plus 3, Cord Blood America Acquires Controlling Interest in One ... - Forbes

Cord Blood America Acquires Controlling Interest in One ... - Forbes
Five Suggestions for Banking Reform - MSN Money
mBlox Survey Finds Mobile Banking Overtakes Telephone ... - Businesswire.com
Japan's gov't steps back from LDP postal privatization ... - People's Daily Online

Cord Blood America Acquires Controlling Interest in One ... - Forbes

Posted: 24 Mar 2010 08:02 AM PDT

LAS VEGAS, March 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cord Blood America, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CBAI), the umbilical cord blood stem cell preservation company (http://www.cordblood-america.com) focused on bringing the life saving potential of stem cells, a biological insurance policy, to families nationwide and internationally, announced today that it has acquired 51 percent of stellacure GmbH, the third largest cord blood banking service in Germany.

"Europe is quickly becoming a global force in the storage of stem cells for future medical use. We believe this acquisition is a perfect example of our business strategy to use acquisitions as part of the process to grow Cord Blood America into a major stem cell storage company globally," said Matthew Schissler, Cord Blood America co-founder and CEO.

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stellacure (www.stellacure.com) is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. It began storing cord blood for families in 2006 throughout Germany, and within the past year has established sales channels in Spain and Italy. It operates in conjunction with the German Red Cross Bloodservices Baden-Wuerttemberg/Hessen, which has collected cord blood for a public bank since 1996.

"Becoming a 51% stakeholder of one of Europe's most meaningful stem cell banking companies is extremely important for us to carry out our goal of becoming the globally dominant stem cell storage company. We see acquiring a majority stake in stellacure as an important first step to further penetrate other European markets. CBAI is extremely pleased that it was chosen as stellacure's preferred partner to foster further growth of the company and equally excited to establish a long term relationship with the largest blood service unit of the German Red Cross, as we all know a respected name globally," Mr. Schissler said.

The transaction was introduced by specialist life sciences advisory firm CFP BioConnect AG, based in Frankfurt/Germany.

About Cord Blood America

Cord Blood America (OTC Bulletin Board: CBAI) is the parent company of CorCell, which facilitates umbilical cord blood stem cell preservation for expectant parents and their children. Its mission is to be the most respected stem cell preservation company in the industry. Collected through a safe and non-invasive process, cord blood stem cells offer a powerful and potentially life-saving resource for treating a growing number of ailments, including cancer, leukemia, blood, and immune disorders. To find out more about Cord Blood America, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CBAI), visit our website at www.corcell.com. For investor information, visit www.cordblood-america.com.

CONTACT: Paul Knopick E & E Communications 949/707-5365 pknopick@eandecommunications.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Some statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We use words such as "anticipate,'' "believe,'' "expect,'' "future,'' "intend,'' "plan,'' and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. These statements, including those related to the growth of the industry, new stem cell treatments, and the Company's performance, are only predictions and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Additional risks are identified and described in the Company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company's past performance is not necessarily indicative of its future performance. The Company does not undertake, and the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, events, or circumstances after the date of such statement.

SOURCE Cord Blood America, Inc.

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Five Suggestions for Banking Reform - MSN Money

Posted: 24 Mar 2010 07:48 AM PDT

Peter Atwater

Editor's Note: The following was posted in real time on our premium Buzz & Banter (click for a free trial).

First, as a public service announcement, I must preface my comments with the explicit request from the Treasury Secretary that you not listen to me. You see, I'm all but certain that my 10 years building JPMorgan's (JPM) securitization business during the late 1980s and early 1990s likely qualify me as one of the early "masters of noble financial innovation" whom Mr. Geithner earlier this week explicitly requested that you "listen less to" during this period of time that banking reform is being debated.

With that now out of the way, let me offer a few thoughts, which I hope may contribute to a constructive dialogue on the topic.

First, as much as I admire Mr. Volcker and the noble intentions of the "Volcker Rule," I'm afraid that attempting to re-silo the financial services industry is akin to trying to unscramble an egg. In fact, with all due respect to the myriad of regulators currently in place, I think our existing silo'ed regulation contributed mightily to our crisis. How can it be that no single regulator had a full grasp of the "too entangled to fail" world of OTC derivatives along with the authority to deal with it?

