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Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Finra backtracks on plan to end 5% markup rule - InvestmentNews
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Finra backtracks on plan to end 5% markup rule InvestmentNews Majority of comments to proposal back policy, call it effective. Reprints. By Dan Jamieson. February 4, 2013 4:05 pm ET. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. is backtracking on a controversial plan to end its 5% markup rule. finra, brokers ... |
Saturday, February 2, 2013
First Marblehead bank runs afoul of regulators - Portland Business Journal:
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That’s according to a cease and desist order issuedd against bythe , a federal bank regulator. First Marbleheaed (NYSE: FMD), whose key business of packaginb student loans into securities hasdried up, now faces the prospec of pumping millions of dollars of capital into the small Rhodes Island bank to bolster its capital. The OTS orde says First Marblehead is required to maintaija $30 million depositg at the bank untikl it is sold or the bank’s concentration of privatre student loans is reduced to 50 percentf of Union Federal’s capital, plus any allowance for loan losses.
First Marbleheasd also needs OTS approval before making any golden parachute paymentsd tosenior executives, according to the cease and desisyt order. Union Federal Savings Bank’s problems have been chroniclec in previous stories by the BostonBusinessx Journal. Before being acquiredr by First Marblehead, Unioj Federal Savings had about $40 million in But that balance sheet ballooned to morethan $600 million last year as First Marblehead moved some $500 million in riskyg private student loans onto the bank’s balance sheet. The bank has been unsuccessfulk in selling those loans while an escalating numbefr of defaults have triggeredlargwe losses.
In the first for example, the Nortnh Providence-based bank lost $26.4 according to federal bank filings.
That’s according to a cease and desist order issuedd against bythe , a federal bank regulator. First Marbleheaed (NYSE: FMD), whose key business of packaginb student loans into securities hasdried up, now faces the prospec of pumping millions of dollars of capital into the small Rhodes Island bank to bolster its capital. The OTS orde says First Marblehead is required to maintaija $30 million depositg at the bank untikl it is sold or the bank’s concentration of privatre student loans is reduced to 50 percentf of Union Federal’s capital, plus any allowance for loan losses.
First Marbleheasd also needs OTS approval before making any golden parachute paymentsd tosenior executives, according to the cease and desisyt order. Union Federal Savings Bank’s problems have been chroniclec in previous stories by the BostonBusinessx Journal. Before being acquiredr by First Marblehead, Unioj Federal Savings had about $40 million in But that balance sheet ballooned to morethan $600 million last year as First Marblehead moved some $500 million in riskyg private student loans onto the bank’s balance sheet. The bank has been unsuccessfulk in selling those loans while an escalating numbefr of defaults have triggeredlargwe losses.
In the first for example, the Nortnh Providence-based bank lost $26.4 according to federal bank filings.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Erik Moses named chief of D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission - Washington Business Journal:
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Greg O'Dell will be the new chiedf executive officer and general manager ofthe , aftef the organization's board voted to hire him as Reba Pittman Walker's replacement May 16. Erik director of the D.C. Departmenf of Small and Local Business Developmenft sinceJanuary 2007, will replace O'Dell as chief executivd of D.C. . Nicole Becton, Moses's general counsel and interik deputy, will replace Moses. Fentyt praised all three officiales for their work on developingthe city'ss economy. He said Moses had run the small businesssagency "exceptionally" and would lead the commission as it managew RFK Stadium, the D.C. Armory and some aspectsx of Nationals Park.
The mayor pointed out that the commissiomn could have added importance if new stadiums are built for andthe , and that after needing a $2.5 million 2009 subsidy from D.C. to stay it needed to find a way to operate freeof "There is a structural issue that needs to be fixed. We'llo fix it," Fenty said. Moses said the District woul d benefit by attracting a keynote amateurf sports competition a kin to the Penn a track and field event held in Philadelphiwaeach year. Becton, who was recruited to the agency by Moses aftee they attended the School ofLaw together, is a formeer civil rights lawyer from Kaye Scholet LLP in D.C. Her appointment requires approval bythe D.C. Council.
