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First National Bank Of Omaha - First Bankcard Union Bank

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<b>First National Bank Omaha</b> is a subsidiary of First National of Nebraska. It is recognized as the largest privately held bank in the United States with $17 billion in managed assets and 5,000 employees. The bank's history is credited for paralleling that of the city of Omaha and the state of Nebraska.<br />
Chartered and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, First National provides corporate banking, investment banking, retail banking, wealth management and consumer lending services at locations in Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Texas, Kansas and Illinois. With the upcoming new branch opening, there will be a total of 93 branches.<br />
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<h2>
<span id="History">History</span></h2>
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In 1856, a group of settlers from Kanesville, Iowa crossed the Missouri River to picnic in the newly named Nebraska Territory. One of the visitors, Thomas Davis, helped found Omaha when he donated $600 in gold dust for an official charter. He eventually served on First National Bank's Board of Directors. Two immigrant brothers from Ohio, Herman and Augustus Kountze opened Kountze Brothers Bank in 1857. Omaha's first bank opened its doors and started trading primarily in gold dust and buffalo hides. Kountze Brothers Bank received national charter #209 in 1863. Today, theirs is the oldest national bank west of the Missouri River. In 1863, they also began doing business as First National Bank of Omaha and brought in additional investors, including Edward Creighton, who served as president.<br />
In 1883, Herman Kountze speculated on land in North Omaha, eventually developing an affluent Omaha suburb called Kountze Place in the former town of Saratoga. The panic of 1893 sparked the worst depression of the 19th century. In 1895, twelve businessmen from Omaha, including Herman Kountze, started the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben. Their mission, "to build a more prosperous Heartland, where communities can flourish and every child can succeed," carries on to this day. In 1898, Herman Kountze donated the use of 60 acres (240,000Â m<sup>2</sup>) of his Kountze Place development for the Trans-Mississippi Exposition, one of the crowning events in Omaha's history. Featuring a lagoon filled with Venetian gondolas, it attracted 2.6 million visitors at a time when Omaha's population was roughly 100,000.<br />
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<span id="1900_to_1949">1900 to 1949</span></h3>
In 1913, First National Bank became one of the first banks to specifically target women with a Ladies' Department. Staffed with female tellers in a comfortable and accommodating setting, it helped make banking a mainstream activity for women. During a five-year span ending in 1933, the Great Depression caused more than 750 Nebraska banks to close. On one Saturday in August, skittish depositors begin withdrawing their funds <i>en masse</i> from Omaha banks. When their requests were met, the banks proved their solvency; if not, the banks faced almost certain collapse. During this period First National Bank extended their hours, honored every withdrawal and proved their financial strength once and for all.<br />
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<span id="1950_to_1999">1950 to 1999</span></h3>
In 1953, under the leadership of John Lauritzen, First National Bank became the first bank in the region and the fifth in the nation to issue its own credit card. Also in 1953, First National Merchant Solutions began processing for 125 merchants. In 1971, employees started moving into the 22-story First National Center. Attached to a 420-room hotel and a 550-stall parking garage, it became one of the most modern and attractive buildings in the region, providing economic development in downtown Omaha.<br />
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<span id="2000_to_present">2000 to present</span></h3>
In 2000 First National Bank designated two parcels of green space for the city of Omaha. They are the current sites of two sculpture parks called "Spirit of Nebraska's Wilderness" and "Pioneer Courage". Working in tandem, the two sculptures join to make one of the largest bronze sculptures in the world. In 2002, First National Bank completed construction on the First National Tower, the tallest building between Chicago and Denver. With almost a million square feet of office space, it dramatically changed Omaha's skyline.<br />
Thanks in part to their Child Development Center, in 2002 First National Bank is selected one of "America's Best Companies for Working Mothers" according to <i>Working Mother</i> magazine, an honor that has been repeated annually. In 2003 First National Bank was named "One of America's Most Admired Companies", as judged by their peers for <i>Fortune</i> Magazine. FNBO Direct, an online savings account, began operations in 2006. First National was named to IDG's <i>Computerworld</i> "100 Best Places to work in Information Technology", in 2007, an honor which was repeated in 2008.<br />
