The Passing of Terry Miller
June 3, 2011 Leave a comment
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Supervising Examiner Terry Miller joined the Department in July 1966 and after 37 years retired in July 2003…
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Examiner News – Friday, June 3, 2011
June 3, 2011 Leave a comment
Moodys Credit Outlook
Weekly Market Outlook
“When the Feedback Loops Turn Negative: US Credit Markets and Economic Activity.” Credit spreads have widened in response to a spate of weaker-than-expected readings on US economic activity. A constructive decline by Treasury bond yields and a softening of energy prices are necessary if confidence in the economic outlook is to be restored. Otherwise, financial markets are vulnerable to a correction whose severity could be worse than that of 2010.
“Market Signals of Greek Default Stabilize; Contagion Risks Remain Limited.” Market sentiment towards Greek sovereign debt showed some improvement this week, as European policymakers began to openly discuss the
News Clips – Friday, June 3, 2011
June 3, 2011 Leave a comment
| MUFG May Get Systemically Important Status, Deutsche Bank Says Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin |
| Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. , Japan’s biggest publicly traded bank, may be defined as one of the most important lenders to the international financial system, according to Deutsche Bank AG. Status as a so-called global systemically important financial institution will probably be given to the Tokyo-based bank because of its ties with Morgan Stanley, said Yoshinobu Yamada, an analyst at Deutsche Bank in Tokyo. MUFG May Get Systemically Important Status, Deutsche Bank Says – Bloomberg . |
| Posted in Bank Regulation (domestic) , Bank Regulation (Foreign) , Basel II | Basel III , Capital Requirements , Too Big To Fail | Comments Off |
| Mortgage bankers press FHA to use e-signatures Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin The Mortgage Bankers Association sent a letter to the Federal Housing Administration this week requesting the use of electronic signatures for all mortgage origination forms. The letter was sent to Bob Ryan, the acting commissioner of the FHA. He was originally hired as the FHA’s first chief risk officer in 2009 by David Stevens. Stevens left his role as the head of the FHA in April to become the new CEO for the MBA. In the letter, the MBA said by allowing e-signatures on all forms, there would be less paperwork lost, fewer possibilities for fraud, a reduction in the time it takes to close a loan and even lower costs for borrowers. Mortgage bankers press FHA to use e-signatures « HousingWire . Posted in FHA , Mortgage Fraud , Mortgage Industry , Mortgage Loan Servicers | Comments Off |
| James R. Doty Says Audit Firms May Have to Be Rotated Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin Publicly traded companies may be forced to change their audit firms after several years, the chief regulator of the industry said Thursday…James R. Doty, who became chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board this year, said in a speech that he had been disturbed by evidence turned up by board inspectors that many auditors failed to show sufficient independence from their clients…The idea of forcing companies to change auditors, perhaps every seven or 10 years, has been raised periodically in response to accounting scandals since at least 1977, when Senator Lee Metcalf suggested such a step in the wake of the scandal at Equity Funding, an insurance and mutual fund company that falsified its sales figures. It has been bitterly opposed by accounting firms, which argue that such rotations would do little for audit quality but would drive up costs and create great problems for complex companies trying to explain their operations to a new set of auditors. James R. Doty Says Audit Firms May Have to Be Rotated – NYTimes.com . Posted in Financial Regulation , Insurance | Comments Off |
| Dodd-Frank Rules Will Help Derivatives End-Users, Gensler Says Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin Dodd-Frank Act rules for the derivatives market will help manufacturers and other corporate end-users compete for better prices from Wall Street dealers, said Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “The financial community maintains information advantages over their nonfinancial counterparties,” Gensler said in a speech prepared for a New York conference of the National Association of Corporate Treasurers. Swap buyers don’t generally know how much other customers pay for similar trades because Wall Street banks don’t disclose the prices, Gensler said. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=syndmedia_news&sid=ao_s7F2E4yfk&refer=syndmedia%0A%09%09%09 Posted in CFTC , Dodd-Frank , Financial Regulation , Swaps | Comments Off |
