Obama Plan Bank Renews Global Momentum for Regulation

Obama Plan Bank Renews Global Momentum for Regulation: International efforts to regulate financial institutions gained renewed momentum Friday in the wake of the Obama Administration’s proposals to curb the size and spread of the biggest U.S. banks, leading regulators said Friday.

The U.S. moves, announced Thursday, are likely to make financial regulation one of the top items on the agenda at next week’s gathering of world political and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland. The news hit bank stocks around the world Friday as investors concluded banks would face tougher government actions.

Until now, many investors had expected Washington to resist tough action on banks. Instead, the administration of President Barack Obama, responding to popular pressure, appeared to move into a leadership role with its proposals, jumpstarting a debate on global financial regulation that had begun to falter.
International banks said they were awaiting details of the U.S. plan. But the proposals—which would bar banks that take customer deposits from making big bets on financial markets for their own accounts—received a positive reaction from finance officials around the world, who said they were likely to influence other governments seeking to deal with banks that became too big or interconnected to fail.

Mario Draghi, chairman of the Financial Stability Board, the body charged with coordinating international financial regulation, welcomed the Obama initiative, which he said “restores momentum to regulatory reform efforts.”

“It shows that the U.S. is again leading the effort, which gives important impetus elsewhere,” he said in an email to The Wall Street Journal.

Philipp Hildebrand, new president of the Swiss National Bank, said in an interview that the proposal should reduce the likelihood of future financial crises and “is certainly something we are extremely interested in.”

“I believe it is a very, very good step forward,” French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said in an interview on the French radio station, Europe 1.

The Obama administration’s proposals still face a fight at home before they become law. They come amid signs that efforts around the world to curb risktaking by financial institutions, which gathered steam at the height of the financial crisis, were losing momentum as banks pushed back against the proposed changes.

The U.S. initiatives come at the start of a year that experts say will be crucial for international financial regulation, as guidelines set up by the Financial Stability Board and endorsed by Group of 20 begin to take shape, country by country.

Bank of America Careers

Bank of America Careers :- Latest news updates about Careers at BA Continuum At BA Continuum, we take career building very seriously – after all, an empowered team working at the peak of its abilities is at the core of our ability to deliver to our clients. We believe that the three critical facilitators for career development are: the associate, who functions as the driver; the associate’s manager, who is the facilitator in the process; and the organization that works as the overall enabler.

Our career management framework is aligned with our value proposition and is based on the philosophy of, ‘the right person for the right job’. It creates an environment in which associate interests, aspirations and business needs function in a mutually beneficial symbiosis.

Career management is driven by the long-term goal of improving skills in current roles and becoming more marketable, while our career path options are flexible enough to accommodate a wide range of associate interests and business imperatives.

Work we do
At BA Continuum Solutions, our work involves a unique mix of skills and abilities. We focus on banking and technology operations in the financial services domain, supporting processes throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Our processes are classified into the following categories: Business Process Solutions, Information Technology Solutions and Knowledge Services.

Business Process Solutions
The Business Process Solutions unit functions as a dedicated back office operations partner of Bank of America, supporting Treasury Services and Management, Global Corporate & Investment Banking, Foreign Exchange, Equity Research, Trade Finance and Card Exception Management, across the U.S., Europe and Asia.

We handle core banking transactions across the Consumer and Wholesale areas.

Information Technology Solutions
Information Technology Solutions is dedicated to providing technology solutions and supporting platforms across multiple Lines of Business including: Global Corporate & Investment Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management, Global Consumer & Small Business Banking and Networking Computing Group.

Information Technology Solutions is uniquely positioned to execute the bank’s strategic objectives while continuing to provide business-aligned technology coverage for all Lines of Business. These teams develop, maintain and support various mission critical applications across Bank of America using a wide spectrum of technologies like Java/J2EE, .NET, C++, Mainframes, Oracle, Sybase along with others.

Knowledge Services
Knowledge Services provides analytics and research to Bank of America Lines of Business. We strive for excellence in service delivery by continuously innovating and sharing best practices. Knowledge Services business can be classified under:

The Finance and Accounting Knowledge Center (FAKC) supports the CFO group including Treasury Operations, General Accounting, Financial Reporting, Modeling & Analytics and Supply Chain Management processes.

The Knowledge Service Center is dedicated to offering Global Corporate & Investment Banking services. We support Investment Banking, Global Markets, Enterprise Credit Risk, Product Solutions, Global Commercial Bank, Global Wealth & Investment Management, Global Middle Office, and Global Consumer and Small Business Banking. Our associates work on high-end research and provide an analytical understanding of the business environment and requirements. source

SBP to Announce New Policy Monitor Today

KARACHI,Pakistan News update: State Bank of Pakistan Governor Saleem Raza has said that new monitory policy will be announced on Tuesday.