First National Bank opened a new 'state-of-the-art' branch in Papillion, Nebraska. It was announced on February 8, 2008, that Mills County Bank in Glenwood, Iowa and Silver City, Iowa will be First National Bank of Omaha, effective February 9, 2008. The full transition to First National Bank was completed on June 20, 2008. In March 2008, First National Bank opened a new branch with their new partnership with Scooter's Coffeehouse, started in Bellevue, Nebraska and have their operations based out of Omaha. This new branch is located in the Old Market in Downtown Omaha.<br />
Beginning September 30, 2010, it was announced that First National of Nebraska consolidated its bank charters of First National Bank of Colorado, in Fort Collins, Colorado; First National Bank of Kansas, in Overland Park, Kansas; and Castle Bank, in DeKalb, Illinois, with its First National Bank of Omaha charter.<br />
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<span id="Historical_leadership">Historical leadership</span></h2>
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<span id="Presidents">Presidents</span></h3>
After three years as the President of FNBO, Rajive Johri retired on January 6, 2009. Dan O'Neill, who is also the president of First National of Nebraska, has succeeded Johri as president. During his three years, chairman Bruce Lauritzen states that Johri engineered the significant growth of the credit card division, introduced the banks online savings product and opened up the first branches in Iowa.<br />
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<span id="Current_board_of_directors">Current board of directors</span></h3>
The First National Board of Directors is made up of family stockholders, independent directors, and management of the bank and its holding company. The Chairman of the Board is Bruce Lauritzen, whose family owns a controlling interest in the Bank's holding company.<br />
<ul>
<li>Bruce R. Lauritzen</li>
<li>Nicholas W. Baxter</li>
<li>George J. Behringer</li>
<li>John W. Castle</li>
<li>Margaret Lauritzen Dodge</li>
<li>Stephen F. Eulie</li>
<li>J. William Henry</li>
<li>Clarkson D. Lauritzen</li>
<li>Jerry J. O'Flanagan</li>
<li>Daniel K. O'Neill</li>
<li>Thomas C. Stokes</li>
<li>Michael A. Summers</li>
</ul>
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<span id="Branches">Branches</span></h2>
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Currently, First National Bank has branches in Nebraska, Iowa, Texas, Colorado, Kansas and Illinois. On September 6, 1984, FNBO acquired David City Bank in David City. On May 31, 1988, FNBO acquired First Security Bank & Trust Co. in Beatrice. On November 21, 1989, FNBO acquired First of Omaha Savings Co. in Omaha.<br />
Texas is also the home to four branches, however, they operate under the name of First National Bank Southwest. On December 15, 2000, FNBO acquired First State Bank in Frisco. The initial branches in Glenwood opened on January 1, 1883, as Mills County State Bank. On May 1, 2001, they changed their name to Mills County Bank, N.A. On February 9, 2008, they merged with First National Bank of Omaha. The first branch in Council Bluffs opened on July 28, 2008. The first First National Bank Iowa branch opened in Des Moines on June 30, 2008.<br />
In the June 19, 2008, edition of the Omaha World-Herald, Rajive Johri, president of First National Bank, stated that First National had planned to open a branch office in Des Moines, Iowa this summer, but due to the recent flooding in the area, the opening date is being pushed back to the fall.<br />
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<span id="First_National_Bank_Colorado">First National Bank Colorado</span></h3>
<dl><dd>Branches in Colorado: Fort Collins, Boulder, Brighton, Broomfield, Denver, Evans, Fort Lupton, Greeley, Johnstown, Kersey, Longmont, Louisville, Loveland, Platteville, Wellington, Westminster, and Windsor</dd></dl>
Since 1881, <b>First National Bank</b> has been in business in Colorado. First National Bank of Fort Collins was formed on May 15, 1934 with the original name of First National Bank. Its name was changed to First Interstate Bank of Fort Collins, National Association on June 1, 1981. On June 13, 1994, the name was changed back to First National Bank. Union Colony Bank in Greeley, Colorado was acquired by First National Bank February 15, 2008.<br />
On February 15, 2008, First National Bank of Colorado, First National Bank of Fort Collins and Union Colony Bank merged under First National Bank Colorado.<br />
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<span id="First_National_Bank_Kansas">First National Bank Kansas</span></h3>
<dl><dd>Branches in Kansas: Fairway, Olathe, Overland Park, and Shawnee</dd></dl>
<b>First National Bank Kansas</b> was established in Kansas in 1993 as part of one of the oldest and most successful financial organizations in the Midwest, First National of Nebraska.<br />
<b>First National Bank of Kansas (FNBK)</b> was chartered in 1993 when FNNI purchased approximately $80 million deposits from a failed financial institution. The bank purchased additional deposits approximating $220 million from another financial institution in 1994. To profitably invest this large deposit base, FNBK purchased credit card receivables from an affiliated bank. Most of the receivables originated outside the bank's assessment area. While credit card receivables still represent a large percentage of bank assets, credit card lending is not a strategic goal for the bank.<br />