Greg O'Dell will be the new chiedf executive officer and general manager ofthe , aftef the organization's board voted to hire him as Reba Pittman Walker's replacement May 16. Erik director of the D.C. Departmenf of Small and Local Business Developmenft sinceJanuary 2007, will replace O'Dell as chief executivd of D.C. . Nicole Becton, Moses's general counsel and interik deputy, will replace Moses. Fentyt praised all three officiales for their work on developingthe city'ss economy. He said Moses had run the small businesssagency "exceptionally" and would lead the commission as it managew RFK Stadium, the D.C. Armory and some aspectsx of Nationals Park.
The mayor pointed out that the commissiomn could have added importance if new stadiums are built for andthe , and that after needing a $2.5 million 2009 subsidy from D.C. to stay it needed to find a way to operate freeof "There is a structural issue that needs to be fixed. We'llo fix it," Fenty said. Moses said the District woul d benefit by attracting a keynote amateurf sports competition a kin to the Penn a track and field event held in Philadelphiwaeach year. Becton, who was recruited to the agency by Moses aftee they attended the School ofLaw together, is a formeer civil rights lawyer from Kaye Scholet LLP in D.C. Her appointment requires approval bythe D.C. Council.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
FDIC hikes fees for banks - bizjournals:
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The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s annual charge, paid in quarterly increments, has increasedr sharply — from 5 centas to 12 cents forevery $100 in insured deposits — to compensate for bank failures acrossd the country. The new rate takeds effect with the three months ended June 30 and appliees toall U.S. banks, though not to credit Also, the FDIC’s board is scheduledc to vote May 22 ona one-time assessment to be leviedd across the banking industry. The one-time designed to replenish the FDIC’s depleted insurance was not determinedby deadline. However, the boarfd originally proposed charging 20 cents onevery $100 of depositse that banks possess.
“Banke are taking two hits and it’es a big impact,” said Pennsylvania Bankersx Association President and CEOJames Biery. It coulr hardly come at a worse time. “We’ree in a recession, and recessions are difficult on communities andfinancial institutions,” Biery said. “There’s not a whols lot of loan demand, people are having a hard time payingtheie bills. Banks have lost other money — the Federal Home Loan Bank is not payinvg dividends right nowand that’ another reduction. So there are holes to fill.” Consider PNC Financial ServicesGroupp Inc., Pittsburgh’s largest bank, which had deposits of more than $194.
6 billion as of March 31. PNC would be payingb about $233.5 million annually and potentiallyanother $389.2 milliomn for the one-time assessment. That’s about $623 Thomas Bailey, president and CEO of Brentwood Bank, Bethel Park, and chairman of the Pennsylvania Association ofCommunityt Bankers, said using domestic depositsa as the criteria for bank size is especially tough on community banks. He said using bank assetzs rather than domestic deposits would bemore equitable.
“Abouty 90 percent of the funding community banks get is throughgdomestic deposits,” Bailey “Your big banks like Citigroup and PNC get approximatelgy 50 percent of their funding from domesticx deposits; they get funds from outsided the country and other options as sources for fundinf their loans. To move into assets woulc put us all onequao footing.” For Brentwood, the rising rates could limit the bank’ws loanmaking capabilities. Brentwood’s one-time FDIC bill at the 20 centper $100 deposits rate woulds amount to more than “That would (be) a quarter of our (quarterly) earningsw on top of the regulaf insurance,” Bailey said.
Five-branch Brentwood had deposits of $335 million as of June 30, based on that figure, its annual paymengt to the FDIC would be $402,000, puttinvg Brentwood’s 2009 FDIC bill at more than $1 milliobn compared to $167,566 last year. Allegheny Valley Bancorp, an eight-branch bank baserd in Lawrenceville, had deposits of nearlyu $287 million as of June 30, 2008. That would mean $334,000p spread among quarterly payments to the FDIC anda one-timde assessment of as much as “I believe it was a serious mistakw for the FDIC to assess smallert institutions for what essentially has been a big bank issue,” said Alleghent Valley CEO Andrew “The FDIC’s fund has been depleted due to significantly larger institutionsd taking risks that community bankw don’t take, and it should not be theifr intent to try to replenish that fund during a time that bankds need to hold onto their capital to allows us to make more Why should we have to pay for the governme ng taking on national debt and dumping this capital into othe r banks?