| Press Release: New Names at ICBA Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin Per release: The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) today announced the promotion of several members of its executive staff, including the promotions of Paul Merski, senior vice president and chief economist, to executive vice president, congressional relations and chief economist … In addition to serving as ICBA chief economist and a lead lobbyist on small business and tax issues, Paul Merski will now lead the congressional relations division within the Government Relations department.” ICBA – News – News Release – ICBA Announces Executive Staff Promotions . Posted in Community Banks , Lobbying | Comments Off |
| IRS Loosens Aug. 31 Deadline for Offshore Tax Disclosures Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin The Internal Revenue Service will let taxpayers with undeclared offshore accounts apply for a 90-day extension of the Aug. 31 deadline for coming forward. The change, announced on the IRS website today, would let taxpayers seek the extension in writing by showing that they have made a “good-faith attempt” to meet the deadline and explain what information they are missing. IRS Loosens Aug. 31 Deadline for Offshore Tax Disclosures – Bloomberg . Posted in Financial Regulation , Government , IRS , Tax Evasion | Comments Off |
| Amendment to resolve MERS issues dies in committee Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin An Oregon House Judiciary Committee delivered another blow to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, or MERS, by refusing to pass an amendment to a bill that would have given parties like MERS more room to maneuver around Oregon’s mortgage assignment rules. The amendment, which was attached to an affordable housing bill, would have allowed MERS room to launch a nonjudicial foreclosure without the recording of all mortgage assignments as required by state law…Angela Martin, executive director of Economic Fairness Oregon, said with Oregon being a nonjudicial foreclosure state, laws on foreclosure are specifically designed to provide extra safety measures for homeowners. Oregon amendment to resolve MERS issues dies in committee « HousingWire . Posted in Foreclosure , MERS , Mortgage Fraud , Mortgage Industry , Mortgage Loan Servicers , Robo-signing | Comments Off |
| FINRA fines Northern Trust for lack of business oversight Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Chicago-based Northern Trust Securities $600,000 for improperly keeping track of its investment products and exposing investors to major risk. FINRA said Thursday that Northern Trust insufficiently monitored its collateralized mortgage obligations sales as well as its large securities trades. Between January 2007 and June 2008, 43.5% of Northern Trust’s business was not reviewed or supervised, FINRA alleged. More specifically, FINRA said certain customer accounts at the firm held “potentially unsuitable” levels of CMOs. FINRA fines Northern Trust for lack of business oversight « HousingWire . Posted in CDOs, Collateralized Debt Obligations , Financial Regulation , FinRA | Comments Off |
| House Democrats urge Obama to make Warren CFPB Director Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin Dozens of House Democrats urged President Obama to name Elizabeth Warren director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a letter sent to the White House Thursday. The letter, which was inked by House Financial Services Committee members Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), advised the President to name Warren to the post even if a recess appointment is required. Republican lawmakers managed to delay the potential for a recess appointment during the Memorial Week break, but the long drawn-out drama surrounding Elizabeth Warren is far from over. House Democrats urge Obama to make Warren CFPB director « HousingWire . Posted in Bank Regulation (domestic) , CFPB , Financial Regulation | Comments Off |
| Case Study: Cycle Shop Struggles to Get Financing Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin THE CHALLENGE Obtaining a $1 million loan to refinance the mortgage on the bike store, pay down credit card debt and obtain working capital. Kopp’s Cycle Struggles to Get Financing – Case Study – NYTimes.com . Posted in Mortgage Industry , Small Business | Comments Off |
| Spear Phishing Uses Friendly Faces to Spread E-Mail Fraud Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin Most people know to ignore the e-mail overture from a Nigerian prince offering riches in exchange for a bank account number. That is a scam, plain to the eye. But what if the e-mail appears to come from a colleague down the hall? And all he asks is that you add some personal information to a company database? This is spear phishing, a rapidly proliferating form of fraud that comes with a familiar face: messages that seem to be from co-workers, friends or family members, customized to trick you into letting your guard down online. And it has turned into a major problem, according to technology companies and computer security experts. Spear Phishing Uses Friendly Faces to Spread E-Mail Fraud – NYTimes.com . Posted in Consumer Protection , Identity Theft , Personal Finance , Schemes & Fraud | Comments Off |