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<span id="FNBO_Direct">FNBO Direct</span></h2>
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FNBO Direct, a division of First National Bank of Omaha, started operations in November 2006 at a 5.25% annual percentage yield (APY). FNBO Direct launched a nationwide campaign to promote their online savings account on May 1, 2007. In honor of the bank's 150th anniversary, the APY was placed at 6.0% for 150 days from May 1 through September 28, 2007. In an e-mail sent to customers at the end of August, it was announced that the FNBO Direct Credit Card will give a competitive interest rate and cash back rewards that would be deposited directly into the online savings account. The credit card product launched to a selected number of customers that currently have an online savings account on September 26, 2007. On November 28, 2007, FNBO Direct launched an Online Billpay account as well as offering a certificate of deposit available, at first, for four different terms (9 month, 12 month, 18 month, and 24 month). Currently, customers are able to choose from a six-month term as well.<br />
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<span id="First_National_Merchant_Solutions">First National Merchant Solutions</span></h2>
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In addition to being a top-10 payment processor, <b>First National Merchant Solutions</b> is also the 4th largest bank processor in the United States and is the 6th largest in-house processor of credit cards. In 1967, First National Bank of Omaha automated many of its manual credit card processes and was the first credit card processing center in the nation to offer descriptive billing statements. In 1988, First National Bank of Omaha became the first processor to develop authorization slips for restaurants with a blank area for including tip. A couple of years later, FNBO's acquiring division was renamed to First of Omaha Merchant Processing. First of Omaha Merchant Processing received the 1994 Member Service Quality Performance Award for Best Copy Performance by an acquirer with Visa sales over $1.5 billion. In 2002, First of Omaha Merchant Processing changed its name to First National Merchant Solutions. A year later, FNMS celebrated its 50th year of processing payments. First National Merchant Solutions became one of the first processors to offer merchants ACH and credit card transactions in the same batch file in 2004. The following year, First National Merchant Solutions introduced First Resolution OnlineTM, the first chargeback management tool in the market to allow merchants to resolve chargebacks online.<br />
FNBO also underwrites for two large ISO's, <b>International Merchant Services</b>, located in Westmont, Illinois, and <b>Merchant Services, Inc.</b> of Farmingdale, New Jersey. On April 1, 2010, TSYS announced that they would be acquiring 51% of the merchant division, and the remaining 49% would remain under the ownership of FNBO. The new name of the company is First National Merchant Solutions, LLC (FNMS). Joint Venture with TSYS<br />
It was announced on January 4, 2011, that TSYS would acquire the remaining 49% of the company, thus changing their name to TSYS Merchant Solutions.<br />
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<span id="First_Bankcard">First Bankcard</span></h2>
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In 1953, First National's consumer finance operation launched its "First Charge" card which remains to this day the most profitable innovation in First National's long history. The bank issued a simple little card, which was nothing more than a white piece of plasticized paper, complete with a green logo, and an inscription which spelled "First Charge Account Service" and a red number which served to identify the cardholder. First Bankcard is one of the top three banks serving the credit card needs of other financial institutions, including Union Bank of California and People's Bank. First Bankcard also services credit cards for Major League Lacrosse, World of Warcraft, Scheels All Sports, just to name a few. SunTrust Bank announced on December 12, 2006, that it has signed an agreement with Atlanta-based InfiCorp Holdings, Inc. (subsidiary of First National of Nebraska) for issuing consumer credit cards. Under terms of the agreement, InfiCorp will market, originate and service SunTrust-branded cards starting in the first quarter of 2007, focusing on SunTrust clients.<br />
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<span id="Interest_Rate_Battles">Interest Rate Battles</span></h3>
An Iowa resident by the name of Fred Fisher received an unsolicited BankAmericard from First National Bank Omaha, in February 1969. Fisher filed a complaint against the Omaha bank on September 3, 1971, for exporting Nebraska's higher interest rates to his state. He told the U.S. District Court that since the Iowa legislature had fixed the usury ceiling at nine percent, First National was breaking the law by charging him 18 percent for advance of up to $500. Marquette threatened by taking the Omaha bank to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary if their practice continued. The Marquette bank offered credit cards for a $10 fee at a flat rate of 12 percent interest on outstanding credit. First National required no fee and it charged 18 percent interest for credit up to $500 and 12 percent on all additional balances.<br />
