| First American in $5 million settlement
WASHINGTON (AP) - A First American Corp. title insurance subsidiary will pay $5 million to settle federal and state allegations that it gave kickbacks for new business, federal and state officials said Friday. The Santa Ana, Calif.-based company settled with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Florida insurance and banking regulators, the agencies said in prepared statements. They alleged the company's First American Title Insurance Co. unit illegally used Florida-based title insurance agencies created by the company solely to pay mortgage brokers, banks and homebuilders for referrals. Title insurance protects homeowners and lenders against unknown claims or liens on property. The company has agreed to shut down 84 partnerships as part of the settlement, HUD said.
Harleysville National selling, leasing back 16 branches
Harleysville National Bank, a subsidiary of Harleysville National Corp., said Wednesday that it has agreed to sell 16 Pennsylvania properties to American Realty Capital and lease them back. The branches are in Berks, Bucks, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Carbon counties. The bank has 50 branches total. Each lease will have an initial term ranging from five to 15 years with options to renew up to 45 years. The agreement is expected to close by the end of the year. Harleysville National (NASDAQ:HNBC - News) of Harleysville, Pa., is a $3.8 billion asset company that is parent to Harleysville National Bank and Millennium Wealth Management. American Realty Capital is based in New York. Published November 21, 2007 by the Philadelphia Business Journal .
HSBC: Banking giant reassures markets
HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, today gave a boost to the embattled banking sector by revealing growing revenues have offset the damage caused by exposure to bad debts in the US. Other major finance houses have also gone some way to reassuring investors that after months of credit market havoc, wrought by the American subprime mortgage meltdown, the worst may be over. HSBC said its third quarter profit was ahead of a year earlier despite increasing its bad debt charge related to US consumer finance business to $3.4 billion. .
Business briefs
Bank of American tapped Glencoe resident David J. Rudis to provide business, civic and philanthropic leadership throughout Illinois. The former LaSalle Bank head of personal financial services will have the title of market president, and will have operational responsibility for checking and debit product strategy, management and integration. He will report to Susan Faulkner, deposits and student lending executive. He replaces John Brennan, who plans to pursue other opportunities following completion of his role with B of A's acquisition of LaSalle Bank. Rudis began his banking career at American National Bank in 1976. TOY RECALL FALLOUT: .
Steelers tell jokes, share tales at 75th year gala
As a global entrepreneur who specializes in investment banking with Laurel Mountain Partners, Andy Russell was on a business trip to Russia several months ago when he spotted something familiar. At an outdoor mall in Moscow, next to a nesting doll that traced Russian leaders from Vladimir Putin to Vladimir Lenin, he noticed a similar object adorned in the black and gold of the Pittsburgh Steelers. This doll started with Jack Lambert, then inside was Joe Greene, Franco Harris, Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swann in descending order, each figure smaller than the one preceding it. Imagine that, stalwarts of the Steel Curtain merchandised on the free market in what used to be the epicenter of the Iron Curtain. "There weren't any other football teams or American figures displayed, just this one.
George Soros Buys Countrywide Financial Corp., National Oilwell Varco Inc., Peabody Energy Corp., Garmin Ltd., ...