To me, it’s inherently Hasley has been working with PACB and the Independent Community Bankerds of America to explore alternatives such as basin charges on banks’ assets rather than deposits. The FDIC boarde is now considering changing the criteria forthe one-timwe charge from deposits to assets, but even if it opts to do so, bankxs will still take a hefthy hit and may have to explore different options to pay the fees. “They’ll have to make their own Biery said. “Some may sell stock or debt. Some may take TARP which they’ll have to pay back and which has some significant expenses attachedto it.
There are required levelsa of capital and banks that cannot sustain those for whateverf reasons will either be forcef to find a merger partnereor dissolve.” Customers won’t go unscathed either. “There’ds no free lunch,” Bailey said. “That money’sw going to come from somewhere I’d think in terms of reduced interesty rates and it mayreduce lending. Now, instead of having a profit which lets me doadditional lending, I’ll be paying that out to pay this insurances bill. It’s very serious.
”
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s annual charge, paid in quarterly increments, has increasedr sharply — from 5 centas to 12 cents forevery $100 in insured deposits — to compensate for bank failures acrossd the country. The new rate takeds effect with the three months ended June 30 and appliees toall U.S. banks, though not to credit Also, the FDIC’s board is scheduledc to vote May 22 ona one-time assessment to be leviedd across the banking industry. The one-time designed to replenish the FDIC’s depleted insurance was not determinedby deadline. However, the boarfd originally proposed charging 20 cents onevery $100 of depositse that banks possess.
“Banke are taking two hits and it’es a big impact,” said Pennsylvania Bankersx Association President and CEOJames Biery. It coulr hardly come at a worse time. “We’ree in a recession, and recessions are difficult on communities andfinancial institutions,” Biery said. “There’s not a whols lot of loan demand, people are having a hard time payingtheie bills. Banks have lost other money — the Federal Home Loan Bank is not payinvg dividends right nowand that’ another reduction. So there are holes to fill.” Consider PNC Financial ServicesGroupp Inc., Pittsburgh’s largest bank, which had deposits of more than $194.
6 billion as of March 31. PNC would be payingb about $233.5 million annually and potentiallyanother $389.2 milliomn for the one-time assessment. That’s about $623 Thomas Bailey, president and CEO of Brentwood Bank, Bethel Park, and chairman of the Pennsylvania Association ofCommunityt Bankers, said using domestic depositsa as the criteria for bank size is especially tough on community banks. He said using bank assetzs rather than domestic deposits would bemore equitable.
“Abouty 90 percent of the funding community banks get is throughgdomestic deposits,” Bailey “Your big banks like Citigroup and PNC get approximatelgy 50 percent of their funding from domesticx deposits; they get funds from outsided the country and other options as sources for fundinf their loans. To move into assets woulc put us all onequao footing.” For Brentwood, the rising rates could limit the bank’ws loanmaking capabilities. Brentwood’s one-time FDIC bill at the 20 centper $100 deposits rate woulds amount to more than “That would (be) a quarter of our (quarterly) earningsw on top of the regulaf insurance,” Bailey said.
Five-branch Brentwood had deposits of $335 million as of June 30, based on that figure, its annual paymengt to the FDIC would be $402,000, puttinvg Brentwood’s 2009 FDIC bill at more than $1 milliobn compared to $167,566 last year. Allegheny Valley Bancorp, an eight-branch bank baserd in Lawrenceville, had deposits of nearlyu $287 million as of June 30, 2008. That would mean $334,000p spread among quarterly payments to the FDIC anda one-timde assessment of as much as “I believe it was a serious mistakw for the FDIC to assess smallert institutions for what essentially has been a big bank issue,” said Alleghent Valley CEO Andrew “The FDIC’s fund has been depleted due to significantly larger institutionsd taking risks that community bankw don’t take, and it should not be theifr intent to try to replenish that fund during a time that bankds need to hold onto their capital to allows us to make more Why should we have to pay for the governme ng taking on national debt and dumping this capital into othe r banks?
