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Commercial, industrial and business lending rose significantly in 1995. Banks' commercial and industrial loans increased 12.3% in 1995 to a portfolio total of $661.5 bil, following a 9% increase in 1994. Business lending, which includes leasing and real estate lending, rose 16.2% to $1.076 trillion in outstandings. BankAmerica was the top commercial and industrial lender with a $47.9 bil portfolio; Citicorp is the leading business lender with $96.2 bil in outstandings; and NationsBank is the top real estate lender with $17.7 bil., Business lending is back in a big way. Last year, commercial and industrial loan portfolios of U.S. banks jumped a whopping 12.3%, to $661.5 billion, according to data prepared for [...]

Bank lending to businesses soared in 1994, reflecting strong corporate demand and a revival in commercial real estate finance. Bankers tied the lending surge, evident in a newly expanded annual [...]

A profile of 40 bankers under the age of 40 is presented. The list includes executives of banks of all sizes from across the US. There are 12 women and 28 men on the list. Biographical, education and employment backgrounds and a photograph are included for each individual., 1 SUSANNE A. BRAUER Vice president CNB Bacnshares Inc., Evansville, Ind. If CNB Bancshares is buying another bank, it probably means Sue Brauer has been working on the weekend again [...]

American Banker's report on the savings industry for the first half of 1992 shows that the industry has shrunk about one-eighth since the first six months of 1991. The number of thrifts fell to 2,524, a 12.4% drop, as of Jun 30, 1992. Failures ended the existence of 358 savings institutions during the year. Deposits were $883.3 billion, down 11.7%, and assets fell 12.1% to $1.1 trillion. Only 29 of the 300 largest thrifts were undercapitalized, but 12 of these were under Resolution Trust Corp control on June 30, 1992. Statistical tables are given., By any measure, the thrift industry has shrunk by about one-eighth since last year, according to American Banker's midyear survey of the savings business. As of June 30, deposits had [...]

A series of profiles about up-and-coming banking industry executives under 40 years of age is presented. Among the bankers are senior financial officers, technology specialists, marketing experts and community bank officials. Most were successful in trading and retail banking while several gained added prominence by representing trade organizations in political lobbying., JOHN BAHNKEN Senior vice president Fleet/Norstar, Providence, R.I. John Bahnken, 37, knows a lot about merging banks, and that should stand him in good stead as the industry consolidates. Mr. [...]

The banking industry's 88 mergers and acquisitions (m&a) conducted in the first quarter of 1997 totaled over $22 billion, the highest total for a quarter since the third quarter of 1995. The average price paid for a given bank during the quarter was almost twice book value, and the quarter included such behemoth m&a's as First Bank System Inc.'s $9 billion acquisition of U.S. Bancorp. and the $6.7 billion hostile bid involving H.F. Ahmanson & Co. and Great Western Financial Corp., More than $22 billion of merger deals were announced in the banking and thrift industries in the first three months of 1997, making it the strongest quarter for mergers since [...]

Signet Banking Corp has become a major credit card issuer by following the advice of executive vice president Richard D. Fairbank. Fairbank realized in the mid 1980s that banks should be offering more than a single-priced credit card product, and they should use predictive models to improve risk. Signet began offering a variety of credit products, and its credit card portfolio grew 65% between 3rd qtr 1992 and the end of 1st qtr 1993. It also improved its credit losses by spending millions of dollars on predictive modeling technology., While major credit card banks were pouring money into a market that appeared to be nearing the saturation point in the mids, 1980s, consultant Richard D. Fairbank saw 'a major-league [...]

Visa International and MasterCard International Inc have taken opposing positions on the question of dual issuance of debit and business cards. Duality was adopted for consumer credit cards in 1975. Some Visa executives regret this move, and Visa's new line of business products will prohibit duality. MasterCard favors dual-issued cards and sees Visa's policy as an attempt to restrict customer choice and hold on to its market share., Suddenly, everyone in the credit card industry seems to be talking about duality - a contentious issue that was supposedly resolved long ago. Dual card issuance - banks offering both [...]

