Archive for September, 2009
Mortgage Interest Rates Hit New Lows
Mortgage interest rates are sitting at about the lowest they have ever been. The averaged 30-year fixed rate loan is hovering at about 4.97% and the average 15-year loan is sitting at just 4.25% as of the week of September 25th, 2009. These banner rates will be available to consumers with good credit scores, have [...]
Certificate of Deposit Rates to Drop Even Lower
Certificate of Deposit interest rates are likely to continue to drop because of a new rate cap that will be going into effect. Starting in January of 2010, the federal government will begin to index the interest rates that major national banks are paying. BizJournal reported that smaller community banks that may be in danger [...]
Student Loan Borrowing Outpacing Tuition Increases
According to a new college study, tuition increases at private schools during the 2008-2009 school year increased by just 4.5%, the smallest increase since 1972. At the same time, student loan borrowing has increased by 25% year-over-year according to a new study from the U.S. Department of Education. So what’s going on? State-supported schools have [...]
World Bank President Says US Dollar’s Status as Reserve Currency Coming to an End
Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bnak, said that the U.S. dollar’s role as the world’s reserve crisis may be declining significantly as a result of the global financial crisis. Zoellick says that the dollar will remain a major economic force, but that the balance of power is shifting to other currencies including the Euro [...]
The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE: HIG) Names McGee As New CEO
The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE: HIG) announced Tuesday it has named Liam E. McGee as it new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. McGee, 55, is a former President of the Consumer and Small Business Bank at Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). He is replacing Ramani Ayer, who announced in June that would retire later [...]
BB&T Corp (NYSE: BBT) Follows Wells Fargo and Bank of America and Restructures Overdraft Fees
BB&T Corp (NYSE: BBT) will eliminate overdraft fees for debit cards and ATM transactions when clients overdraft their checking accounts by less than $5.00 as of January 1st. The North Carolina based bank says it also will not charge more fan four overdraft fees per days. BB&T customers will also be alerted at its ATMs [...]
Citibank (NYSE: C) Sells Diners Club Processing Business to U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) subsidiary.
Citibank (NYSE: C) has sold part of its Diners Club credit card processing business to a subsidiary of US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) as part of an attempt to slim down and generate new capital. Elavon, which is part of U.S. Bancorp, acquired Citibank’s Diners Club “merchant location” portfolio in Western Europe, which represents over 75,000 [...]
Destroyed Phone Coversations Prompt New Calls for Further Investigation into Countrywide’s VIP Loan Scandal
Although Democrat Senators Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad were cleared of violating any gift rule for accepting loan discounts in Countrywide’s VIP loan program, they were admonished at the time for being lax in how they handled the transactions, as it at minimum gave them the look of doing something wrong. Even so, it has [...]
FDIC Exploring Pre-Pay Fee Option In Order To Replenish Deposit Fund
In another possible move to replenish a severely depleted deposit insurance fund; The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is considering asking member banks to pre-pay $36 billion in fees in order to boost the funds reserves, according to recent reports. The option is expected to be brought up for discussion at an FDIC meeting on Tuesday. [...]
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Withdraws Support for ACORN
The U.S. Congress and several corporate partners are distancing themselves from the community-organizing group Acorn and now Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) has withdrawn their support for the embattled organization. In a recent statement made to the Wall Street Journal, a Bank of America spokesperson stated that the bank has “suspended current commitments” to Acorn’s [...]
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) Tops in Debt and Equity Underwriting Fees
Although mergers and acquisitions have plunged in the third quarter, which has resulted in the decline in banking fees, one bright spot for JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) & Co has been the success in raising capital for debt and equity, which has led them to solid underwriting fee revenue for the third quarter. Ahead of all [...]
Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) Offers New CFO Huge Pay Package
Now that Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) has offered a huge pay package to incoming CFO Ross Kari, where he could end up making about $3.5 million while also getting a signing bonus close to $2 million, lawmakers can drop the faux outrage over executive pay and financial institutions, as the hypocrisy is deafening, now that this [...]
Citibank (NYSE: C) CEO Expects No Major Changes for Retail Banking
Rumors are flying that Citibank (NYSE: C) will be pulling out of all but a few major metropolitan areas, but contrary to recent indications in the Wall Street Journal, it seems that its branches nation-wide will be largely unaffected. The report that surfaced Wednesday indicated that Citibank might leave Pennsylvania, Massachusets and Texas to focus [...]
SmartyPig brings Bob Weinschenk on as New CEO
SmartyPig, a firm that offers online goal-based savings accounts, has announced that it will be appointing Bob Weinschenk as its new Chief Executive Officer. Before joining SmartyPig, Weinschenk was co-founded and CEO of Barfly Interactive Networks that was acquired by TouchTunes in September, 2008. Weinschenk is also co-founded and director for www.smarthealthykids.com, which is a [...]
Citigroup (NYSE: C) Sues Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) for $245 million over Credit-Default Swap Agreement
Citigroup (NYSE: C) filed a suit against Morgan Stanley Inc. (NYSE: MS) on Friday for allegedly breaching an agreement related to credit-default swaps. The suit contends that Morgan Stanley owes more than $245 million to Citi. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The suit alleges that Morgan Stanley &Co. International [...]
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