Until regulation aligns with enterprise and systemic risk, we risk more crises in the future. Banks, insurance companies, money managers, hedge funds, and broker dealers are all in the same business -- they take someone else's money and do something with it all with the hopes of making money in the process. Until we have uniform rules (globally too), I assure you we'll have regulatory arbitrage, which results in failed oversight.

Second, and at the risk of being bold, I believe the time has come to eliminate FDIC insurance. When the FDIC was created in the 1930s, it was intended to be a temporary solution. Today, it puts the US taxpayer on the hook for more than $7 trillion in bank liabilities. But as a consequence, depositor due diligence is non-existent. And putting Wall Street aside, this crisis has shown, even with specific oversight, hundreds of now-failed banks took excessive risk in their traditional banking businesses and their insured depositors neither cared nor were adversely impacted. Their risk was borne by the government, while they earned returns far in excess of comparable US Treasuries. If we're truly going to eliminate "moral hazard"/"too big to fail" we must eliminate deposit insurance in the process.

Third, we must demand that the rating agencies disregard "systemic support" when ascribing debt ratings. The fact that we still have some financial institutions receiving "uplifts" of as many as five ratings levels because of their systemic importance is unacceptable and I believe currently poses one of the greatest financial risks to our nation.

Fourth, we must repeal the "Levitt Rule." In good times, loan loss reserves must be built in anticipation of bad times. And, should FDIC deposit insurance not be repealed, as I recommend, fund premiums must also adopt a countercyclical methodology. That banks were releasing reserves and the FDIC was reducing/eliminating premiums at the top of the market defies basic logic.

Finally, our regulators must act courageously. This past week Moody's wrote:

We observe… that the current regulatory regime is already authorized to protect the soundness of banks and the financial system as a whole. In addition, the current banking laws give bank regulators the power to have banks cease and desist from activities and to require banks to have higher capital ratios. Thus, we believe that the benefits of a revamped regulatory regime will depend more upon how regulators implement and execute the law -- rather than depend on the words of the law itself -- because the proposed regulatory framework doesn't appear to be significantly different from what exists today.

Don't get me wrong, I fully understand and appreciate the value of the "safety net" provided by the government to economic growth. But as we have seen in housing, banking, (and I suspect soon in higher education), an oversized safety net -- in which risk is ultimately fully borne by taxpayers -- results in wildly misdirected capital flows. And while at the time it all feels great, as we are now seeing, the ultimately consequences are devastating.

Over the past 80 years, while done with the noblest of intentions, we've traded bank runs for country runs. The sooner we address this risk, the better.

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mBlox Survey Finds Mobile Banking Overtakes Telephone ... - Businesswire.com

Posted: 23 Mar 2010 04:53 PM PDT

Greater Access to Services, Convenience and Time-Saving Cited as Main Reasons for Growth, Concerns Over Security and Cost Persist

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CTIA Wireless 2010, Booth 107 - Today mBlox (www.mblox.com), the world's largest mobile transaction network, released the results of consumer research that found mobile banking to have gained a foothold in the U.S. and U.K. markets. Surpassing both branch and telephone banking in terms of popularity, the survey found that 25 percent of U.S. mobile phone users and 37 percent of U.K. mobile phone users have adopted mobile banking services.

"access banking services anywhere, at any time"

When asked which banking method users preferred, respondents found mobile banking more convenient and easier to use than telephone banking (voice and touchtone) by a margin of 3 to 1 in the U.S. and by a 1 percent margin in the U.K. Conversely, when asked about branch banking, fewer respondents selected it as their favorite method of banking, with only 2 percent in the U.S. and 3 percent in the U.K. choosing it as their preferred method.

Research revealed that the greatest benefits of mobile banking for consumers (52 percent in the U.S. and 46 percent in the U.K.) are the ability to "access banking services anywhere, at any time," as well as "convenience" and "time-saving."

"It's clear from the findings of this survey that consumer behavior is shifting to adopt the capabilities afforded by mobile banking," said Andrew Dark, CEO, mBlox. "We are seeing strong interest in the mobile sector from a wide variety of industries including transportation, retail, marketing and entertainment, which shows there is an opportunity for financial services to benefit from this increasingly popular channel."