AT and T Universal Card Services Corp provides research facilities at which the latest technological developments in computer systems can be tested. The systems under review include fraud control technology and various developments in computer interface design and communications innovations. Customer service is a high priority for the company and it has developed computer systems that allow operators to access customer information quickly and efficiently., IN A BUSINESS that changes as quickly as the fashion industry, AT&T Universal Card Services' new research and development lab could be described as a high-tech fitting room. At the [...]

Citicorp is using several techniques to counter credit card fraud. For example, the company alerts card members before and after the time their card should arrive. In addition, Citicorp verifies whether the correct person has received the card before activating it. The company uses several other fraud prevention techniques, such as printing the member's photograph on the card or assigning each card an individual number apart from the account number. These methods have allowed the company to begin to decrease Citicorp credit card fraud. Overall, such fraud increased 46% to $3.82 billion in 1992 over 1991 figures., NEW YORK -- In an encouraging sign for the credit card industry, the nation's biggest bank card issuer is reporting progress in the battle against fraud. 'We have halted the [...]

The banking industry still favors securitizing its credit card receivables, even though the market for credit-backed securities decreased substantially in 1992. The banking industry's securitized debt grew to $60.5 billion in the four quarters ending Sep 30, 1992, an increase of 25% compared to 1991. A Merrill Lynch and Company Inc report predicts that the credit card-backed securities market will increase to $19.8 billion in 1993, a $4 billion increase over., The market for securities backed by credit card receivables slumped in 1992, but banks' enthusiasm for spinning off their card debt has not waned, according to an American Banker survey. [...]

Bank card associations are increasing their efforts to perpetrators of catch credit card fraud and to institute preventive measures as criminals become more daring. The cost of US credit card fraud reached $858 million in 1992. A number of credit card scams are described. The associations are experimenting with courier delivery of cards, and bank employees are being trained in how to spot fraudulent cards. The high cost of new security technologies, including voice, fingerprint or retina scanning, has deterred their use, but as fraud increases they may become cost effective., Don Inscoe, associate director of the statistics branch at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., recently became a statistic himself He is one of an increasing number of people who have [...]

American Banker's annual commercial real estate survey has indicated that US banks' foreclosed commercial property portfolios increased $5.4 billion in 1991, bringing the foreclosed real estate total to $27.4 billion. The rate of increase in property foreclosures slowed to 27.4%, down from 55.8% in 1990. The survey also revealed that Bank of America, on finalization of its merger with Security Pacific Corp, will surpass Citibank as the top-ranked real estate lender., The nation's banks added $5.4 billion to their portfolios of foreclosed commercial properties last year, indicating that banks will be burdened by real estate problems for years. Last year's additions [...]

Building on its industry-leading business in fund accounting and administration services, State Street Corp. will assume all fund accounting and daily pricing services for Merrill Lynch & Co.'s U.S. retail [...]

We are not authorized to publish this article provided by Bloomberg News. Copyright c 2000 American Banker, Inc. All Rights Reserved. [...]

A strategic repositioning at Huntington Bancshares is proving to be a dud with bank stock analysts. The Columbus, Ohio banking company, which outlined the plan when it reported first-quarter earnings [...]

Bank stocks lagged behind other groups Monday as investors sought bargains after Friday's rout. The American Banker index was up only 1.59%, despite some cheerleading from analysts. The Dow Jones [...]

We are not authorized to publish this article provided by Bloomberg News. Copyright c 2000 American Banker, Inc. All Rights Reserved. [...]

As mortgage editor at American Banker, I view with increasing skepticism the mountain of faxes and e-mails that arrives each day from Internet and software companies. It doesn't help that [...]

Specialty lenders report feeling an ominous ripple as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae dip their toes into the home equity and subprime mortgage pool. The big government-sponsored enterprises say the [...]

ORLANDO, Fla. - Home equity lenders who convened here Thursday were smarting from a double-barreled volley of bad publicity from The New York Times and ABC News. The giant news [...]

