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A number of large US banks, such as BankAmerica Corp and First Union Corp, reported strong operating profits for the 4th qtr of 1997 with the help of strong capital markets results. Wells Fargo and Co, Republic New York Corp, BB and T Corp, and Union Planters Corp were others which had substantial profits for the period as well. Greenpoint Financial Corp and Washington Mutual Inc were among thrifts with better 4th quarter results, as well., Strong results from capital markets operations helped boost fourth- quarter earnings at several large banks reporting Wednesday. BankAmerica Corp., the nation's fourth-biggest bank, posted profits of $812 million, a 9% [...]

A bevy of large banking companies and one big thrift reported generally positive fourth-quarter and yearend results Thursday, boosted by strength in fee-based businesses. Most of the eight major companies [...]

Michigan National Corp is beginning to see improvements in its financial performance since being acquired by National Australia Bank Ltd in Nov 1995. The bank's ratio of expenses to revenues has dropped from a peak of 87% in 1993 to 62% in 1995, and is expected to decline further to reach a projected 54% for 1996. CEO Douglas Ebert is contemplating the acquisition of another bank to bolster Michigan National's position, but he intends to focus primarily on regaining lost market share, building up the bank's infrastructure, and developing the bank's employees., When Michigan National Corp. was taken over by an Australian bank a year ago, rivals' advertisers had a field day. In radio spots, actors with thick Australian accents spoke of [...]

Charter One Financial CEO Charles J. Koch has increased his company's organizational efficiency and profitability through successful bank acquisitions. Koch's deals include government-assisted transactions of bankrupt thrifts and acquisitions of bank holding companies. Koch pursues inexpensive acquisitions, and carefully evaluates the underperforming financial institutions when planning new acquisitions., A 12-pound walleye, a trophy from a Lake Erie outing, sits mounted atop a table in Charles J. Koch's office. Beaming over his catch, Mr. Koch is as much sportsman [...]

The wave of consolidation gripping the banking industry is generating high levels of job insecurity among bankers. In 1995, 54,000 jobs were eliminated by banks, and a further 14,200 cuts were made by May 1996. Two-thirds of bankers who have been dismissed from their jobs have had to look for work in new professional fields. Banks contend that restructuring will contribute to the long-term growth of the industry and eventually help create more jobs., When First Banks System Inc. agreed to buy First Interstate Bancorp. last November, a jubilant Patricia Stuhff handed out sunglasses at a downtown Los Angeles pep rally. 'Our future's so [...]

Iowa National officials say the Des Moines market is essential to the future growth of their company. Iowa National Bankshares Corp. Chairman Erl Schmiesing, fending off criticism that his bank [...]

Norwest chief executive says his bank has been a good corporate citizen for 63 years. Norwest Bank Iowa's proposal to change the state's law on bank deposit holdings has raised [...]

Suku Radia does more than count beans for banks. If Suku Radia's mother hadn't been so horrified by what she saw at the University of California at Berkeley in the [...]

Iowa's larger banks, especially those with $1 billion or more in assets, have moved swiftly to expand their state bases in 1992. Just last month, Waterloo appeared to be a [...]

THE $15,000 RUNNER With 'amateur' runners asking for $15,000 appearance fees to compete at the Drake Relays this year, the committee that oversees the event is looking for a corporate [...]

Insuring Iowa's 220,000 uninsured and more than 400,000 underinsured people is going to take radical changes that won't likely be implemented this year, say proponents of a major overhaul in [...]

CLEVELAND - KeyCorp's hopes of remaining independent could be in the hands of James E. Bennett, a professorial, white-haired consultant who spent 30 years working in the Cleveland office of [...]

CHARLOTTE - First Union Corp. was scrambling last week to clarify a comment by chairman and chief executive officer Edward E. Crutchfield that his company may reduce its branch network [...]

KeyCorp said Thursday that it would sell all 28 of its Long Island, N.Y., branches to Dime Bancorp for a $210 million premium. The deal includes $1.3 billion of deposits [...]

Deutsche Bank said Wednesday that it has named John A. Ross president and chief executive officer of the German bank's American operations. A U.S. citizen and veteran financial markets expert, [...]

First Union Corp. delivered its second big earnings surprise of the year on Tuesday, warning that annual profits would fall at least 14% below the previous estimate of $4 a [...]

CLEVELAND - Dismissing talk that KeyCorp might be contemplating a merger, chairman and chief executive Robert W. Gillespie told shareholders Thursday that the company plans to be busy cutting costs [...]