According to details, he said foreign exchange reservoirs had reached to the stage of five months from three weeks.

State Bank Governor maintained that national economy was improving, adding that exports and credit demand were increasing.

He told that foreign exchange reservoirs are enough to fulfill the needs for five months.

United Commercial Bank

United Commercial Bank : overthrown by loan losses and misrepresented financial reports, Kingdom of San Francisco, the Commercial Bank was closed by regulators late Friday and immediately sold east of Pasadena West Bancorp, creating by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market.

The combination also will be the largest bank headquartered in Southern California, surpassing National City Bancorp

East West agreed to assume all deposits commercial unit, so that depositors will lose money, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. 63 bank branches in the U.S. including Southern California 17in, will reopen Saturday as branches of East West Bank.

United Commercial, a unit of UCBH Holdings Inc., was the fourth largest bank to fail this year. That position was previously occupied by the National Bank of California, Los Angeles, which failed last week and was acquired by U.S. Bancorp of Minneapolis.

Regulators also arrested on Friday from a bank each in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri, bringing to 120 the number of failures this year.

United Commercial Bank United Commercial collapse may cause a greater stir than usual because a year ago the federal government invested $ 299 million in bailout funds in the bank in exchange for preferred stock that became worthless failure.

In addition, the FDIC said the collapse would cost the federal insurance fund an estimated deposit of $ 1.4 billion.

East West raised $ 500 million in new capital to support the takeover, the majority of investment funds and other existing shareholders, said Dominic Ng, chairman of the lender based in Pasadena.

The sale of shares in private placement will allow East West to proceed slowly because it integrates the two banks, then have a bunch of years later near the capital consider further expansion by adding more branches or make acquisitions.

The acquisition will greatly expand the scope of West Timor, which has been concentrated in southern California and the Bay of San Francisco. In addition to the 69 offices in California, East West has a full-service branches in Houston and Hong Kong.

Business Unit not only has dozens of branches in California, but also has locations in major areas of China from America, including New York, Boston, Seattle, Atlanta and Houston.

Moreover, because of its 2007 acquisition of a Shanghai bank, United also has a commercial banking license in China – a “rare and hard to come by” asset that makes it easier to operate and expand in that country, said Joe Morford at RBC Capital Markets. It has full service offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shantou, China.

United Commercial, East West Bancorp and Cathay General of Los Angeles for years have competed to become the largest central banks in the Chinese American market.

East West, with $ 12.5 billion in assets in the last report, agreed to buy 10.2 billion U.S. dollars of the United Commercial 11.2 billion U.S. dollars in assets. That would put the merged bank, to nearly $ 23 billion in assets, ahead of LA-based National City as the largest bank basedin Southern California. In the last report, National City had $ 18.4 billion in assets.

The FDIC agreed to absorb the majority of expected losses at about 7.7 billion U.S. dollars of business assets acquired were joined by East West.

Like their Chinese rivals American, United Commercial was burned by losses on commercial loans, especially loans to developers and builders during the housing boom. But it was marred by financial scandal that resulted in a reorganization of its senior management.

Amnesty Says Water Shortages In Israel To The Palestinians

WEST BANK: Human rights group Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday that Israeli restrictions prevented Palestinians from receiving enough water in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The report said Israel’s daily water consumption per capita was four times higher than that in the Palestinian territories.

“Water is a basic need and a right, but for many Palestinians obtaining even poor-quality, subsistence-level quantities of water has become a luxury that they can barely afford,” said Amnesty’s Donatella Rovera.

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Amnesty’s statement that Israel was depriving the Palestinians of water as “preposterous”.

Israel (Occupied Palestine) says it has met its obligations under the 1993 Oslo agreement while Palestinians have failed to meet their own requirements to recycle water and were not distributing water efficiently.

“Israel supplied Palestians 20.8 million cubic litres above and beyond what it is obliged to do under the water agreement,” said Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev.

Israel, itself facing unprecedented water shortages and rising tariffs, controls much of the West Bank’s supplies, pumping from an aquifer that bridges Israel and the territory.

Israel sells some water back to the Palestinians under quotas agreed in the Oslo accords that rights groups say have not been increased in line with population growth.

The report said Gaza’s coastal aquifer, its sole fresh water resource, had been polluted by infiltration of seawater and raw sewage and degraded by over-extraction.

Israel maintains a blockade of the Gaza Strip, an area taken over by the Islamist Hamas movement, which defeated Palestinian forces loyal to Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.

Israel’s water authority called the report “biased and incorrect, at the very least” and said that while there was a water gap, it was not nearly as big as presented in Amnesty’s findings.