For the first time, commercial bankers are expected to be the majority at the National Home Equity Mortgage Association's annual conference. The change reflects both an increase in home equity [...]

PHILADELPHIA - Rock star David Bowie, who started a minitrend among pop musicians by securitizing his song royalties, recently became the first to open his own Internet bank. Under an [...]

A new study shows midsize banks have the edge in making money from their retail customers. Banks in the $10 billion to $35 billion category led the industry with $153 [...]

The focus of money laundering investigations is shifting from private banking operations to correspondent banking relationships. On the heels of congressional hearings into the anti-money-laundering safeguards in Citigroup's private banking [...]

Moody's Investors Service last week issued a report detailing its approach to bonds issued under recent changes in French law. In hopes of fostering a more efficient secondary market, France [...]

Assets of the top 100 thrifts grew 14.4%, to $645.8 billion, in the 12 months through June 30, reflecting continued consolidation in the sector. Industry assets grew only 7.7% in [...]

As the debate over the financial modernization package entered its final, sensitive stages, it came close to being derailed by disagreements over the 22-year-old Community Reinvestment Act. When the bill [...]

GMAC-RFC is eyeing expansion into Japan. Bruce Paradis, president of the Minneapolis-based subsidiary of General Motors Acceptance Corp., said he has interviewed a candidate to head an operation in Japan, [...]

BOSTON - Mortgage lenders at the industry's annual convention face a wrenching period of consolidation as rising interest rates cut into loan demand. The number of people working as home [...]

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday that the Fed must focus more on surging stock prices and home values as it sets monetary policy. That could imply further rate [...]

Shares of Washington Mutual Inc. slid 3.75%, to $39.625, Thursday after an influential analyst said he failed to see cost savings from the Seattle thrift's acquisition of Great Western Financial [...]

Consolidation in the banking industry is speeding toward its final phase-a wave of deals that could create a few dominant national companies, according to the head of Goldman, Sachs & [...]

Mark L. Sirower, the author of 'The Synergy Trap,' a book that examines major acquisitions and mergers between 1979 and 1990, believes that many companies lose shareholder value after mergers because they fail to improve their performance. Sirower believes that many companies make bad merger decisions because they fail to understand that they must continue to adapt to changing business conditions., Mergers have destroyed billions of dollars in shareholder value because acquirers failed to anticipate the need to improve performance after closing a deal. That's the premise of a new book [...]

The stock market registered an increase in the value of bank stocks traded on Mar 5, 1997 following Federal Reserve Chmn Alan Greenspan's positive remarks on the financial market situation at a House Banking Committee hearing. Greenspan believes that positive projections regarding financial institutions' profits have boosted the value of banks' stocks. Smith Barney Inc's analyst Henry C. Dickson also reports an increase in equity prices and forecasts a 12%-increase in banks' earnings., Bank stocks rallied Wednesday on reassuring comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and a bullish report on the industry by a leading analyst. The Standard & Poor's bank index [...]

Bankers Trust New York Corp, along with Wells Fargo and Co and Banc One Corp, is lending Bristol Hotel Co of Dallas, TX, $505 mil. for the purchase of 61 Holiday Inns from Bass PLC. Bristol Hotel will become the largest owner of full-service hotels in North America with the acquisition. The loan is based on the cash flow of the acquired hotels, amounts to 40% to 45% their value, and is expected to close in the 2nd qtr of 1997., In a sign of banks' resurgent interest in commercial real estate, Bankers Trust New York Corp. is leading a $505 million loan for Bristol Hotel Co.'s purchase of 61 Holiday [...]

A KPMG Peat Marwick report says that major banks have resumed making risky real estate loans without putting in place the necessary safeguards to guard against loss. The report notes that the banks have failed to learn from the lessons of the late 1908s when the banking industry almost collapsed because of the billions of dollars worth of bad property loans they made. KPMG official Carl Kane attributed the problem to the huge capital available for a much smaller product., Barely five years after the industry's near collapse under the weight of billions of dollars of bad property loans, some experts fear the seeds of the next commercial real estate [...]