MINNEAPOLIS - U.S. Bancorp said Monday that it has signed a multiyear contract with the Department of Defense to electronically track freight payments. Terms were not disclosed. Philip G. Heasley, [...]

CHICAGO - The new head of Bank One Corp.'s capital markets group says he is hoping for a bonanza in sales of debt and equity products to the company's 40,000 [...]

CHICAGO - Bank One Corp., which bought First Chicago NBD Corp. in October, said it has merged its two capital markets groups and named F. Gerald Byrne to head the [...]

CHICAGO - Bank One Corp. chief executive officer John B. McCoy's compensation jumped 11%, to $9 million in 1998, plus stock options valued at $2.8 million. Verne G. Istock, chairman [...]

CHICAGO - Bank One Corp. said Monday that over the next two years it expects its biggest earnings gains to come from credit cards, consumer finance, and investment management. In [...]

When it comes to acquisitions, George A. Schaefer Jr. has little desire to venture far from home. The chief executive officer of Cincinnati's Fifth Third Bancorp said he sees plenty [...]

CHICAGO - Bank One Corp. said it would cut up to 5% of its roughly 91,000 employees over the next year in connection with its acquisition of First Chicago NBD [...]

Bank One Corp. is about to get a personality makeover. The company plans to roll out its biggest-ever broadcast and print branding effort in coming months-a $60 million advertising campaign. [...]

CLEVELAND - The chairman and chief executive officer of National City Corp. says taking customers' deposits is at best a break-even business for banks. 'We've been talking for years about [...]

PITTSBURGH - Attempting to deal with consumers' fears that they will lose access to their money because of the year-2000 problem, Mellon Bank Corp. said it would open some of [...]

Citigroup said Wednesday that a longtime Citibanker has been named to head its Travelers Life and Annuity unit. J. Eric Daniels, a 23-year veteran of Citicorp, has been named president [...]

CHICAGO - European banks are carefully watching Congress in hopes of a legislative change that would let banks own U.S. insurance companies, the chief economist for Dutch banking giant ABN [...]

Comerica Inc. promoted two executives to vice chairman Tuesday, setting up a three-way race to succeed chairman and chief executive officer Eugene A. Miller when he retires in four years. [...]

CLEVELAND - National City Corp. of Cleveland would like to acquire a mortgage business that caters to people with damaged credit histories, said chief executive officer David A. Daberko. 'We [...]

Old Kent Financial Corp. would boost its presence in Chicago with a deal to buy Pinnacle Banc Group of Oak Brook, Ill., for about $243 million in stock. The deal, [...]

CHICAGO - Bank One Corp. said it will put its name on all First Chicago NBD branches by late September but that computer system conversions may not be completed until [...]

McLEAN, Va. - Freddie Mac on Monday unveiled its version of a controversial lower-cost mortgage insurance option for low-down-payment loans In the wake of industry contention over Fannie Mae's similar [...]

Despite recent speculation, St. Louis-based Mercantile Bancorp. may not be ready to sell just yet. Mercantile's stock closed Monday at $52.125 a share, up 93.75 cents for the day. The [...]

By Brett Chase Firstar Corp. chief executive Jerry Grundhofer's total compensation was $12.6 million last year, while chairman Roger Fitzsimonds made $18 million. The figures were in the company's proxy [...]

By BRETT CHASE Impatient with its slow-growth business of selling car and home insurance, Allstate Corp. is planning to sell more investment products. Last week Chicago-based Allstate announced it would [...]

By JAMES R. KRAUS and BRETT CHASE In another deal prompted by the creation of the euro, ABN Amro said Friday that it would buy a minority stake in the [...]

By BRETT CHASE Bank of Scotland is joining forces with televangelist Pat Robertson in an attempt to crack the U.S. retail banking market. The Edinburgh-based bank and the fundamentalist minister [...]

By BRETT CHASE and CHRIS COSTANZO The Internet has forced financial services companies to create brand images in a very short time, Bank One Corp.'s top retail executive told a [...]

By BRETT CHASE Martin G. McGuinn is starting to show his softer side. The chief executive officer of Mellon Bank Corp., Pittsburgh, said his priority is to make the bank [...]

Opening 105 supermarket branches took a toll last year on TCF Financial Corp. of Minneapolis, its chief executive officer acknowledges. Return on equity fell 206 basis points, to 17.51%, and [...]

John B. McCoy's 84-year-old mother may never bank on the Internet. But the chief executive officer of Bank One Corp. says he knows plenty of other people who would-enough to [...]