The research also identified the services consumers are most interested in using on their mobile phones. In both countries, respondents rated as their top four services: daily balance notifications; suspicious activity notifications; fraud alert notifications; and low balance, overdraft, and credit limit notifications. U.S. respondents also cited as a key service the ability to transfer funds between accounts, while U.K. respondents favored the ability to view statements and transaction history.

"Consumers today want real-time, round-the-clock access to their finances and are demanding a higher level of convenience for managing such information," said Soren Bested, Managing Director of Monitise Americas, an mBlox partner providing mobile banking and payment services to North American financial institutions. "It's no surprise that the 'anywhere, anytime' aspect of mobile banking was one of the greatest benefits found in the mBlox research, and we see SMS as a key ingredient in providing that convenience factor. Whether it be requesting an account balance or receiving a text alert notifying consumers of activity on their account, SMS provides a method of financial control. We're delighted to partner with mBlox to deliver high-quality, reliable, and secure mobile messaging to our customers."

The research highlighted two factors, however, that may be slowing down the growth of mobile banking services. These top two reservations were identified by respondents as "security" (33 percent in the U.S. and 49 percent in the U.K.) and "cost" (31 percent in both the U.S. and U.K.).

"We understand that security will be a consumer concern with any banking service. For this reason, mBlox continues to invest significant sums in its data centers, processes and networks to ensure that it is on par with the latest financial security standards," said Dark. "With regards to cost, SMS is an inherently cost-effective solution for the transmission of information, with minimal or no cost to the end user. Our ability to facilitate the safety and integrity of consumer's financial information is paramount and is what sets us apart from our competitors. The industry needs to work together to educate users to the secure and cost-effective nature of mobile banking services and we at mBlox intend to lead in this respect."

About the research

The U.S./U.K. research was carried out by global research company, OnePoll between March 15–18, 2010. The results in the release are U.S./U.K. specific from nationally representative samples of 1,798 U.S. and 1,000 U.K. mobile phone users aged 16 and above.

About mBlox

mBlox is the world's largest mobile transaction network. The company specializes in simplifying the complexities, commercial and technical, of mobile billing and message transmission for our clients. Via a carrier-grade network, mBlox enables companies to communicate with mobile subscribers on more than 600 carriers in 180 countries, millions of times each day. The company has U.S. headquarters in Silicon Valley, with EMEA headquarters in London, Asia headquarters in Singapore and offices around the world. For further information, visit www.mBlox.com.

About Monitise Americas

Monitise Americas is a joint venture between FIS, one of the world's largest providers of banking and payments technology to financial institutions and businesses worldwide, and Monitise plc (MONI.L), a specialist in mobile banking and payments technology. Monitise Americas provides mobile banking and payment services to North American financial institutions predicated on an "ecosystem" principle, which allows multiple mobile carriers and financial institutions to deliver services over a single platform. Current partners of Monitise Americas include FIS, NYCE, Everlink, Corporate Network eCom, and eCommLink. For more information on Monitise Americas and details of how to benefit from participating in its cross-America ecosystem, please visit www.monitiseamericas.com.

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Japan's gov't steps back from LDP postal privatization ... - People's Daily Online

Posted: 24 Mar 2010 05:10 AM PDT

The government led by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) on Wednesday unveiled a plan to roll back an Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) initiative that would have seen the nation's postal service fully privatized.

Financial Services Minister Shizuka Kamei said at a news conference that under a bill to be put before parliament, the state will retain more than one third of the shares in Japan Post Holdings Co. that it currently owns.

The move will pull back a plan put forward by the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that would have seen the postal service fully privatized. On the basis of that plan, the LDP crushed the opposition in the so called "postal vote " of 2005.

Since then, sentiment in Japan has changed amid an economic downturn that has put many of Koizumi's pro-market reforms in a new light.

The Koizumi plan for the postal service would have seen the institution fully privatized by 2017.

Under the DPJ plan, the government will retain some control over the institution, while giving it more freedom to expand its operations and allowing larger deposits to be placed within its banking service.

The bill on postal reform is expected to be sent to parliament in April, just a few months before a key upper house election.

Source: Xinhua

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