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Advance #Q GDP Shows #.#% Growth WASHINGTON - Gross domestic product increased at a #.#% annual rate from July through September as consumer spending drove economic growth to its highest rate in more than two years, the Commerce Department...

Although it is known primarily as a commercial real estate services firm, CB Richard Ellis Group wants to be recognized for something else: investment banking. The Los Angeles-based company has launched an investment banking platform...

U.S. fund managers may be spending extra time at airport boarding gates and accumulating frequent-flier miles these days, now that they are courting overseas investors with fund products that focus on bank loans and high-yield bonds....

The financial crisis has put leading credit rating agencies under greater scrutiny and opened them for waves of criticism, spurring some newcomers to try and get their foot in the door. One of the relative newcomers is Horsham, Penn.-based...

When Tishman Speyer Properties LP and BlackRock Realty LP acquired Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village on Manhattan's lower East Side for $#.# billion three years ago, it was billed as a marquee property purchase. But a recent New...

European high yield bond investors, who have struggled for years to achieve the same status and treatment as bank lenders when it comes to debt financings, may be finally be getting the respect they have long wanted. European leveraged...

Megan Nicholson worked on Wall Street for three-and-a-half years for firms like Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital, but this year she decamped for a hedge fund that has just opened its doors in Chapel Hill, N.C. The ##-year-old says...

The credit crisis and an ensuing economic downturn have led to a shrill outcry against Wall Street and, generally, any participant in the financial services industry. But now that many companies sitting in private-equity portfolios...

For all the invective directed at the Federal Reserve Board over the financial crisis, the central bank still emerged as the big winner under draft legislation to rein in systemic risk. The proposal, crafted by the Treasury Department...

Valuations always seem easy to come by in a strong market, but it's not until deal-making conditions change that deal pros realize how difficult pricing an asset can be. Add in the worst recession since the Great Depression, backward-moving...

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes rose this week amid light trading in the secondary market, as a flood of issuance in the new-issue market captured participants' attention and focus. "It was very much a new-issue driven week, and...

When taxable Build America Bonds were introduced to the market in April, one attraction for issuers was said to be the wider investor base they would garner, in contrast to the limited market for traditional, tax-exempt municipal bonds....

WASHINGTON - Some municipal issuers and their advocates yesterday came out swinging against the Securities and Exchange Commission. The furor came after commissioner Elisse Walter said Congress should repeal the Tower Amendment and...

Next Week's Big Deal: October Employment Report The nation's gross domestic product showed a positive reading in the third quarter, signaling the conclusion of the worst U.S. economic contraction since The Great Depression. The news...

B OF A-MERRILL SYNERGY Bank of America wants to remind everyone that Merrill Lynch is not a sideshow. Trying to move beyond the lawsuits and congressional hearings, Bank of America will finally start using Merrill Lynch for what it...

UBS got plenty of attention last week when it announced it had hired Bank of America's Robert McCann to lead its U.S. wealth management operation. But from a strategic perspective, the more interesting story may have been its capture...

GEORGE SOROS FOUNDER, SOROS FUND MANAGEMENT "One year after the crisis, now that the financial framework has been successfully held together and money markets start to recover, people would like to forget this [crisis] just as a bad...

As the United States cautiously emerges from its deep recession, significant constraints on economic growth remain. One stumbling block, the inability of many small and midsize businesses to obtain bank loans, is well known. But another...

Amid a flat to weaker secondary, California came to the municipal market yesterday with a $#.# billion refunding of economic recovery bonds, by far the largest deal to hit the market in a new-issue dominated week. Barclays Capital priced...

Pressured by rising charge-offs and lower cardholder spending, Capital One Financial Corp.'s U.S. Card segment yesterday reported net income of $###.# million for the third quarter ended Sept. ##, down ##.#% from $###.# million during...

A group of payments industry consultants and executives has formed a trade association devoted to the "growth, development, and market adoption of Internet-based debit transactions and mobile-payment methods that meet or exceed the...

The House Financial Services Committee approved a bill by voice vote Thursday from Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., that would speed up enactment of recent credit card reform that bans double-cycle billing...

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Chase Card Services has launched a multi-million dollar marketing and advertising campaign for its high-end Sapphire card in Philadelphia that will run into ####, the company said Wednesday. The Sapphire card,...

Hypercom Corp. says it is working with Heartland Payment Systems Inc. to develop the payment processor's advanced encryption product. Point-of-sale terminal maker Hypercom says Princeton, N.J.-based Heartland will license Hypercom's...

The proliferation of EMV-compliant ATMs across Europe has significantly reduced card-skimming incidents and the amount or euros thieves who use the fraud scheme steal, according to a report released Wednesday by the European ATM Security...

