| Executive Items
Marissa Lehigh and Robert Lucas have joined SGA Architecture LLC as project managers. Lehigh holds a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Kentucky. Previously she was an architectural assistant at Ian Springford Architects in Edinburgh, Scotland. Lucas holds a master's degree in architecture from Clemson University. He has more than seven years of experience in architecture. Banking Kevin Williams and Kay Rode have joined First Reliance Bank. Williams is vice president, business banker. He has more than 10 years of banking experience. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration from The Citadel and is a graduate of the South Carolina School of Banking at the University of South Carolina. Rode joins the Mount Pleasant branch as a mortgage loan specialist.
Heard Off the Street: National City at bottom of local heap
One of Wall Street's not-ready-for-subprime players is a likely candidate for this year's worst-performing stock in the PG/Bloomberg index of local stocks. Shares of National City [Ticker: NCC] are off 43 percent this year, closing Friday at $20.86, down $1.69 for the week. Most of the damage to the stock had been done before Oct. 24, when National City reported a 69 percent drop in third-quarter profits, including a $152 million loss from its mortgage banking business. Things may have been a lot worse if the Cleveland-based bank holding company had not sold its First Franklin subprime mortgage business to Merrill Lynch late last year. Included in the transaction were about $5.6 billion in First Franklin mortgages National City was holding in its loan portfolio.
Wachovia exec acknowledges bad timing on Golden West purchase
CHARLOTTE -- Wachovia's general bank president on Wednesday highlighted the positives of last year's acquisition of Golden West Financial but acknowledged "our timing was not good" in light of a severe housing downturn. "We continue to feel that this acquisition will prove itself very positive when we get to the other side of the cycle," Ben Jenkins told an audience at the Merrill Lynch banking conference in New York. In his presentation, Jenkins noted that Golden West's branches are helping the Charlotte bank reach a goal of adding 1 million net new checking accounts this year. He also said the bank expects to gain market share in the mortgage business. Wachovia has previously said that it expects to set aside more money than expected in the fourth quarter to protect against problem loans in a weakening housing market.
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.
FTSE 100 closes at 6226.5
The FTSE 100 closed up 105.7 points at 6226.5, gaining nearly 2 per cent despite further falls from mortgage bank Northern Rock. The London market gained some late momentum from Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising by more than 100 points in early trading. The gains on both sides of the Atlantic come after a dire day on Monday, with the FTSE dropping almost 3 per cent. It was a rough day for Northern Rock, down another 7 per cent, or 7.2p to 97p. However, the group rebounded from an earlier fall of as much as 40 per cent after news of an offer for the whole business from private equity firm JC Flowers. Elsewhere in the banking sector, Barclays - a recent heavy faller on fears over sub-prime mortgage losses - gained nearly 5 percent, or 25.25p, to 516.5p, Royal Bank of Scotland stood 8.5p higher at 412.5p, and Alliance & Leicester gained 12.5p to 594p.
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