Marquette began to lobby for the passage of a state law designed to put a 12 percent ceiling on all bank credit card outstandings. In May 1976, about one month after that measure was signed into law, Marquette filed a suit to make its Omaha rival conform to the 12 percent limit. The decision maintained that the 115-year-old National Bank Act takes precedence over usury statues in individual states. Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. wrote that the 1863 law permitted a national bank to charge interest at the rate allowed by the regulations of the state in which the lending institution is located. On July 25, 1979, the Iowa Supreme Court overturned their decision that was made on August 30, 1978.<br />
<h3>
<span id="Closing_of_the_Kearney_Call_Center">Closing of the Kearney Call Center</span></h3>
It was announced on the Kearney Hub's website that the Kearney call center will be closing, effective February 28, 2009. FNBO plans to move its customer service operations in Kearney to its locations in Bloomfield, Omaha and Wayne, Nebraska, after formal approval by its board of directors. "First National Credit Card Center has been growing profitably over the past three years. This consolidation plan is designed to fully utilize our call center facilities to support future growth, while allowing us to be more efficient." President Stephen Eulie said in a press release. "It will result in a significant increase in the number of employees at our other sites and improved career options for those individuals." He said the decision to close the Kearney call center and move those positions will enable the company to more effectively centralize operations functions while reducing the expense of managing its overall business. Operations at the call centers include inbound customer service, credit card collections, account activity alert and fraud prevention, credit analysis, credit account processing, specialized customer contact and technology support. First National has operated the call center in Kearney since 1992.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Buildings">Buildings</span></h2>
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The Northern Natural Gas Building is located at 2223 Dodge Street in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It is a 260Â ft (79 m), 19-story skyscraper. This building housed the credit card operations until the opening of the First National Tower in 2002.<br />
First National Business Park is located at just north of Boys Town in West Omaha. First National Business Park is located at 144th & Dodge Streets. First National Bank occupies 14010 FNB Parkway. There is also a bank branch located at the business park at 14310 FNB Parkway. Valmont Industries has their corporate headquarters located at One Valmont Plaza, which is also located in the Business Park. It was announced on October 23, 2008, that Yahoo will be coming to the Omaha Metro Area. Yahoo stated that the First National Business Park will be the home to the customer care center that should open next April.<br />
First National Center is a 22-story office building in downtown Omaha. The building is attached to a 420-room hotel and a 550-stall parking garage. The First National Center is located at 1620 Dodge St in downtown Omaha. The hotel that is joining the First National Center is the Doubletree Hotel.<br />
With the completion of the First National Technology Center, FNBO became the first business in the country to utilize hydrogen fuel cells. In 2008, <i>ComputerWorld</i> named First National of Nebraska as the third best in a top 12 list of "Green-IT Companies"<br />
In 2012, First National Bank of Omaha upgraded its fuel cell system to a PureCell Model 400. The fuel cell is installed in the main floor of the building and provides 400Â kW of heat and power to the facility.<br />
The First National Bank Tower is a 634Â ft (193 m), 45-story skyscraper at 1601 Dodge Street in downtown Omaha. Built in 2002, it is currently the tallest building in Nebraska, as well as the tallest building between Minneapolis and Denver. It was built on the site of the former "Medical Arts Building" which was imploded on April 2, 1999. Inside the glass lobby is a large section of the ornamental facade from the former "Medical Arts Building". The First National Bank Tower also plays host to Trek up the Tower, a vertical stair climb race up to the top of the tower. This race is presented by The Wellness Council of the Midlands. The building is the headquarters of First National of Nebraska.<br />
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<span id="See_also">See also</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>First National Bank Omaha</li>
<li>FNBO Direct</li>
<li>First National of Nebraska</li>
<li>First National Bank Southwest</li>
<li>Scooter's Coffeehouse-Partnered with First National Bank</li>
</ul>
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First National Bank Of Omaha - First Bankcard Union Bank

First National Bank Omaha is a subsidiary of First National of Nebraska. It is recognized as the largest privately held bank in the Unite...