VeriFone Holdings Inc. on Aug. ## stopped selling payment terminals to Princeton, N.J.-based payment processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc. because of a dispute over a terminal Heartland is developing for use on its network, Heartland...

It is not every day the payments industry is compared with the drug trade, but apparently it offers equal opportunity for motivated criminals, reports American Banker, a CardLine sister publication. "A Secret Service agent told us that...

While developing proprietary systems, such as integrated point-of-sale systems or Apple Inc. iPhone applications, can help a merchant-service provider increase revenue and retain clients, it also can create sales and marketing challenges,...

After setting a record high in August, the U.S. credit card charge-off rate fell below ##% last month, according to Moody's Credit Card Indices. The September charge-off rate decreased to ##.##% of annualized prime credit card receivables...

A minority of merchant-service providers charge data-security fees to their merchant clients, yet more providers are likely to begin charging such fees, industry insiders generally agree. Approximately "##% to ##% of service providers"...

Technology Credit Union has signed a multiyear deal with Financial Technology Solutions International Inc. to provide it with ATM servicing, reports Credit Union Journal, a CardLine sister publication. Besides the responsive and preventive...

Many call centers in the United Kingdom "routinely" record calls with consumers' credit card information, suggest survey data from Veritape Ltd., a British firm that sells call-recording software. Veritape based the findings on a survey...

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., on Monday said he would introduce legislation to immediately halt credit card issuers from raising interest rates on existing credit card balances, reports American Banker,...

Hypercom Corp. has formed a global data-protection business unit to promote the point-of-sale terminal maker's EFTSec Server payment-data encryption technology around the globe, the company announced today. EFTSec Server originated...

Small-business owners' confidence in the economy rose slightly in October, while half of owners surveyed believe economic recovery is more than a year away, according to the results of a monthly survey Discover Financial Services released...

An impending deadline, several security initiatives and the ongoing adoption of contactless card initiatives have payment-terminal companies positioning themselves for an anticipated surge in demand for point of sale systems, reports...

Charging merchants fees for security-related services or noncompliance with Payment Card Industry data-security standards motivates reluctant merchants to become compliant, argue some observers. Independent sales organizations that...

Twenty-three credit unions renewed their agreements in the third quarter with Credit Union ##, a Tallahassee, Fla.-based credit union owned ATM and point-of-sale network, Credit Union ## announced Monday. The credit unions, representing...

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is expected to introduce a voluntary code of conduct for payment card issuers after meetings with payments industry companies, according to Canadian press reports. Flaherty was finalizing the code...

Total System Services Inc., known as TSYS, is reporting a ##.#% drop in net income for the third quarter ended Sept. ##, to $## million from $##.# million during the same period last year. The Columbus, Ga.-based transaction processor...

Transaction processor Total System Services Inc., known as TSYS, is searching for growth opportunities from acquisitions and potential new contracts amid the loss of several large clients, according to the Columbus, Ga.-based company....

Visa's global credit card payment volume decelerated during the quarter ended June ##, while its debit card payment volume continued to rise, Visa Inc. announced yesterday. Visa reports its operational-performance data one quarter later...

In a dispute dating back to ####, a U.S. District Court in Arizona last week upheld an arbiter's Jan. ## ruling that a TSYS Acquiring Solutions contract with independent sales organization Electronic Payment Systems LLC violated the...

Wright Express Corp., a payment-processing company for commercial and government vehicle fleets, today reported adjusted net income of $##.# million for the third quarter ended Sept. ##, up ##.#% from $##.# million during the same period...

Relatively few small merchants are compliant with Payment Card Industry data-security standards, and many are unaware of the standards, industry professionals generally agree. "I would be shocked if ##% of Level # merchants could tell...

MasterCard Worldwide has introduced in India a virtual prepaid card consumers can use with mobile phones, reports American Banker, a CardLine sister publication. The card brand is taking advantage of an Indian regulatory change in August...

An unexpectedly high number of cash withdrawals made with payroll cards at its Allpoint ATMs helped Cardtronics Inc. to report its second consecutive quarterly profit, company executives announced yesterday during a conference call...

Coinstar Inc., a self-service coin-counting machine and DVD-rental company, could be selling its e-payments business, according to the company's second-quarter report. Additionally, the Bellevue, Wash.-based company also wants to offload...

First Data Corp. Wednesday announced a system that will enable cardholders to reload Star-branded general-purpose prepaid debit cards at participating ATM and point-of-sale locations. Star is First Data's electronic funds transfer network....

Congress should consider changes to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to reflect modern communication methods, to provide more clarity for the collection and debt-buying industry, and to improve consumer protections, according...

The Members Group, which does business as TMG, a financial-services provider to credit unions and community banks, has added a text-message alert service to its reloadable prepaid debit card. Cardholders can choose to receive text alerts...

