Anthony Malakian |
To Split or Not to Split: That is the Top Question More and more shareholders and analysts are beginning to think that holding the dual title of chairman and CEO either creates inherent conflicts of interest, is poor corporate governance or spreads an executive too thin.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Karen Krebsbach |
No Sex, But Lies and Videotape in International Spy Thriller In a case reminiscent of a Robert Ludlum thriller, AEB is suing Credit Suisse, claiming the Swiss bank sent an employee, posing as compliance officer, to AEB's Santiago office to swipe trade secrets, nab more than 80 clients and capture nearly $127 million in client assets.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Michael Sisk |
A `Radical' Answer to Credit-Ratings Conflict The government should remove itself completely from the credit-rating business, stop deciding which company can and can't rate a bond, and stop making institutions pay attention to rating agencies whose work may be shoddy - and, it often turns out, is.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Karen Krebsbach |
Repairing Libor's Credibility Crisis The credit crunch is highlighting the cracks in the foundation of Libor, illuminating how a benchmark dependent on participants' trust unravels when fear dominates the market.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Rebecca Sausner |
Phishing: PayPal Tosses Line To Snarl the Biz Model The saying goes, "If something's not working, try something else." And clearly, when it comes to the financial services and retail industries' response to phishing, something's not working.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Anthony Malakian |
CheckSpring Community Bank Checks (Out) the Bronx The trio who founded CheckSpring Community Corp. in 2001 saw a promising challenge: banking the unbanked.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Anthony Malakian |
FNBO Taps Savers' Inner `Spielberg' In an effort to market its Internet bank, First National Bank of Omaha is issuing a "Pay Yourself First" challenge to all Americans.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Karen Krebsbach |
Discover's Loyalty Play: Online Paydown Planning Officials at Discover Financial Services had a bright idea with a new advertising campaign designed to help customers with one of their thorniest problems: high credit-card debt and an often no-clue attitude about how to pay off the balance and interest.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Anthony Malakian |
As Some Flee Mortgage Mess, Others Seizing the Day As tough a year as 2007 was and 2008 is shaping up to be, some banks see a rare opportunity to grab market share.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Anthony Malakian |
Small-Company Failures May Cause Big Migraines Oil has topped $139 a barrel. Food prices are skyrocketing. Utilities are pricier than ever. Inflation is on the march. It's no wonder that small-business owners are none too confident about their future. This doesn't mean there aren't opportunities for smart lending.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 |
A Baby Boomer Stampede May Prove Just a Trot What if the number of actual Baby Boomer retirees is actually 20 percent to 25 percent less than predicted? How would the wealth-management industry, which has been ramping up for this big pay day, respond?  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Michael Sisk |
Low-Cost Financing In a High-Risk World Crises often create opportunities; today's credit crunch is doing just that for supply-chain finance companies whose technology allows buyers and sellers across the globe to track invoices and settle commercial trade transactions in a highly visible environment.  |
U.S. Banker July 2008 Foote & Gupta |
Avoiding a Marketing Meltdown Even in the best of times, retail-bank marketing teams face loads of performance pressure and often struggle to set priorities. But now the swooning market has redoubled the challenge.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 23, 2008 Paula Damiano |
New Javelin Study Finds Untapped Market for Mobile Banking There is a vast untapped market of potential mobile bankers, and banks may be missing out on a huge opportunity by targeting m-banking services only at online banking users.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 19, 2008 Maria Bruno-Britz |
HP's Purchase of EDS May Have Minimal Impact on Financial Services HP reached a definitive agreement to acquire Plano, Texas-based technology services and outsourcing provider EDS in a deal worth more than $13.9 million.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 18, 2008 Kristie Cattafi |
The Royal Bank of Scotland Signs with Accountis Accountis announced a multi-year agreement with The Royal Bank of Scotland to provide the bank with an RBS branded e-invoicing solution and service.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 20, 2008 Maria Bruno-Britz |
Banks Are Not Ready for Red Flag Regulation Many banks are not prepared to comply with the new "red flag" regulations, which call for tougher fraud prevention to protect consumers' personal data.  |
Registered Rep. June 23, 2008 |
Even Goldman Goofs Sometimes Goldman Sachs would like you to know it is not immune to mistakes, after it reverses it's position on the U.S. financial and consumer sectors.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 16, 2008 Kristie Cattafi |
Fortent Launches AML 6.3 Fortent, a risk and compliance solutions provider, has rolled out the latest version of its anti-money laundering (AML) technology.  |
