| St George blitzes big banks
ST GEORGE Bank has thrashed the majors in the business banking service ranks, particularly Commonwealth Bank of Australia, a survey says. Regional banks were rated better business bankers by their customers than the big four in a monthly survey for October of 850 customers by consultant East & Partners. On a scale from one to 10, the best ranked banks were the regionals, which were pooled together in the survey and received a collective score of 6.54. St George came second with a score of 6.05. National Australia Bank got the best score out of the majors of 5.61, while CBA came last with 4.14. "Arguably, these figures are fairly ordinary,'' East & Partners senior manager Robert Morgan said. "At the top end you've got 6.54, but that's only just over the medium point of five.'' Mr Morgan said the increasing competitiveness and complexity of business banking had made customers more discerning.
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.
Oritani Financial Corp. (MHC) to acquire Greater Community Bancorp
WASHINGTON TWP, N.J. and TOTOWA, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kevin J. Lynch, Chairman, President and CEO of Oritani Financial Corp. (MHC) (“Oritani") (NASDAQ: ORIT ) the holding company for Oritani Savings Bank, announced that it has entered into a Merger Agreement providing for the acquisition of Greater Community Bancorp (“Greater Community") (NASDAQ: GFLS ) by Oritani. Greater Community is the holding company for Greater Community Bank. Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, Greater Community shareholders will be entitled to receive $21.40 per share or $187 million in aggregate deal value. The consideration mix will be 60% stock and 40% cash. The exchange ratio for the stock consideration will equal $21.40 divided by the Oritani market value as defined in the Merger Agreement, provided that the exchange ratio shall not be more than 1.4588 or less than 1.1935.
Washington Mutual Director Buys Shares
A director of banking company Washington Mutual Inc. bought 10,700 shares of stock, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday. In a Form 4 filed with the SEC, Orin Smith reported buying the shares for $28.02 to $28.04 apiece on Tuesday. Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies' shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction. Washington Mutual is based in Seattle. .
Regina King delighted to be part of a distinguished cast
In "This Christmas," Regina King plays Lisa, a wife and mother who, at a family holiday reunion, tries to get her self-absorbed husband's attention the old-fashioned way: Coming to bed in sexy, revealing lingerie. King, 36, has grown up on TV and in the movies, playing teenage Brenda in the 1980s series "227" and one of the girls in the hood in 1991's "Boyz N the Hood." So when she's complimented about how attractive she looks in skimpy satin, she looks embarrassed and flattered at the same time. "It was a little scary," says King, breakfasting on figure-friendly fruit earlier this month. "I've never shown that much of myself on screen before. I work out, and keep myself in pretty good shape, but to reveal myself like that, I had to work my courage up." "It's not exploitive, because it's there to illustrate that it's the only way she can claim any power in a relationship that's one-sided.
Nokia Siemens boosts green credentials
Nokia Siemens has unveiled a network package which the company claims can achieve savings of up to 70 per cent in energy consumption at mobile base stations. A combination of energy-efficient mobile equipment packages use a power-saving mode at night when base-station traffic is much lower than during the day. The Nokia Siemens Energy Efficiency solution also reduces energy consumption by up to 30 per cent by changing the minimum temperature requirement for a base station. Increasing typical indoor base station temperatures from 25 degrees to 40 degrees reduces the amount of power expended on air cooling, according to the company. The energy saving package comprises four main elements: Minimising the number of base station sites Reducing the need for air conditioning to cool the sites Using the latest base station technologies Optimising the use of radio access for wireless communications "The Energy Efficiency solution makes good green business sense," said Ari Lehtoranta, head of the Radio Access business unit at Nokia Siemens Networks.
|