As usual, George Soros has large portfolio turnovers. Over the past quarter, he sold 375 stocks. These are the summary of his new purchases during the third quater. Soros owns more than 600 stocks in $2.2 billion. New Purchases: ABXA, ACO, ADBL, AEIS, AEZ, AGO, AIMC, ALEX, AMKR, AMRI, AMSC, AMWD, AMZN, ANDE, ANF, ANGO, AP, APOG, APPB, ARBA, ARGN, ARII, ARJ, ASCA, ASEI, ASGN, ASPV, ASVI, AT, ATAC, ATU, AVR, AXCA, AZO, AZZ, BBBY, BBI, BBND, BECN, BEXP, BGFV, BIO, BKI, BKR, BLDR, BMI, BNE, BOOM, BQI, BRC, BRCD, BSX, BTU, BW, BYD, BYI, CAKE, CAMP, CAS, CBZ, CCC, CDI, CENTA, CENX, CFC, CGI, CHB, CHTT, CIR, CKR, CL, CLC, CLDN, CLNE, CLZR, CMCO, CNET, CNMD, COV, CRAI, CRI, CSH, CSIQ, CVGI, CYCL, CYD, DE, DECK, DEL, DFG, DHR, DKS, DM, DRA, DRC, DTG, DTPI, EBAY, EBF, ECL, EK, EPAX, EPL, ESEA, EXAR, EXM, EXP, FCEL, FCGI, FCN, FIX, FLE, FLOW, FOSL, FRG, FRNT, FRPT.OB, FSTR, FTEK, FTK, GBX, GD, GGC, GLDD, GLT, GMCR, GME, GPOR, GRMN, GTIV, GTLS, GVA, GW, HAS, HAYN, HHGP, HL, HLYS, HNI, HNR, HOKU, HOT, HPC, HRH, HS, HTH, HW, HWCC, ICON, IEV, IGT, IHP, IIIN, IKN, ILF, IMCL, INFS, INSP, INTC, INWK, IPCR, IRBT, ISSC, ITW, JADE, JBX, JCP, JOSB, JWN, KALU, KFRC, KG, KNXA, KSU, LCAV, LEA, LII, LMS, LNN, LSTR, LTM, LYO, LYTS, M, MAR, MAT, MATW, MDS, MDTL, MEH, MESA, MFB, MFN, MGI, MKSI, MLHR, MLNM, MM, MNC, MOT, MR, MRH, MSA, MXGL, MYE, NAK, NATI, NFP, NOV, NOVN, NR, NTAP, NTT, NTY, NUS, NVT, OCR, ODSY, OFIX, OMEX, OMI, OO, OSTK, PAAS, PAL, PBT, PDC, PEC, PETS, PG, PHRM, PII, PKTR, PLLL, PMC, PNCL, PNRA, PNX, POL, POOL, POWI, POWR, PPD, PPG, PPO, PQ, PRA, PRGO, PRX, PRXI, PSYS, PTP, PTT, PVH, PWAV, PWR, PYX, QLGC, QQQQ, QSFT, RACK, RAIL, RARE, RAVN, RFMD, RGLD, RGR, RIMM, RMIX, ROCK, ROH, RTI, RTN, RUSHA, RUTH, RVI, SA, SAFM, SCHN, SCI, SEH, SFG, SFLY, SFN, SHFL, SHW, SIGM, SIRI, SLGN, SLXP, SMBL, SMMX, SMP, SNA, SNHY, SNV, SPAR, SRZ, SSRI, STE, STKL, STNR, STRA, STST, STX, SUP, SWIM, SWIR, SWK, SWY, TAP, TASR, TBL, TDSC, TDY, TG, TGT, THO, TISI, TJX, TMO, TPX, TR, TRLG, TRY-B, TSTR, TTEC, TUP, TXRH, UBB, UFPI, UIC, UNFI, USBE, UTI, UTIW, UXG, VARI, VGR, VICR, VIP, VPHM, VQ, VRNM, VRX, VSH, VTIV, VVI, WCC, WCN, WG, WGOV, WLP, WMS, WNG, WPP, WRES, WSII, WST, WW, WWW, WX, WYNN, X, XIDE, XMSR, XPRT, ZNT, ZOLT, New Purchase: Countrywide Financial Corp.
Britain’s Brown faces fury over huge data blunder
About 25 million people's personal data, including bank account details, vanished.published in issue 4068 page 10 at 2007-11-22LONDON - Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised and announced an investigation yesterday amid angry questions about how private records containing about half of Britain's bank details vanished in the post.
Some 25 million people's personal data, virtually every family with children aged under 16, likely including Brown's own, went missing in the biggest-ever loss of personal information by any government. Two password-protected compact discs containing the names, addresses, dates of birth and bank account details of millions disappeared after a junior official, who failed to post them recorded delivery, sent them to auditors.
The incident is a serious embarrassment for Brown who, as finance minister under Tony Blair, prided himself on restoring his Labour Party's reputation for economic competence and oversaw the creation of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the body responsible for the loss.
Wanted: Housewives for banking, IT, retail jobs
NEW DELHI � Being a woman with children and a home to look after was considered a career-dampener not so long ago, but housewives are now being increasingly wooed by big guns such as Standard Chartered Bank and Infosys in an array of sectors like software, retail, banking and BPOs. Housewives are now in great demand in the job market as companies are realising that this particular class of employees is more stable in nature and could be a major weapon against the high level of attrition plaguing the industry. To tackle the aversion to long working hours, companies have come out with �flexi-timing� for women who have children, giving them an option to work only four hours a day. "We plan to hire women in 4-6 hour shifts in major metros, as there is a need to break away from the traditional processes amid the current talent crunch," Standard Chartered Bank's HR Head Madhavi Lall said.
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