Banking Regulatory News

THE TOP REASON that people who have never used a bank cite for not having a savings or checking account isn't that they don't trust banks (that's seventh).

Instead, half of the unbanked and underbanked households surveyed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. last year cited a simple lack of money or high minimum balances as their top reason for not using banks for their financial services.

Financial institutions in Arkansas--which has a high rate of unbanked and underbanked residents--fairly scoff at that idea.

THE mortgage market is going through a major shake-up at present which should encourage borrowers to review their existing loans.

And people looking to buy for the first time may find additional and more competitive mortgage products are now on the market.

Nationwide, the largest building society, is in a much stronger position, but it is also raising the SVR on some products that are higher risk for the society -- including some mortgages where income was self-certified.

THE Bank of England is expected to keep its efforts to boost the money supply on hold this week despite recent feeble economic growth.

Policymakers are expected to freeze quantitative easing at Pounds 200bn, while interest rates will also be kept at their record low of 0.5% in their latest decision, due on Thursday.

But the members of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) are likely to be under intense pressure in the wake of recent unwelcome data.

Feb. 1--FOREIGN banks expect Philippine interest rates to rise only later this year amid growing credit demand.

Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) forecasts domestic Philippine bond yields will edge higher, as local liquidity conditions tighten amid a pick up in credit demand and bond issuances.

Edward Teather, UBS economist, however said that a sizable current account surplus should ensure interest rates do not rise too far even with heightened election risk.

Jan. 31--For the month of December, McDowell County reported a jobless rate of 15.1 percent, which is a slight increase from the previous month.

McDowell still ranks among the top 10 counties in North Carolina with high unemployment rates.

The county's rate for December is 4.2 points higher than the statewide rate of 10.9 percent.

Jan. 31--The recent forced sale of an Oregon community bank that had two Tri-City branches comes as federal state regulators also are keeping a close eye on at least two Washington chartered banks with branches in the Tri-Cities.

Columbia River Bank was closed Jan. 22 by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. because of inadequate capital and mounting residential loan losses, officials said.

Meanwhile, federal and state regulators have ordered Spokane-based AmericanWest Bank and Sterling Savings Bank to raise more capital and create a plan to reduce their delinquent real estate and construction loans and improve long-term profitability.

Moody's Investors Service has today downgradedthe ratings on certain hybrid securities of three Kazakh banks, namelyKazkommertsbank, ATF Bank and Bank CenterCredit.

This concludes Moody's review for possible downgrade that began on 18November 2009, which was the last rating action date for each issuer.

Therating outlook for Kazkommertsbank, ATF Bank and Bank CenterCreditremains negative, and all other ratings on these banks remain unchanged.

Low mortgage rates aren't producing a boom in refinancing anymore, probably because the cost of getting a home loan has been so low for so long, according to lenders in the Tulsa area.

"Most people have already refinanced, though we always have a certain level of refinancing."

This week, the average 30-year, fixed-rate home loan is going for 4.98 percent, down a fraction from 4.99 percent last week, mortgage company Freddie Mac reported.

Jan. 31--Ladies and gentleman!

In the reigning champ's corner: the credit card companies, primed to preserve their revenue stream.

And in the challenger's corner: a battery of consumer protections set to take effect Feb. 22, in time for George Washington's birthday.

Jan. 30--Two of Georgia's larger community banks were shut down on Friday by federal regulators, boosting the number of failures to 32 since the state's banking crisis began in 2008.

The banks, First National Bank of Georgia in Carrollton and Community Bank and Trust in Cornelia, had large real-estate related losses.

First National was taken over by a newly chartered Georgia institution, Community & Southern Bank.