“Bank of America Merrill Lynch Names Bae, Gillie to Head Foreign ... - PR Newswire” plus 4 more

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Names Bae, Gillie to Head Foreign ... - PR Newswire
Swiss banking giant to turn over 4,450 U.S. account names to IRS - Palm Beach Interactive
Nigeria threatens to arrest bank debtors, seize assets - The Guardian
Mutual of Omaha opens Tampa banking office - Birmingham Business Journal
Finance - Business Life Lebanon

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Names Bae, Gillie to Head Foreign ... - PR Newswire

Posted: 19 Aug 2009 06:57 AM PDT

NEW YORK, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch today announced that Christopher T. Bae and Thomas S.B. Gillie will join the company as managing directors and co-heads of global foreign exchange options. They will join the company in October, reporting to Chris Vogel, head of G10 currency trading.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090812/CL60095LOGO )

"The first half of this year has been very gratifying for our team," said David Gu, global head of rates and currencies. "The combination of Bank of America's unrivalled reach into corporate and retail clients and Merrill Lynch's long-standing relationships with institutional clients makes us a powerhouse in foreign exchange. Our goal now is to leverage the strategic advantages of our newly combined platform and become the No. 1 provider of solutions for our clients."

"Foreign exchange options are an increasingly common risk management tool, and Chris and Tom are proven trading veterans of the product," Vogel added. "We fully expect that the combination of their partnership with our talented sales force will pay immediate dividends - both in terms of deepening our client advisory expertise and in broadening our product footprint."

Bae joins from Goldman Sachs where he worked for 10 years, most recently as managing director in the equity derivatives trading group. Previously, he worked in the currency options trading group where over an eight-year period, he had various responsibilities, including managing the European options portfolio. He has a bachelor's degree in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Gillie, with more than 14 years of experience in options trading, joins from Credit Suisse where he worked for more than 10 years. In 2000, he was appointed head of the Asia FX business and subsequently assumed responsibility for FX structuring and FX sales. He was a member of the Asian fixed income management committee. Gillie holds a bachelor's degree from Manchester University.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company's corporate and investment banking, and sales and trading businesses operate under the Bank of America Merrill Lynch brand. Bank of America Merrill Lynch focuses on middle-market and large corporations, institutional investors, financial institutions and government entities. It provides innovative services in M&A, equity and debt capital raising, lending, trading, risk management, research, and liquidity and payments management. Bank of America Merrill Lynch serves clients in more than 150 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and nearly 96 percent of the Fortune Global 500.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the marketing name for the global banking and global markets businesses of Bank of America Corporation. Lending, derivatives, and other commercial banking activities are performed globally by banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including Bank of America, N.A., member FDIC. Securities, strategic advisory, and other investment banking activities are performed globally by investment banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation ("Investment Banking Affiliates"), including, in the United States, Banc of America Securities LLC and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, which are both registered broker-dealers and members of FINRA and SIPC, and, in other jurisdictions, locally registered entities. Investment products offered by Investment Banking Affiliates: Are Not FDIC Insured * May Lose Value * Are Not Bank Guaranteed

SOURCE Bank of America Merrill Lynch

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Swiss banking giant to turn over 4,450 U.S. account names to IRS - Palm Beach Interactive

Posted: 19 Aug 2009 07:54 AM PDT

Swiss banking giant UBS AG agreed Wednesday to turn over to the IRS the details of 4,450 accounts suspected of holding undeclared assets by American customers, ending an intense trans-Atlantic legal fight.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said the accounts held $18 billion in assets at one time. Many have since been closed, he said.

The deal will give the Internal Revenue Service thousands of long-sought account names and is expected to provide even more UBS clients who voluntarily disclose their financial details to the agency, Shulman said.

UBS has an estimated 52,000 accounts of U.S. customers. The IRS chief said the 4,450 accounts being relinquished to the agency were the ones most suspected of containing undeclared assets.

"I believe this agreement gives us what we wanted - access to information about those UBS account holders most likely to have been involved in offshore tax evasion,'' Shulman said.

He said that other account holders appear to be in compliance with U.S. tax laws.

The two sides told a federal judge last week they had reached a tentative agreement, but the details were not released until Wednesday.

The Swiss Bankers Association issued a statement in support of the agreement.

"The out-of-court agreement avoids a prolonged legal battle that would have had an uncertain outcome and UBS can now continue with its consolidation process in an atmosphere free of this legal uncertainty,'' the association said.

Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference in the capital of Bern that the deal lifts the threat of criminal prosecution against UBS, which could have endangered the bank's very existence and dealt a severe blow to the Alpine nation's economy.

"There was no alternative to this solution,'' she said.

Affected UBS customers will be able to challenge the hand-over of their names before Switzerland's Federal Administrative Court, Widmer-Schlumpf said, noting that this ensured that existing Swiss law "remains untouched.''

Shulman said the IRS reserves the right to resume its legal fight if any of the names are withheld.

For more information on this story, visit www.miamiherald.com

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Nigeria threatens to arrest bank debtors, seize assets - The Guardian

Posted: 19 Aug 2009 08:01 AM PDT

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Mutual of Omaha opens Tampa banking office - Birmingham Business Journal

Posted: 19 Aug 2009 06:07 AM PDT

Mutual of Omaha Bank is expanding in Florida with the opening of an office in Tampa.