| Statements Skip Over REIT’s Troubles Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin This week the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority filed a disciplinary action against Lerner, accusing it of misleading investors in selling the current Apple REIT, No. 10. It said Lerner was “targeting unsophisticated and elderly customers with unsuitable sales of this illiquid security” and misled them regarding the record of earlier Apple funds. Just a day later, an investment management company began a tender offer for up to 5 percent of the outstanding Apple Eight shares…The Apple REITs are perhaps the most egregious of a little-known class of investments. unlisted REITs, that are sold to investors who think they are being cautious. They are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but not publicly traded. Statements Skip Over REIT’s Troubles – High & Low Finance – NYTimes.com . Posted in Financial Fraud , Financial Regulation , FinRA , SEC | Comments Off |
| Treasury Sells Warrants of Connecticut-Based Bank Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin The government says it received $20.4 million from the sale of warrants it held in Webster Financial Corp., the latest move to recoup costs from the $700 billion financial bailout program. The Treasury Department said Friday it received $6.30 for each warrant in the auction that took place on Thursday. Treasury had set a minimum bid price of $5.50 per warrant. Buyers of the 3.28 million warrants will have the right to purchase Webster Financial stock at $18.28 per share. Webster Financial, a bank based in Waterbury, Conn., received $400 million from the federal government in November 2008 at the height of the financial crisis. It completed repayment of the money in December 2010. The warrant sale severs its last link to the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. Treasury Sells Warrants of Connecticut-Based Bank – NYTimes.com . Posted in Bank Bail-Outs , TARP , Treasury Department | Comments Off |
| A Trader, an F.B.I. Witness, and Then a Suicide Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin In a Manhattan courtroom last week, federal prosecutors played for a jury a secretly recorded telephone conversation between two Wall Street traders exchanging stock tips. Two days later, one of those traders, Ephraim G. Karpel, hanged himself in his Fifth Avenue office, according to a law enforcement official. Mr. Karpel was never charged with any wrongdoing, and until last week his name had not emerged in connection with the government’s vast investigation of insider trading. Yet while working for a New York commodities firm, he had agreed in 2008 to cooperate with federal authorities, and for about a year he taped conversations with fellow traders, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss it. A Trader, an F.B.I. Witness, and Then a Suicide – NYTimes.com . Posted in Financial Regulation , Whistle-blowers | Comments Off |
| Goldman Sachs hit with subpoena from Manhattan DA Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance has a fat new target: Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs, which got hit with a subpoena into its actions right before the 2008 credit collapse. The subpoena stems from a scathing 639-page Senate report accusing Goldman of deliberately selling toxic mortgage-backed securities to unsuspecting clients, knowing the housing market was about to crash. “It’s very serious,” said a law enforcement source who noted Thursday that Vance’s office is “throwing resources at it.” Goldman Sachs hit with subpoena from Manhattan DA: Will Wall St. fat cats face jail for ’08 crisis? . Posted in Bank Regulation (domestic) , Lawsuit , Mortgage Backed Securities | Comments Off |
Crain’s Insider – Friday, June 3, 2011
June 3, 2011 Leave a comment
Today’s News Friday, June 03, 2011
Cuomo Backs Ward, for Now
It took a week for the governor’s office to deny the rumor that Chris Ward would be dumped as executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey after this summer. “There are no plans to replace Chris Ward at this time,” a spokesman told the Insider . Foes of Ward in New Jersey are believed to have planted the rumor with a former Newark Star-Ledger reporter who recently moved to the Post . Ward’s New York transportation allies, in response, issued statements endorsing him. Gov. Andrew Cuomo tried to tamp down the rumors with behind-the-scenes phone calls, but until yesterday his office had issued no public support.
