Archive for August, 2010
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) Completes Wachovia Brand Integration in Kansas
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) has completed the merger of its Wells Fargo and Wachovia brands in Kansas on Monday. Wachovia Corp was acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) on December 31st, 2008. Since the acquisition, Wells Fargo has integrated Wachovia’s branches under the Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) nameplate on [...]
Morgan Stanley European Wealth Management Exec Leaves Company (NYSE: MS)
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)’s wealth management operations head in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Alexander Clasen, has left the company after four years of service. The New York-based bank has not named a replacement for Clasen, said spokesperson Jim Wiggins, who confirmed the departure of Classen to Bloomberg news. Classen first joined Morgan Stanley (NYSE: [...]
Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) Hires Electronic Execution Executive in Asia
Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) announced on Tuesday that it has hired Ian Smith as the company’s new head of Citi’s electronic execution product for the Asia-Pacific region. Smith, who will be based in Hong Kong in his new position, formerly worked at Credit Suisse Group where he was head of advanced execution services product for [...]
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) Announces Office 2011 for Mac
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced that the next version of Office for Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) MacOS, Microsoft Office 2011, would be available by the end of October with pricing which is more in line with current Windows versions. The Redmond-based software maker said that Office 2011 Mac Home and Student edition will be priced at [...]
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Boosts Estimates on Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR)
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) boosted its estimates on shares of Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) through 2011. The firm cited that Clearwire continues to create subscriber growth with an “underweight” rating. Clearwire Corporation (Clearwire) builds and operates mobile broadband networks that provide high-speed residential and mobile Internet access services and residential voice services in communities. Its 4G [...]
Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) Finalizes Settlement with Countrywide Investors
The $624 million settlement between Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) and investors in Countrywide Financial Corp, including New York’s pension fund, has won an initial court approval. Los Angeles-based federal district judge Mariana Pfaelzer ruled on the issue today, however, a fairness hearing will be held on final approval for the settlement which was [...]
Free Checking Widely Available Despite Major Bank’s Offering Cut Backs
Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) and other large-cap banks have cut back on their free checking offerings as a result of new financial regulations, however, MoneyRates.com 2010 semi-annual Bank Fee Survey reported that free checking accounts are still widely available. The latest survey release comes at a time of change for the banking industry. [...]
UBS AG Hires Away Executives from Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)
UBS AG announced on Sunday that it will hire executives from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) and Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) to build out its mortgage and lending business in the United States. The firm will hire Jonathan Kessler from Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC)’s Merrill Lynch division, who will serve [...]
Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) Provides Grants to South Dakota Native American Tribes
Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) provides a number of grants to non-profit partners that assist in economic development in Native American cultures, including those on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Crow Creek Sioux Reservation. The New York-based bank recently highlighted some of the initiatives on its “A New Citi” blog by detailing a trip [...]
U.K. Treasury Chief Tells Lloyds, RBS and Others to Start Lending (LLOY, RBS)
U.K. Treasury Chief George Osborne said that banks like Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON: LLOY), the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON: RBS) and others must increase lending to businesses rather than boosting bonuses and dividends now that they have weathered the worst of the financial crisis. Osborne told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that banks, including [...]
Major Corporations Making Use of Compiled Facebook Public Data (AAPL, INTC, CSCO)
Last week, a security researcher indexed and compiled public personal profile information of more than 170 million Facebook users and placed the results on Bit-Torrent for the world to download and major corporations, including Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), and Symantec have all reportedly downloaded the information. PC World writer Tony [...]
New York Banking Regulators Tout New Mortgage Licensing Standards
The New York State Banking Department announced on Monday that 1,800 mortgage loan origination firms have met new licensing mandates from New York State as well as the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing (SAFE) Act of 2008. Under both pieces of legislation, mortgage firms were required to meet certain professional criteria and [...]
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) Defends Mortgage Derivative Pricing Before Rescue of AIG
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) defended how it set prices for illiquid mortgage derivatives before the rescue of American International Group (NYSE: AIG) before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission on Monday. The data provided to the congressional panel tasked with investigating the causes of the financial crisis included mortgage-related trades between May 2007 and [...]
Hostile Bid in the Works for Genzyme Corp (NASDAQ: GENZ), Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) Says
Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) analysts said in a research note that Sanofi-Aventis SA may begin a hostile bid for Genzyme Corp (NASDAQ: GENZ) if the U.S.-based biotechnology company resists a push for a take-over. Citigroup analysts Mark Dainty and Yaron Werber wrote in a research note to clients on Monday that no other bidder will [...]
Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) to Provide $10 Million in Grants to Non-Profit Lenders
Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) announced that it will provide $10 million in grants to non-profit lenders such as Community Development Financial Institutions to help leverage funds from the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for lending to small and rural businesses. According to a press release from the company, the [...]
worst video player ever- after over2:00 there's still no video appearing 