Amnesty said water consumption in Israel was 300 litres a day per person and 70 litres a day in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israel’s water authority said those numbers were misleading because they took into account internal distribution and did not compare total water consumption. It said the total figures were 408 litres per day for Israelis and 287 litres for Palestinians.

The Amnesty report described how Palestinians in the West Bank relied on water from tankers that were forced to take long detours to avoid Israeli military checkpoints and roads off-limits to Palestinians.

The situation had led to steep increases in water prices, the report said.

Bank Holidays 2009 India

Bank Holidays 2009 India: India Bank Holidays 2009 calendar from Indian Bank Association. There are some of the special festivals like national, religious and community events in India during which the banks do not operate. On these days, usually the banks remain closed and no transactions are made. Some of the bank holidays in India that incorporate both optional and gazetted holidays are listed below for your perusal.

Muharram (Islamic New Year)
On the celebration of this holy Islamic event, banks do not operate. It falls under mandatory public holidays in India.

Republic Day (26th January)
This is one of the important bank holidays in India. On this national holiday, none of the banks and their branches functions. On the day of this event, India Gate in Delhi holds a gala celebration of parades and dances.

Milad un Nabi
India bank holidays also include Milad un Nabi in the list. The day marks the birth celebration of Prophet Mohammed. On this day too the banks do not operate.

Independence Day (15th August)
The day of 15th August is celebrated as Independence Day in India. On this most important day, all the private and public sectors including banks do not operate.

Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October)
This is a national holiday and on this day the birthday of our national hero Mahatma Gandhi is celebrated. On this day, we commemorate the services and the dedication of Bapu towards our nation. This is again one of the mandatory bank holidays in India.

Id ul fitr
This is an important Muslim festival celebrated throughout the world. On this day, the devotees break their month-long fasting and offer special prayers. The day witnesses a lot of excitement as everybody wears new clothes and offers a warm welcome to each one.

Dussehra
This is the most celebrated and vibrant Hindu festival. According to legends, on this day lord Rama had killed the ferocious demon Ravana. Today, in many parts of India this event is celebrated to mark the triumph of good over evil. The huge effigies of Ravana along with other two demons are burnt.

Diwali
This is a festival of light. The Hindus celebrate this event with much fervor and enthusiasm lighting diyas and candles. Sweets are distributed. This festival is also counted among the important bank holidays in India.

Guru Nanak Jayanti
The day marks the birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. He was the founder of Sikhism.
For Complete List Of Bank HOlidays Click
http://www.iba.org.in/Holidays%202009.pdf
Source: a2zindianews.com

Pak Forex Reserves Reduced By $284.7 Million

KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country have decreased by 284.7 million dollars because of Government’s quarterly payments against external debts.
Pakistan’s total liquid foreign reserves have shruck to 14.4641 billion dollars, said a statement issued by State Bank of Pakistan here on Thursday.

On October 10, 2009, the foreign reserves held by State Bank amounted 10,889.6 million dollars, whereas net foreign reserves held by banks other than SBP figured 3,574.5 million dollars.

PM Gilani Invites Chinese Investors To Invest in Pakistan

BEIJING: Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said Pakistan have vast opportunities in banking sector and government is offering attractive incentives to global investors in this sector.

Gilani said this during a meeting with chairman of China Development Bank Yuan Chen. He invited the Yuan Chen to invest in banking sectors in Pakistan and open bank.

Premier Gilani will meet Chinese President HU Jintao and heads of Chinese Development Bank and financial and technical development institutions.

IMF, World Bank Annual Open

ISTANBUL : International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings opened in Istanbul on Tuesday as global economic leaders look to bolster a tentative recovery and prevent massive crises in the future.
Delegates were set to discuss broad lines for cooperation in international finance as economic growth returns to many countries around the world.

Security has been tightened up in Turkey’s commercial capital, with thousands of extra police deployed around the city ahead of expected protests.

The IMF and the World Bank were set up in 1944 in the US resort of Bretton Woods. Many now are looking to the two sibling Washington-based institutions to help guide the world out of its worst recession since World War II.

Sallie Krawcheck

Sallie Krawcheck, Bank of America Corp.’s head of wealth management, said she won’t do “stupid things” to pay policies that might spur financial advisers to leave the bank.

Speculation that Krawcheck will make changes that alter the culture at the Merrill Lynch unit Bank of America bought earlier this year is groundless, she said today in an interview on CNBC.

“We are not doing any of that stuff,” Krawcheck, 44, said, referring to changes in compensation and speculation that she would “smash U.S. Trust and Merrill Lynch together.”

Krawcheck, the former head of Citigroup Inc.’s Smith Barney wealth-management division, joined Bank of America in August. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis announced last week that he would step down at the end of this year.

“I’m very much focused on the job I’m doing,” Krawcheck said when asked if she would be interested in replacing Lewis.
Source: bloomberg.com

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