Governor Stays Grounded
Gov. Andrew Cuomo regularly travels between Albany and his home in Mount Kisco, typically by car. The round-trip takes more than four hours but protects him from the stigma of taxpayer-funded air travel, as helicopter-hopping New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie discovered this week. Use of New York’s state plane resulted in bad press for former Gov. George Pataki and former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. A spokesman for Cuomo said, “The governor travels in accordance with the rules of the state.”
Horse Carriage Hearsay
Steve Nislick won’t be at a Central Park rally tomorrow for a ban on carriage horses. Neither will his organization, New Yorkers for Clean, Livable & Safe Streets, which advocates replacing carriage horses with vintage cars. Unionized carriage-horse drivers are convinced that the Manhattan Mini Storage magnate is working behind the scenes to get his hands on their stables near the Hudson River. But State Sen. Tony Avella, who has sponsored a bill to prohibit the carriages, doesn’t think Nislick is involved. “I haven’t spoken with Steve in two years,” he said.
Walmart Connection Angers
Walmart opponents are attacking the retailer for its renewed, though indirect, association with a consultant it once dropped for masterminding a campaign ad that stoked racial prejudices. Terry Nelson, who developed the infamous “Harold, call me” TV ad that tainted the Senate run of former Rep. Harold Ford, is a founder of FP1 Strategies, which has been retained by a business coalition Walmart belongs to. Nelson is not working on the account, however, which was brought in by co-founder Danny Diaz. Councilwoman Tish James, who opposes Walmart, said the distinction is irrelevant. “He’s a partner in the firm, and therefore he’s going to benefit,” she said.
Weiner’s problems propel foes
Even if Rep. Anthony Weiner’s mayoral chances are not sunk by a lewd photo sent from his Twitter account, the congressman’s rivals are getting a boost as he takes a national nosedive.
“Given how well-versed Anthony Weiner should be in the business of politics, I’m surprised at how poorly he’s handling the situation,” said a former Democratic consultant. “For the first time, you question whether he has the judgment to be mayor.”
A mysterious crotch shot apparently taken by the subject was sent to a Weiner Twitter follower. The Brooklyn-Queens Democrat hasn’t put the matter to rest, and the longer doubts linger about whether the photo is of him, the less he will be trusted, insiders said.
“Weiner’s problem is [that] a story unanswered never goes away,” said a political consultant. “It does matter to average Joes and Janes, because they are all connected to the Internet. They hear things that don’t make sense.”
Upstate Rep. Chris Lee resigned last year after e-mailing a shirtless photo of himself to a potential mistress. Weiner seems likely to stay in office, but “running for mayor is not in the cards,” said a Democratic insider. “He’s Chris Lee in gray underwear. He hasn’t even been attacked by the Republicans yet. What happens when the photo of what may or may not be Weiner’s crotch becomes the 2012 [version of Rep. Charlie] Rangel asleep in a lounge chair?”
Democratic consultant Hank Scheinkopf, who helped Bill Thompson become comptroller in 2001, said Weiner’s foibles give Thompson the ability to be the outer-borough candidate.
Without Weiner in the race, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, of Brooklyn, could play the “outer-borough white guy” card, an insider said.
Ultimately, the former consultant says, Weiner’s problems are pluses for other mayoral contenders. “It helps everyone because Anthony had the most money. And he was—I’m speaking in past tense already—the front-runner because of that money and his name recognition. It frees up oxygen in general for anyone to rise to the top.”
At a Glance
GOVERNORS ISLAND FERRY: East River ferry service that begins June 13 will offer $4 service to Governors Island. But riders leaving from Pier 6 in Brooklyn and the Battery Maritime Building in Manhattan can still use New York Waterway’s free service, which is paid for by the Trust for Governors Island.
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