plus 4, FDIC: 1 In 4 U.S. Households Remain Un-Banked - The Business Insider

FDIC: 1 In 4 U.S. Households Remain Un-Banked - The Business Insider
Just Like That, Banks Are Making No-Conditions Loans Again - The Business Insider
NSS personnel duping ARB Apex Bank - Joy Online
BMO Bolsters Healthcare Team - Private Equity Hub
SK&A Announces Management-Level Promotions in Marketing and Operations ... - PR Inside

FDIC: 1 In 4 U.S. Households Remain Un-Banked - The Business Insider

Posted: 02 Dec 2009 06:37 AM PST

mattresssafe Despite the huge effort to expand financial services to the poor over the last several years -- an effort that contributed to the housing bust -- a staggering number of Americans remain unbanked.

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AP: Bank regulators say nearly 26 percent of U.S. households have little or no access to banking services, and the problem hits poor and minority families the hardest.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says many black, Hispanic and native American populations struggle to access savings accounts and other services critical to financial security.

The agency says 71 percent of the households that have no access to banks earn less than $30,000 a year.

The data come from the second FDIC survey to review access to basic banking services. It's part of an effort to bring the so-called "unbanked" into the financial mainstream.

The Census Bureau conducted the survey on behalf of the FDIC.

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Just Like That, Banks Are Making No-Conditions Loans Again - The Business Insider

Posted: 02 Dec 2009 06:37 AM PST

groundhog That was quick.

Despite the very recent financial crisis, many of the most risky forms of bank lending to less-than-credit-worthy companies is already making a comeback.

FT: In a cov light – short for covenant light – loan, borrowers are granted credit with few, if any, conditions.

Pik toggle transactions make it possible for debt to be repaid with more debt – payment-in-kind notes. In a dividend recap, companies take on additional debt to pay dividends to their owners.

The reappearance of such instruments in recent weeks has stirred concerns that government efforts to stimulate lending are having unintended consequences, encouraging lenders to take positions based on "best-of-all-possible-worlds" assumptions.

Yet who can blame them. Banks are being encouraged by governments to lend. So they're getting creative again to do so.

The return of cov lites was highlighted last month when Pinnacle Foods, owned by Blackstone, took on $900m of such debt to help finance its $1.3bn purchase of Birds Eye Foods.

Days before, Wall Street witnessed the first Pik toggle deal since the crisis – a $250m financing for JohnsonDiversey, a cleaning services company.

Read the full story here.

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NSS personnel duping ARB Apex Bank - Joy Online

Posted: 02 Dec 2009 07:13 AM PST

Deputy Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Osam-Duodu, says some national service persons and interns and working with the bank are engaged in some fraudulent activities which are adversely affecting the bank.

According to him, the perpetrators intercept cheques from clearing, destroy statements collected from the Apex Bank Clearing Centres, clone and falsify advices, and use the names of known persons at either the Apex Bank or Bank of Ghana to solicit fraudulent assistance from the rural banks.

He noted that in view of this, various circulars have been issued advising rural banks to be on the lookout for such fraudsters while rural bank managers check properly the validity of all credit advices from the Apex Bank and cheques with the value of more than GH¢1,000.

Mr Osam-Duodu was addressing the 25th Anniversary and 21st Annual General Meeting of the Ahantaman Rural Bank at Agona Nkwanta, on Saturday.

He also revealed that one hundred and twenty-four rural banks now deliver foreign money remittances through the Western Union Money Transfer system with 350 payment points.

According to him, plans are underway to include the other banks as the service has brought a big relief to people in rural areas who used to travel to towns and cities before having access to money remitted from abroad.

He said the ARB Apex Bank is transferring its Apex Link Money Transfer product as well as the Western Union Product onto an ICT platform to improve on its services.

Meanwhile, the bank recorded a growth in its income of GH¢2,230,078 for 2008 as against GH¢1,982,134 for 2007 as revealed by Mr John Dadzie, Chief Executive Officer of the Bank.

This, he noted, was against the backdrop of significant operational challenges from both external and internal sources.

He stated said the profit after tax, however, dropped from GH¢534,533 in 2007 to GH¢403,457 in2008.

The reasons for the decline include poor performance of the bank's micro finance product, the Strategic Group Lending, which was launched in 2007.

According to him, most groups fail to repay credits advanced to them and the problem is deepened by poor monitoring of group activities, which is as a result of the lack of logistics.

Mr Dadzie added that growth in operating expenditure over income also hit the bank's financial performance in 2008, due to increase in staff costs and administrative expenses.

He said the strategies for 2009 are yielding positive results and the profit before tax as at September 2009 stood at GH¢629,078.85.

Mr. Dadzie said total assets grew from GH¢8,163,402 in 2007 to GH¢10,261,835 last year.

Further, Mr Joshua Ackah, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, stated the directors had proposed a dividend of 0.0151 Ghana Cedis per share amounting to GH¢242,326 as against a total of GH¢190,275 for 2007.

He said the bank spent GH¢17,257 in support of its corporate social responsibility in 2008, as against GH¢18,050 in 2007.

In its 25 years of operation, the bank has spent a total of GH¢59,075 in support of institutional and community development projects and programmes.

Source: B&FT

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BMO Bolsters Healthcare Team - Private Equity Hub

Posted: 02 Dec 2009 06:23 AM PST

BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group, announced it has hired of a team of four healthcare investment bankers in New York and Boston.
They include: Michael Neuberger, Managing Director, formerly of Jefferies & Co., who will lead the Healthcare Group; Annette Grimaldi, Managing Director, who will lead the life sciences practice, Vice President Kristen Morse and Analyst Lee Incandela.

BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO), announced it has hired of a team of four healthcare investment bankers in New York and Boston.

Michael Neuberger, Managing Director, will lead the Healthcare Group, which will focus on the life sciences, medical technology and healthcare services industries. A Wall Street veteran with more than 25 years of experience in investment banking, Neuberger joins BMO from Jefferies & Co. in Boston, where he managed its global healthcare group while driving its medical technology practice.

Also joining the BMO healthcare team is Annette Grimaldi, Managing Director, a 20-year Wall Street veteran based in New York, who will lead the life sciences practice. Vice President Kristen Morse and Analyst Lee Incandela join the team and will be based in Boston.

"Through these hires, BMO Capital Markets has significantly increased its commitment to the healthcare sector," said Dominic Petito, Co-Head, U.S. Investment & Corporate Banking, BMO Capital Markets. "Mike Neuberger and Annette Grimaldi, along with the entire team, have the experience and industry knowledge to guide our clients through the current challenges presented by both the economic landscape and the political climate."

With healthcare as one of the largest global industries, BMO Capital Markets anticipates the following near-term developments:

- The new healthcare environment will require companies to be very
flexible and focus on reducing costs and improving efficacy.
- Traditional sources of capital for these companies will all but dry
up, as venture capital and private equity firms will allocate capital
judiciously to the sector going forward.
- Growth-oriented public biotechnology and medical technology companies
will require creative strategic and financial solutions as they
pursue increased shareholder value.

"With capital markets rebounding and healthcare reform on the horizon, we expect the need for capital, financial advice and other investment and corporate banking services to grow, and we see significant growth opportunities for our Healthcare practice," said Neuberger.

As part of BMO's commitment to the healthcare sector, BMO Capital Markets Equity Research sponsors an annual healthcare conference, which, in 2009, showcased 80 leading public and growth-oriented private companies. The banking team welcomed nearly 200 industry professionals and private equity investors to the event in New York, which also attracted more than 250 institutional investors.

About the BMO Capital Markets Healthcare Group

BMO's Healthcare team averages more than 15 years of experience working with large and mid-cap healthcare companies, giving BMO Capital Markets specialized industry knowledge as well as the backing of a full-service financial institution. The team offers expertise in mergers & acquisitions, equity capital markets (IPOs, follow-on offerings, PIPEs, Private placements), leveraged finance, debt capital markets, loan products, treasury management, and derivatives. For more information visit, www.bmocm.com/industry/us/healthcare/.

About BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets is a leading, full-service North American financial services provider, with over 2,200 employees operating in 14 North American offices and 27 worldwide, offering corporate, institutional and government clients access to a complete range of investment and corporate banking products and services. BMO Capital Markets is a member of BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO), one of the largest diversified financial services providers in North America with US $359 billion total assets and more than 36,000 employees as at October 31, 2009.

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SK&A Announces Management-Level Promotions in Marketing and Operations ... - PR Inside

Posted: 02 Dec 2009 07:06 AM PST

2009-12-02 16:13:04 -

IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/02/09 -- SK&A Information Services, a leading provider of healthcare information solutions and research, announces the promotion of Jack Schember to VP of Marketing and the expanded responsibilities of VP of Operations Albert Chang. Both management changes were made in the third quarter of 2009.

Schember, who has been with SK&A since 2006, is recognized for driving a 99-percent increase in sales leads as well as a 259-percent increase in marketing-generated sales revenue during his tenure with the company. He also led the revitalization of SK&A's brand image and its new-media visibility by means of its website, videos, social-media platforms, and the blogosphere.

"I have the absolute confidence that Jack and his marketing team will continue to drive SK&A's brand forward, enabling us to maintain existing clients, sign new ones, grow our business, and continue to expand SK&A's presence in the U.S. market," said Dave Escalante, President and CEO of SK&A.

Prior to joining SK&A as a Director, Schember was Marketing Manager for Melissa Data Corp. His career spans more than 20 years with experience in direct and interactive marketing, media relations, magazine and catalog publishing, and event management.

The role of Albert Chang, who recently celebrated his one-year anniversary with SK&A, as VP of Operations, has been expanded to oversee the SK&A Research Center where the company's in-house database of two million healthcare-provider and professional contacts is cultivated, maintained and verified. This also includes the direction of Research Center projects like DMR Source Verified, a data cleansing and appending service, and Market Research Services for SK&A clients. Chang also leads Corporate IT, Data Fulfillment, Customer Service, Software Engineering, and Quality Assurance Departments.

"In a very short time, Albert has proven to be an effective manager and leader of many of SK&A's vital corporate operations. Albert is a great asset to our company," continued Escalante.

Before joining SK&A, Chang served as VP of Data Quality Management for Experian and previously ran operations for JP Morgan Chase and The Bank of New York. He brings with him 16 years of experience in the area of operations and finance management.

About SK&A Information Services, Inc.

Celebrating its 27th anniversary, SK&A researches and maintains contact and profiling information for over two million healthcare practitioners, including 800,000-plus prescribers. SK&A also offers the largest database of telephone-verified practitioner email addresses. SK&A's customers include many of America's most recognized healthcare and pharmaceutical institutions. Please visit www.skainfo.com : for more information or www.skalivecounts.com : for counts and ordering.
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