The Tampa office, located at 1511 N. Westshore Blvd., will be led by Brian Holliday, a former senior vice president and client adviser for SunTrust Bank for 10 years. The office will initially offer commercial banking and wealth management for individuals and businesses, said Holliday, senior commercial banker for Mutual of Omaha Bank.

The bank has had an administrative office in Naples for several months and has received regulatory approval to build a full-service office in Naples, Holliday said. The bank also is seeking opportunities for a full-service office in Tampa, he said.

Mutual of Omaha Bank, a subsidiary of the insurance and financial services firm Mutual of Omaha, laid the groundwork for its Florida expansion in the fall when the bank named Kevin Hale president of its east region. Hale, who is based in Naples, previously was president and chief operating officer of First National Bancshares of Florida and later headed Florida operations for the bank that bought First National, Fifth Third Bank (NASDAQ: FITB).

Hale also served a brief stint as president of First Priority Bank in Bradenton before First Priority failed last year.

Holliday most recently served in the Brooksville office for SunTrust Banks (NYSE: STI), specializing in providing financial services to clients in the medical industry. He also has worked out of the bank's Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater offices, focusing on commercial banking and wealth management.

Mutual of Omaha Bank, a $3.5 billion asset institution, has full-service offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska and Nevada and loan production offices in Iowa, Kansas and Texas, in addition to its expanding Florida operations.

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Finance - Business Life Lebanon

Posted: 19 Aug 2009 07:40 AM PDT

Oman Arab Bank has an active presence in the Sultanate of Oman ever since it was established on 1st October, 1984 as a joint closed stock company. The bank started operations after acquiring the branches of Arab Bank Limited, Jordan that existed in the Sultanate since 1973. In 1992, Oman Arab Bank expanded its operations by acquiring all branches of Omani European Bank and then merged together in 1994. Oman Arab Bank's principal shareholders are Oman International Development and Investment Company (OMINVEST) with 51% share and Arab Bank Limited with a 49% share holding.

The bank also actively contributes to the major development in industrial and infrastructure projects in the Sultanate of Oman and is an active provider of both retail and investment banking products and services.

Financing Projects and Providing Services

The bank has kept its position as a leader in financing projects in various sectors such as infrastructure, industrial and petrochemical. It has supported many companies such as Oman Shipping Company's vessel financing, and the expansion of Oman Cement Company.

It has also provided banking services for several companies in different projects such as Wastewater Treatment Station Project in Seeb, Duqum Port project (phase 2) and Dry Dock, Power and Water Desalination Station in Barka II, in additional to various infrastructure, industrial, and services projects.

Main Financial Indicators

The bank continue to achieved positive results such as a 26% growth in profits (RO 24.6 million as compared to RO 19.4 million), 39% growth in net loans and advances (RO 539 million compared to RO 389 million), and 15% growth in customer deposits (RO 611 million as compared to RO 533 million).

Total Shareholders' Funds as at 31st December, 2008 was RO 110 million as compared to RO 88 million in the previous year. Return on Total Assets was 3.47%. As a result of the prudent lending policy, the non-performing loans reduced to 1.6% out of the total loans and the provision coverage increased to 169% of the non-performing loans.

Branches and Offices

Throughout the current year and last year, the bank has opened new branches in Shatti Al Qurum, Al Tarif in Sohar, Bowshar, Mabelah, Sumail, Nizwa Hospital and Quriyat. The bank has a total of 53 branches and offices across the Sultanate.

Investment Banking

Given the financial crisis which resulted in the bankruptcy of investment companies and banks globally, our Investment Management Group is still in the forefront in terms of developing investment products and services.

The investment group did not show negative effects, but instead of that it gained a higher share in the local trade and achieved 4th position in Muscat Securities Market in transactions by end of April 2009.

At the beginning of 2009, it has been agreed to establish the Investment stabilization Fund with a capital of RO 150 million where the government contributed 60%, while 40% was distributed on pension funds and the private sector represented by banks, investment companies, and securities companies. Our investment group (the investment banking arm of Oman Arab Bank) has been assigned as an investment manager to manage the fund's assets in partnership with another local bank.

During the first half of this year, the bank will announce establishing Oman Al-Arabi Fund that will be completely managed by us. The fund will be investing 75% in MSM, and 25% in the GCC markets.

Marketing and Developing Banking Services

The bank is always striving to provide the best banking services and products for its clients to meet their financial needs. Some of the new initiatives launched by the bank are Markabati Auto Loan, Al Himaya Car Insurance, and Al Mustaqbal Education Loan. In addition, to the latest services launched by the bank such as Tawasul SMS Banking and Internet Banking.

Omanisation

The bank's management gives prime importance to Omanisation as it focuses on developing the human resources.

This has led the bank to be the first bank to achieve the required Omanisation percentage of 90% in early 1996. The Omanisation percentage in the bank is now 92.19%.

E-Banking Services

Oman Arab Bank has worked relentlessly to cope with the rapid development in the e-services field.

The bank has also become a leader in providing high quality services through e-channels that enable the client to get the services without time or place constraints.

One can clearly observe the rapid progress of Oman Arab Bank in the e-services field in public and private projects across Oman. It demonstrates the bank's commitment in developing its relationship with different sectors in the e-services field and e-payment.