Affinity Credit Union has rolled out a reloadable prepaid card designed especially to serve the underserved Hispanic market, reports Credit Union Journal, a CardLine sister publication. Affinity received an Innovation Grant of nearly...

The Malaysian government has imposed an "annual service charge" on credit cardholders as part of its #### budget. The tax, scheduled to take effect on Jan. #, amounts to ## ringgits (US$## or #.## euros) for principal credit and charge...

* Comdata Corp. Wednesday launched a suite of point-of-sale products intended for convenience stores, truck stops and unattended fuel locations. * Visa Inc. on Wednesday named John Partridge president. Partridge previously worked as...

An unexpectedly high number of cash withdrawals made with payroll cards from its Allpoint ATMs lifted Cardtronics Inc. to its second consecutive quarterly profit, company executives announced Wednesday. Cardtronics, the world's largest...

Cashbox PLC has signed a two-year deal to promote the China UnionPay payment card network on its Cashbox ATMs, the United Kingdom-based nonbank ATM owner and operator said Wednesday. Cashbox will place Mandarin-language stickers on...

Prepaid card provider Rev Asia Pacific entered India's market to expand access to financial services to India's citizens, a long-term goal of the country's government, the top executive of the Australia-based company says. "We believe...

The proliferation of EMV-compliant ATMs across Europe has reduced card-skimming incidents significantly and the amount of euros thieves steal through card skimming. But the fraud-fighting technology's success has encouraged thieves...

LAS VEGAS-SOCIAL MEDIA, REGULAtory issues and security were among top issues at the ATM Debit & Prepaid Forum conference last week. Dominic Venturo, chief innovation officer at U.S. Bancorp, told conference participants that joining...

BEST BUY CO. INC., A MINNEAPOLIS-based retailer, may be eying new ways to compete with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., including its financial services. But it is edging into that part of its rival's territory in a very careful and targeted way....

Maverick Network Solutions Wilmington, Del.-based Maverick Network Solutions has named Philip A. Valvardi, III, chief executive officer. Valvardi is former president of the MAC EFT Network, a debit-payment network and processor, that...

Federal Reserve Bank Of Kansas City The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City will host an international conference on the changing landscape of retail payments Nov. # and ##. The title of the two-day conference is "The Changing Retail...

Baseball hall-of-famer Satchel Paige once said his teammate James "Cool Papa" Bell was so fast, he could turn off the lights and be in bed "before the room got dark." An exaggeration, of course, but just think if the legendary speedster...

Tools that help traders reach many dark pools at once can be a detriment to best execution, according to a recent study. Using "dark pool aggregators" can actually work against you. In fact, they can increase your chances of incurring...

NYSE Amex will soon be trading all Nasdaq-listed stocks. The exchange plans to add Nasdaq stocks to the names it trades early in the first quarter of next year. The QQQQs will be included in that list. As part of this expansion, NYSE...

NYSE Euronext's signed a deal last month to sell a "significant" equity stake in NYSE Amex Options to seven big brokers. The move is designed to grow electronic trading on the options market that had a #.# percent market share last...

Brett Mock is the in coming chairman of the Security Traders Association. Mock, a ##-year veteran and senior sales trader with BTIG in San Francisco, is the former head of the San Francisco STA chapter. He discusses trading issues and...

* Ken Savio joined Guggenheim Capital Markets to build an equities sales and trading business. The veteran Savio was the global co-head of trading and sales trading at Bear Stearns when the firm faltered and was acquired by JPMorgan...

Has the move to more electronic and efficient markets via regulation put the investing public at a disadvantage to professionals? That's the question Sen. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., raised in a letter sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission...

If the Securities and Exchange Commission revisits aspects of Regulation ATS this fall, as some expect, Liquidnet's exemption to the fair-access requirement could be on the chopping block. Liquidnet's business could take a significant...

Over-the-counter market makers are girding for another fight over ECN access fees. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has reintroduced a proposal to allow alternative trading systems and ECNs to charge access fees without incorporating...

The blink of an eye is an eternity. At least it is these days on Wall Street. It takes ### milliseconds, or four-tenths of a second, to blink-and that's far too long for an increasing number of traders. Black box traders, direct market...

Is there room for another crossing system? The answer appears to be yes. A year and a half after Aqua Securities printed its first trade-in April ####-the startup platform is nudging its way into buyside firms, enabling them to interact...

As long as times keep changing, the idea of reinvention will always be in style. One has to adapt to stay competitive in a cutthroat world. This is true for pop stars, politicians and yes, even brokerages. The traders at ##-year-old...

Over the past eight years, Lord Abbett & Co. has embraced electronic trading with an almost religious fervor. In ####, the firm executed less than # percent of its orders electronically. By ####, the figure jumped to just over half....