Registered Rep. June 16, 2008 |
Rival Firm Settles With RIA Database RIA Database, a financial services software firm, announced today the end of a yearlong legal battle with the company's chief rival, Discovery Database.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 16, 2008 Kristie Cattafi |
Commerce State Bank Moves to Metavante In an effort to meet its needs for growth, Commerce State Bank is converting its current core-processing platform to the Integrated Banking Solution from financial solutions provider Metavante.  |
Registered Rep. June 16, 2008 |
Sovereign Wealth Funds: The Smart Money? The smart money at the sovereign wealth funds thought they smelled the bottom of the banking crisis some months ago when they injected some capital into a few of the ailing Wall Street banks. With earnings here now, we'll see if they were right.  |
Banking Strategies May/Jun 2008 Kenneth Cline |
Democratizing Finance @ Prosper Prosper's CEO says the current credit crisis helps his company by attracting better quality borrowers and lenders.  |
Banking Strategies May/Jun 2008 Paul McAdam |
Accentuate the Positive: Building Banks' Retirement Brand Building a brand in the retirement market needs to go beyond marketing to include improved expertise, products and online tools.  |
Banking Strategies May/Jun 2008 Taraporevala & Capozzi |
Innovation: The Growth Accelerator To jump-start innovation, banks should seek models outside their own industry.  |
Banking Strategies May/Jun 2008 Spitler & Mazursky |
Turbocharging the Debit Card Amid intensifying debit card competition, bankers need new strategies to restore growth.  |
Banking Strategies May/Jun 2008 Lauri Giesen |
Locating ATMs for Strategic Effect Customer retention, rather than per-unit volume, is increasingly seen as the key to effective ATM deployment.  |
Banking Strategies May/Jun 2008 Charles B. Wendel |
Sifting the Gold As small business banking begins to suffer credit issues, bankers need to sift value from the market turmoil.  |
Banking Strategies May/Jun 2008 Steve Cone |
Six Deadly Marketing Sins Financial institutions are wasting much of the money they throw into advertising and marketing. The remedy: get creative.  |
Registered Rep. June 11, 2008 |
Thain + You, Sittin' in A Tree Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain heaps praise upon the wealth management division during an interview.  |
Registered Rep. June 10, 2008 |
Would You Invest With Client No. 9? Eliot Spitzer, the disgraced former New York State governor once heralded as Sheriff of Wall Street, is mulling launching a distressed real estate fund.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 9, 2008 Kristie Cattafi |
HSBC Creates New Position for CIO The position of Chief Technology and Services Officer of HSBC was developed as part of a global initiative to create a common business framework for core support functions across the company.  |
Registered Rep. June 10, 2008 |
Lehman Won't Back Down The de-leveraging and the new $6 billion in capital may calm some nerves, but Lehman's earnings power going forward still may be diminished.  |
Registered Rep. June 10, 2008 |
Nice Building, Shame About The Business Is the only thing left worth crowing about in J.P. Morgan's deal with Bear Stearns the Madison Avenue office tower?  |
Registered Rep. June 9, 2008 |
Credit Downgrades, More Write-Downs And The ARS Market Credit downgrades to MBIA and AMBAC Financial Group, the world's largest bond insurers, will lead to more write-downs at Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and UBS, according to a new research report.  |
Registered Rep. June 6, 2008 John Churchill |
UBS Considers Divulging Client Names In Tax Evasion Case The Swiss bank may divulge the names of 20,000 of its wealthy US clients as one of its top private bankers faces a Florida court.  |
Bank Systems & Technology June 3, 2008 Kristie Cattafi |
VeriFone Reorganizes Management Electronic payment company VeriFone Holdings, Inc. announced a new market initiative in its European, Middle East and African business by reorganizing management and sales and marketing efforts.  |
Insurance & Technology May 23, 2008 Anthony O'Donnell |
Insurers Seek Energy Efficiency Through Virtualization The carbon footprint of financial services companies is tied to a variety of activities, including paper use, heating and waste management. But IT is the single greatest consumer of electrical energy, and the data center is the focus of energy consumption.  |
Registered Rep. June 1, 2008 Christina Mucciolo |
They Work Hard for the Money When Jeffery Camarda left his job as an insurance-based advisor at John Hancock in 1988 to launch Camarda Financial Advisory Inc., a fee-only registered investment advisor, his income vanished. "I took a loss for the first time in my life."  |
Registered Rep. June 1, 2008 Stan Luxenberg |
Pay It Out Now that the Baby Boomer generation is retiring in droves, fund companies are focusing on a thorny question: How can retirees obtain reliable income from their investments?  |
Registered Rep. June 1, 2008 Susan Konig |
Prospecting A brokerage firm merger can affect every one of your competitors' clients. So, why not position yourself as a stable advisor at a stable firm who can make their lives a little easier?  |
Registered Rep. June 1, 2008 Mollie Neal |
Recession-Proof Your Clients Studies indicate that many small-business owners do not have a contingency plan for tough times. This is an area where financial advisors can help.  |
Registered Rep. June 1, 2008 Kevin McKinley |
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