Friday, November 20, 2009

Cyber Crooks and U.S. Businesses

According to Brian Krebs with The Washington Post,

The FBI reports that cyber criminals have stolen over $40 million from U.S. small and mid-size firms since 2004, with the majority of them happening since the end of 2008.

The bad guys steal the victim's online banking credentials using malicious software distributed through spam. The crooks then make unauthorized money transfers, just under the banking reporting limits. The money is put into the account of a "money mule". A money mule is a willing or unwilling individual recruited over the Internet, usually through work-at-home job scams. The mules are instructed to pull the money out of their account and wire it to the bad guys, typically via Western Union or MoneyGram. These criminal groups operate in counties like Moldova, Russia, and / or the Ukraine.

Businesses that bank on-line are not covered by the same protections as consumers who bank on-line. Typically, when a consumer is defrauded, the bank will make them hole. Businesses bear more responsibility / liability.

The full article may be viewed at:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/10/fbi_cyber_gangs_stole_40mi.html

CIT Bankruptcy

Based on an article in The Times,

CIT group is a leading lender to small businesses. CIT filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy Nov. 1, 2009.

CIT is a 101 year old company. They were given $2.3 billion, yes BILLION, in bail out money from the government. CIT group asked for more, but the Obama administration turned them down.

Preferred shareholders, including the US Treasury, which received preference shares in return for the TARP money, will be repaid only if there is money left over after paying the bondholders. Ordinary share holders will be automatically wiped out.

Link to the complete article at:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article6898854.ece

Monday, November 16, 2009

US Bank Stock Quote

USB (Common Stock)
Price 23.38 Change - 0.1
Volume 17,994,756 % Change 0.43%
Intraday High 23.89 52 Week High 29.90
Intraday Low 23.18 52 Week Low 8.06
Today's Open 23.78 Currency US Dollar
Previous Close 23.48 Exchange NYSE

11/16/09 4:01 p.m. ET Pricing delayed 20 minutes

Thursday, November 12, 2009

ABA's Ten Tips to Spot Borrower Trouble

An interesting article was recently published by the American Banking Association (ABA), discusses the transparency of the BORROWER, providing ten tips to help a LENDER spot trouble.

(1) Failure to confront changed circumstances.
(2) Just listen.
(3) Observe "local business indicators."
(4) Mind the deposits.
(5) Look for any change in overdraft behaviors.
(6) Watch for late financial statements.
(7) Spend more time out of the bank and in the customers' places of business.
(8) Try to see the world as the customer sees it.
(9) Get your ducks in a row.
(10) Be mentally prepared for the worst.

See the entire article at:
http://www.ababj.com/blog/311.html

New FDIC rule

NEW FDIC RULE MAY QUICKEN THE DEMISE OF WEAK BANKS
Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, banks the FDIC regards as short of "well capitalized" will not be allowed to pay more than 75 basis points above the U.S. average rate for deposits, a new hurdle that could hinder their ability to compete for customers and threaten their liquidity and a development that industry observers say could lead to a sudden rise in failures early next year.
Referenced Tickers: MBR APAB
11/10/2009 3:51 PM ET

Monday, November 9, 2009

FDIC scam alert

The FDIC put out an alert October 27, 2009 about a rescent email scam. Bogus e-mails fradulently claiming to be from the FDIC are attempting to trick recipients into installing unknown software on their personal computers. The email does not ask the recipient to input any account numbers or specific information, but these eamils falsely indicate that recipients should download and open a "personal FDIC insurance file" to check their deposit insurance coverage. The "insurance file" appears to be a form of spyware intended to collect personal, confidential information as the user later logs into their actual banking web site, or enters credit card numbers for web purchases, etc.

Information about counterfeit items, cyber-fraud incidents and other fraudulent activity should be sent to:

FDIC's Cyber-Fraud and Financial Crimes Section
550 17th Street, N.W., Room F-3054
Washington, D.C. 20429

or transmitted electronically to alert@fdic.gov

The full article may be accessed at:
http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2009/sa09183.html

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Peer bank downgraded

This morning S&P downgraded the long term rating of Regions' parent company one notch to BBB from BBB+. Regions' long term rating at the bank level was also downgraded one notch to BBB+ from A-. Both the parent company and bank were placed on negative outlook.

Monday, November 2, 2009

US Bank acquires FBOP Corporation subsidiaries

October 30, 2009 US Bank announced they had acquired the banking subsidiaries of FBOP Corporation of Oak Park, Illinois, from the FDIC. This transaction includes nine different banks with more than $18 billions in total assets and 150 branches in California, Illinois, Arizona and Texas. The nine banks that are part of this acquisition are: BankUSA, N.A.; California National Bank; Citizens National Bank; Madisonville State Bank; North Houston Bank; Pacific National Bank; Park National Bank; San Diego National Bank; and Community Bank of Lemont.

U.S. Bank will receive approximately $18.4 billion of assets and assume approximately $18.3 billion of liabilities, including $15.4 billion of both insured and uninsured deposits, of the nine different banks that are part of FBOP.

The nine banks involved in this transaction will continue to operate under their current names and will be re-branded as U.S. Bank branches in the near future.

Prior to this announcement, U.S. Bank had 570 branch offices in California, 75 branch offices in Arizona and 127 branch offices in Illinois. U.S. Bank currently does not have a retail banking presence in Texas.

US Bank Stock Price

It will be interesting to see what happens to the stock price this week, with CIT declaring bankruptcy yesterday. US Bank also announced its acquisition of 9 banks through an FDIC facilitated transaction. More details on both to follow.

Stock Quote

USB (Common Stock)
Price 23.75 Change + 0.53
Volume 244,494 % Change 2.28%
Intraday High 23.77 52 Week High 32.35
Intraday Low 23.55 52 Week Low 8.06
Today's Open 23.55 Currency US Dollar
Previous Close 23.22 Exchange NYSE

11/02/09 9:30 a.m. ET Pricing delayed 20 minutes