Banks will get to enjoy this year's stable interest rate environment a while longer after the Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday to again leave its monetary policy unchanged. With inflation [...]

Lawyer David S. Neill observed in a recent article that the US Dept of Justice is imposing new antitrust rules which are more severe than previous guidelines on bank mergers. In 'Bank and Corporate Governance Law Reporter,' Neill pointed to the Justice Dept's growing focus on a new loan-to-asset test, and reallocation of commercial deposits by customer ZIP code. The Justice Dept is also taking more interest in the impact of mergers on middle-market banking, Neill said., The Justice Department has begun imposing new antitrust policies on bank mergers that could unexpectedly complicate future deals, a prominent merger and acquisition attorney says. David S. Neill, a partner [...]

Syndicated lending continued at a near-record pace in the third quarter as banks stepped up with financing for their merger-minded corporate customers. Although volume slipped to $226.3 billion from the [...]

Bankers Trust New York Corp has reopened the door to the market in the banking industry that provides for hotel companies' financial needs. The bank has garnered over $7 billion in hotel refinancing deals and acquisitions, and in the process has laid down the foundation for the sector's resurgence. Some of the financial loans involving Bankers Trust include $995 million to Host Marriott for acquisitions and $165 million to Boca Raton Resort and Club for an expansion project., Despite a virtual standstill in hotel construction since the early 1990s, Bankers Trust New York Corp.'s securities unit has quietly built a huge business raising capital for hotel companies. With [...]

Midwestern banks believe that they will benefit from NationsBank's acquisition of St. Louis, MO-based Boatmen's Bancshares. As a result of the deal, NationsBank will gain a presence in seven new states, becoming the market leader in five of them. Rival banks believe that they will be able to attract disaffected Boatmen's customers., Midwest banks are ready to rumble. While professing a healthy respect for NationsBank Corp., bankers across the region said they are undaunted by the prospect of having to compete with [...]

Some analysts believe that the announced mergers of American Savings with Washington Mutual Inc and Cal Fed Bancorp with First Nationwide Inc are the precursors to a wave of acquisitions in California. A Smith Barney analyst says that big California thrifts could command high prices if the pattern in other states is repeated. The thrifts in California are big, and it will take large banks to absorb them., Merger surfers in California think they've finally caught the perfect wave. The deals announced between American Savings and Washington Mutual Inc. and between First Nationwide Inc. and Cal Fed Bancorp. [...]

Cal Fed Bancorp is discussing a possible merger with First Nationwide Bank, which would help First Nationwide expand into Southern California and cut costs, according to industry officials. In response to the possible merger, California savings and thrift banks stock prices rose dramatically. For example, Great Western Financial shares rose to $23 per share from $1 per share., Stock prices of California thrifts jumped higher Thursday in response to a published report that Cal Fed Bancorp is in merger talks with First Nationwide Bank. Merger speculation about the [...]

Analysts are of opposing opinions regarding the banking sector's stock outlook. J.P. Morgan Securities analyst Catherine Murray feels that the banking industry for the next three to six months from Jul 1996 will tend to follow the stock market, and in some cases underperform relative to the broader market. Gruntal & Co analyst Katrina Blecher holds the opposite view and remains bullish on the banking industry's stock prospects., Analysts reevaluating their positions after a turbulent week in the stock market were only cautiously optimistic about what the rest of the year will bring for banking and financial stocks. [...]

The upcoming Supreme Court ruling on supervisory goodwill lawsuits is expected to affect the share prices of many savings and loan associations (S&Ls). The federal government could be held liable for over $10 bil in damages if the Supreme Court upholds a U.S. Court of Appeals decision that would allow the government to repeal favorable accounting rules for S&Ls on the condition that it pay for damages., In an action expected to have a significant impact on the price of some thrift shares, the U.S. Supreme Court could rule soon - perhaps today - on supervisory goodwill [...]