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently announced it is stepping up the marketing of its financial-services offerings and shifting more transactions-including its payroll-to electronic channels. And Wal-Mart's moves, especially in the electronic...

A European-centered payment group hopes to have in place by the middle of #### connections that would enable consumers to make cross-border ATM transactions with their national debit cards. If successful, the links between the six ATM...

First Data Corp. has named W. Patrick Shannon executive vice president and chief financial officer. Shannon previously was chief financial officer of BellSouth Corp. He succeeds Phil Wall, who was appointed chief financial officer of...

The effects of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act are beginning to spill over from issuers to payment networks such as Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. Citigroup Inc., for example, is slashing some travel-insurance...

While Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide work to bring debit card products to Canada, Canadian issuers already are offering prepaid cards supported by the brands. Currently, Visa- and MasterCard-branded prepaid cards are signature-based...

HSA adoption and use are highest when employers offer to contribute funds to employees' accounts, industry insiders say. Indeed, participation nearly doubles when employers contribute to accounts, says Chad L. Wilkins, CEO of UnitedHealth...

The prospect of getting out of the business of collecting fares has attracted a growing number of transit operators. They are interested in handing over a large share of that business to banks and payment card schemes. The hot spots:...

Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide are preparing to bring their PIN-debit cards to Canada, and neither merchants nor the lone incumbent debit scheme, Interac, are happy. Opponents fear Visa and MasterCard will use their competitive...

Credit card debt prices are on a downward path in a buyer's market where few are buying. Many bad-debt buyers predict anemic prices will continue through #### as the business wrestles with a troubled economy and debtors who are unable...

Debit cards tied to tax-deferred health savings accounts in the U.S. likely will hit record numbers again this year as more consumers opt for less-expensive alternatives to skyrocketing health-insurance costs. Banks offering HSAs report...

The last time riders in London could pay directly for public transit with their own money, they were riding in horse-drawn buses and trams, and conductors often pocketed the cash fares. To curtail losses from the quick-fingered conductors,...

The consumerism movement, which began in the ####s as a reaction against predatory business practices, reached its zenith in ####, when U.S. President John F. Kennedy outlined four rights to which all consumers were entitled. Those...

Discover Financial Services is making significant headway in expanding its international presence through a series of recent agreements it has signed with payment networks around the world, including in Europe, Canada and India. "The...

The mortgage industry is a constantly changing and evolving ecosystem of organizations that join together on a per-loan transaction basis. Falling home prices and mounting job losses have led to a wave of foreclosures across prime and...

Fraud is expensive and not just for its immediate victims. Recent data indicate that it costs us all a lot more than previously thought. In fact, fraud is at the core of the whole housing crisis. Fraud costs lenders hundreds of thousands...

In today's highly regulated mortgage marketplace, lenders are acutely aware of the constantly changing rules and regulations and, more importantly, the burden of maintaining strict compliance in this environment. The risk of noncompliance...

Online Retail Orig. Vol. % Rank Organization Name Location #Q ## #Q ## Change # Quicken Loans Inc. Livonia, MI $#,### $#,### ###% # Chase Iselin, NJ $#,### $#,### ##% # USAA Federal Savings Bank San Antonio, TX $#,### na na...

The Synergy Award goes to technology initiatives and alliances that show exemplary interoperability in a production setting to advance the cause of automation and e-commerce. This year's award goes to the alliance between veteran technology...

The ##X Award goes to a company, product or technology application having an exponential impact on mortgage lending. Our winner this year is Kroll Factual Data, a company that handles ###,### transactions a day for ##,### clients. At...

As conflicting opinions circulate about recovery, with some saying the recession is all but over and others saying another round of option ARM resets to come next year and climbing unemployment may prolong recovery, the story when it...

The Release of the Year Award honors the launch of a new technology product, platform, alliance or initiative that seems likely to have the broadest impact on mortgage lending going forward. Our #### winner is Motivity Solutions and...

Our Fix-It Award goes to a technology tool providing an effective solution for a particular industry problem, need or channel. This year's winner is Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and its comprehensive Loss Mitigation Service, which...

In this issue MT introduces our Servicer of the Year Award to honor a company enabling the optimal servicing of mortgage loans by using technology to ensure effective communications with borrowers, attorneys and lenders. Our inaugural...

The Steve Fraser Visionary Award goes to an outstanding mortgage technology innovator, visionary or evangelizer. For advancing the move to paperless processing, this year's winner is Greg Smith Greg Smith co-founded Advectis Inc. in...

This year Mortgage Technology magazine introduces The Innovative Lender Award, which goes to the mortgage lender that doesn't just use technology to follow the market, but to both innovate and lead the mortgage market of the future....