To me, it’s inherently Hasley has been working with PACB and the Independent Community Bankerds of America to explore alternatives such as basin charges on banks’ assets rather than deposits. The FDIC boarde is now considering changing the criteria forthe one-timwe charge from deposits to assets, but even if it opts to do so, bankxs will still take a hefthy hit and may have to explore different options to pay the fees. “They’ll have to make their own Biery said. “Some may sell stock or debt. Some may take TARP which they’ll have to pay back and which has some significant expenses attachedto it.
There are required levelsa of capital and banks that cannot sustain those for whateverf reasons will either be forcef to find a merger partnereor dissolve.” Customers won’t go unscathed either. “There’ds no free lunch,” Bailey said. “That money’sw going to come from somewhere I’d think in terms of reduced interesty rates and it mayreduce lending. Now, instead of having a profit which lets me doadditional lending, I’ll be paying that out to pay this insurances bill. It’s very serious.
”
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Solar land auction nets two sales, more slated - Nashville Business Journal:
hydiuco.blogspot.com
million, with a third deal potentially in the Buyers of the small parcels were not butKuldip Verma, president and CEO of , whichn sold the land, said the buyers had interest in developingh the land's solar potential. Vermaland also is looking at sellinga 3,600-acre parcel at auction withijn the next six months in the county’s western While the first auction focused on five smaller a larger, contiguous site such as Vermaland’s couldc draw a higher premium, if companies believes it has access to water and powet lines.
“Several large-scale utility companies have expressesd interest in the property once the siteis developed,” said who added the site has water rights, on-site wells and a low While the company was able to sell the two prices were below what neighboringb land has been selling for. The goal was to spur sola r companies to purchase land ratherd than simply tieit up, Vermsa said. The properties sold at Saturday’s auction included an 80-acres site in the Tonopah areafor $340,000 and a 320-acr site in Tonopah for $2.24 million. The company did not identifyg which of the remaining three properties mighyt be involved inanother deal.
“The auction broughf the properties to the attentioh of some parties that we had nevee been incontact with, as well as remindee others we had spoken with in the past of the which is highly suitable for solar said Anita Verma-Lallian, the company’s marketing Vermaland already had sold land to several California-basex utilities looking to develop renewable resources to meet that state’zs standards for clean energy.
Solarr energy developers have been placing applications on state and federal lands in westernb Arizona for the pastthrede years, and private land ownera have been negotiating as developers look for the best As companies scout for land, they also face financingv issues and none of the propose d projects in Arizona has broken ground. Arizona’sd main solar corridor includes Vermaland’s parcels, an area that stretchews from Yuma to Phoenix and Tucson seen as a huge growtbh area fordeveloping utility-scale soladr power plants.
million, with a third deal potentially in the Buyers of the small parcels were not butKuldip Verma, president and CEO of , whichn sold the land, said the buyers had interest in developingh the land's solar potential. Vermaland also is looking at sellinga 3,600-acre parcel at auction withijn the next six months in the county’s western While the first auction focused on five smaller a larger, contiguous site such as Vermaland’s couldc draw a higher premium, if companies believes it has access to water and powet lines.
“Several large-scale utility companies have expressesd interest in the property once the siteis developed,” said who added the site has water rights, on-site wells and a low While the company was able to sell the two prices were below what neighboringb land has been selling for. The goal was to spur sola r companies to purchase land ratherd than simply tieit up, Vermsa said. The properties sold at Saturday’s auction included an 80-acres site in the Tonopah areafor $340,000 and a 320-acr site in Tonopah for $2.24 million. The company did not identifyg which of the remaining three properties mighyt be involved inanother deal.
