By Becky Yerak
The successor to failed ShoreBank has added a new director and a new personnel executive.
Urban Partnership Bank of Chicago has tapped Martin Eakes, chief executive of the Center for Responsible Lending, a financial watchdog group based in Durham, N.C., for its board of directors pending regulatory approval.
“Martin has a deep understanding of the unmet financial services needs of the bank’s underserved urban communities and has strong ties to residents, entrepreneurs, and leaders of community organizations,” said William Farrow, CEO of Urban Partnership Bank.
Get the full story »
Nov. 30, 2010 at 10:59 a.m.
Filed under:
Bank failures,
Banking
From the Wisconsin State Journal | A troubled Wisconsin bank is trying to raise capital, either by bringing in investors or finding a merger partner, and has been talking to Steven Hovde, a Madison native and Chicago area investment banker. A key measure of the financial health of Evergreen State Bank, located in Stoughton, Wis., has fallen sharply in the past several months, and bank officials sent a letter to the more than 100 shareholders warning the stock soon could be worthless.
Nov. 29, 2010 at 2:06 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking
Bloomberg
CCC Information Services Inc., a Chicago-based claims information and processing services provider owned by Investcorp Bank, is seeking $400 million in loans to refinance debt, Bloomberg News is reporting, citing two people familiar with the negotiations. Get the full story »
Nov. 29, 2010 at 11:53 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Investing
By Reuters
A team of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney brokers in northern New York state, the Morgia Group, last week joined HighTower Advisors, a Chicago firm that is adding veteran advisers across the United States. Get the full story »
Nov. 29, 2010 at 6:21 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Economy
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is likely to face some new dissenting votes when the make-up of the Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank’s policy-making committee, changes in January.
Four presidents of regional Fed banks will step into the rotation at the Fed’s policy meeting in late January: Charles Evans of Chicago, Charles Plosser of Philadelphia, Richard Fisher of Dallas and Narayana Kocherlakota of Minneapolis. They’ll join the eight permanent voters on the FOMC: seven Fed governors (one position is now vacant) and the New York Fed president. Get the full story »
Nov. 24, 2010 at 4:28 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Government
By Los Angeles Times
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Wednesday gave banks final guidance on how to reduce problems with automatic programs that prevent customers from overdrawing their checking accounts — often with hefty fees attached.
The new guidelines, proposed in August, aim to give people better information about the cost of overdraft protection and to force banks to intervene when customers use the backstop too often. A 2008 FDIC study found that some people were chronically using overdraft protection as a way to obtain short-term — and very expensive — loans.
Standard fees are $20 to $30 each time a customer overdraws an account.
Nov. 24, 2010 at 9:58 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Crime,
Criminal charges,
Fraud,
Litigation
By Reuters
The trustee seeking to recover money for defrauded Bernard Madoff investors has sued UBS AG and others for more than $2 billion, accusing them of collaborating in the imprisoned swindler’s massive Ponzi scheme.
UBS was accused of assisting Madoff’s fraud by sponsoring foreign feeder funds that sent client money to the once-respected money manager, lending them “an aura of legitimacy” while shielding itself from liability through secret side agreements. Get the full story »
Nov. 24, 2010 at 9:35 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
China,
International
By Becky Yerak
Northern Trust celebrated the opening of its first China branch, in Beijing, on Tuesday.
Chicago-based Northern has had a representative office in Beijing since 2005. Such an office can be used to build relationships in the market, but many services have had to be provided from offices in Singapore, Hong Kong or elsewhere. Having a branch enables Northern to provide more client services from Beijing. Get the full story »
Nov. 23, 2010 at 10:37 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Investing,
Retirement
By Becky Yerak
Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp. has been hired to provide custody services for more than $800 million in pension, endowment and operating funds of John Muir Health of Walnut Creek, Calif.
It’ll also provide benefit payment services for the organization’s pension plan. Get the full story »
Nov. 23, 2010 at 8:19 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Chicago executives
By Becky Yerak
First Midwest Bancorp Inc., the $8.38 billion-asset parent of First Midwest Bank, has named Amcol International Chief Executive Lawrence Washow to its board of directors. Get the full story »
Nov. 22, 2010 at 4:49 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Economy
By Reuters
U.S. banks’ declining profits and tighter profit margins will push them to close 5,000 branches nationwide within the next 18 months, bank analyst Meredith Whitney said in a research note Monday.
Whitney, CEO of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group LLC, said that reduced consumer and corporate appetite to borrow, mixed with new regulations, have changed what was once a key source of industry profits. Get the full story »
Nov. 22, 2010 at 9:27 a.m.
Filed under:
Bank failures,
Banking,
Chicago executives,
M&A
By Becky Yerak
A bank investor group that includes turnaround financier Wilbur L. Ross Jr. and several former PrivateBancorp and MB Financial executives on Friday made its second purchase of a failed bank this year. Get the full story »
Nov. 19, 2010 at 6:26 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Credit Cards,
Crime,
Criminal charges
By CNN
A Malaysian man was charged on Thursday for hacking into the computer network of a U.S. Federal Reserve bank and for stealing more than 400,000 stolen credit card and debit card numbers, according to federal authorities.
Lin Mun Poo, 32, is suspected of accessing financial records at a Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland, Ohio, by “exploiting a vulnerability he found within their secure system,“ according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York. At least 10 Federal Reserve Bank computers were affected by the breach, resulting in thousands of dollars in damage, the statement said. Get the full story »
Nov. 18, 2010 at 10:41 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Sports
From Golf Digest | A golf tournament sponsored by Northern Trust last year drew a scant 30,000 spectators all week (estimated) to the Riviera Country Club, possibly due to a $50 gate charge — $20 more than the year before.
Nov. 17, 2010 at 5:59 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Investing,
Jobs/employment,
M&A
By Becky Yerak
Denver-based investment bank Headwaters MB has created a financial institutions practice that’ll be headquartered in Chicago and focus on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising for banks with assets of up to $3 billion.
“There’s a significant opportunity to participate in the impending wave of industry consolidation,” said Managing Director Eliot Stark, who before joining Headwaters worked for Chicago-based investment bank Capital Insight Partners. Stark also once served as a corporate development, finance and planning executive for Comerica Bank, where he was involved with dozens of M&A transactions. Get the full story »