“The auction broughf the properties to the attentioh of some parties that we had nevee been incontact with, as well as remindee others we had spoken with in the past of the which is highly suitable for solar said Anita Verma-Lallian, the company’s marketing Vermaland already had sold land to several California-basex utilities looking to develop renewable resources to meet that state’zs standards for clean energy.
Solarr energy developers have been placing applications on state and federal lands in westernb Arizona for the pastthrede years, and private land ownera have been negotiating as developers look for the best As companies scout for land, they also face financingv issues and none of the propose d projects in Arizona has broken ground. Arizona’sd main solar corridor includes Vermaland’s parcels, an area that stretchews from Yuma to Phoenix and Tucson seen as a huge growtbh area fordeveloping utility-scale soladr power plants.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Adventist Nursing Home, union negotiate over contract - The Business Review (Albany):
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and local 1199 of the Service EmployeeasInternational Union, are in "heavy over a contract. The which threatened a strikein mid-November, wants a contractt by Dec. 18. But Bill the administrator of the nursing home said thatwas "kind of an artificiak deadline." The two sides have been talkingv about a number of non-economic issues, includingb seniority and requiring employees to belong to the but have not yet started talking about pay, McGregot said. Mindy Berman, a spokeswomajn for local 1199 SEIU, said the two sides have been meeting regularly since The union threatened to stageea three-day strike starting Nov.
18, but withdre w the 10-day strike notice when negotiations looked Berman said. "When they withdrew the striked notice weappreciated it," McGregor While nursing home management doesn't feel the need to reachb a final deal by Dec. 18, he has been meetinfg with the union several timesa week, McGregor said. The 120-bex nursing home is affiliated withthe Seventh-dauy Adventist Church. In May, employees at the religiouas nursing home voted 84 to 17 to be represented by 1199 whichhas 220,000 members. Adventist has faced tougu times because of limits on reimbursement for Medicaid and Medicare and the overall economy, according to McGregor.
The nursing home has not been able to make pensiob payments to workers as it normally does becausew ofthe economy. That happenerd once before and eventually the nursing home madethose payments. His goal is to make the overdue paymentx when it iseconomically feasible, McGregotr said. The nursing home was also forced to make layoffds for thesame reasons, he said. Adventist nursinhg home employs 150 people at its Routw9 facility. The negotiations at Adventist are part of a continuinyg effort by 1199 SEIU to unionize nursintg homes inthe Albany, N.Y.
region, Berman
and local 1199 of the Service EmployeeasInternational Union, are in "heavy over a contract. The which threatened a strikein mid-November, wants a contractt by Dec. 18. But Bill the administrator of the nursing home said thatwas "kind of an artificiak deadline." The two sides have been talkingv about a number of non-economic issues, includingb seniority and requiring employees to belong to the but have not yet started talking about pay, McGregot said. Mindy Berman, a spokeswomajn for local 1199 SEIU, said the two sides have been meeting regularly since The union threatened to stageea three-day strike starting Nov.
18, but withdre w the 10-day strike notice when negotiations looked Berman said. "When they withdrew the striked notice weappreciated it," McGregor While nursing home management doesn't feel the need to reachb a final deal by Dec. 18, he has been meetinfg with the union several timesa week, McGregor said. The 120-bex nursing home is affiliated withthe Seventh-dauy Adventist Church. In May, employees at the religiouas nursing home voted 84 to 17 to be represented by 1199 whichhas 220,000 members. Adventist has faced tougu times because of limits on reimbursement for Medicaid and Medicare and the overall economy, according to McGregor.
The nursing home has not been able to make pensiob payments to workers as it normally does becausew ofthe economy. That happenerd once before and eventually the nursing home madethose payments. His goal is to make the overdue paymentx when it iseconomically feasible, McGregotr said. The nursing home was also forced to make layoffds for thesame reasons, he said. Adventist nursinhg home employs 150 people at its Routw9 facility. The negotiations at Adventist are part of a continuinyg effort by 1199 SEIU to unionize nursintg homes inthe Albany, N.Y.
region, Berman
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