Commercial Bank

Nahara Narnia 0 Commercial Bank 12:33 AM

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A <b>commercial bank</b> is a type of bank that provides services such as accepting deposits, making business loans, and offering basic investment products.<br />
Commercial bank can also refer to a bank or a division of a bank that mostly deals with deposits and loans from corporations or large businesses, as opposed to individual members of the public (retail banking).<br />
In the United States the term "commercial bank" was often used to distinguish it from an investment bank due to differences in bank regulation. After the Great Depression, through the Glassâ€“Steagall Act, the U.S. Congress required that commercial banks only engage in banking activities, whereas investment banks were limited to capital market activities. This separation was mostly repealed in 1999 by the Grammâ€“Leachâ€“Bliley Act but was restored by the Volcker Rule, implemented in January 2014 as part of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.<br />
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<h2>
<span id="Origin_of_the_term">Origin of the term</span></h2>
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The name <i>bank</i> derives from the Italian word <i>banco</i> "desk/bench", used during the Renaissance era by Florentine bankers, who used to carry out their transactions on a desk covered by a green tablecloth. However, traces of banking activity can be found even in ancient times.<br />
Some have suggested that the word "bank" traces its origins back to the Ancient Roman Empire, where moneylenders would set up their stalls in the middle of enclosed courtyards called<i>macella,</i> on long benches (each called a <i>bancu</i>), from which the words <i>banco</i> and <i>bank</i> are derived. As a moneychanger, the merchant at the <i>bancu</i>, did not so much invest money as merely convert the foreign currency into Imperial Mint, the only legal tender in Rome.<br />
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<span id="The_role_of_commercial_banks">The role of commercial banks</span></h2>
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Commercial banks engage in the following activities:<br />
<ul>
<li>Processing payments via telegraphic transfer, EFTPOS, internet banking, or other</li>
<li>Issuing bank drafts and bank cheques</li>
<li>Accepting money on term deposit</li>
<li>Lending money by overdraft, installment loan, or other</li>
<li>Providing documentary credit, guarantees, performance bonds, securities underwriting commitments and other forms of off-balance sheet exposure.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Cash management and treasury</li>
<li>merchant banking and private equity financing</li>
</ul>
Traditionally, large commercial banks also underwrite bonds, and make markets in currency, interest rates, and credit-related securities, but today large commercial banks usually have an investment bank arm that is involved in the aforementioned activities.<br />
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<span id="Types_of_loans_granted_by_commercial_banks">Types of loans granted by commercial banks</span></h2>
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<span id="Secured_loans">Secured loans</span></h3>
A secured loan is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset (e.g., a car or property) as collateral for the loan, which then becomes a secured debt owed to the creditor who gives the loan. The debt is thus secured against the collateral â€” in the event that the borrower defaults, the creditor takes possession of the asset used as collateral and may sell it to regain some or all of the amount originally lent to the borrower, for example, foreclosed a portion of the bundle of rights to specified property. If the sale of the collateral does not raise enough money to pay off the debt, the creditor can often obtain a deficiency judgment against the borrower for the remaining amount. The opposite of secured debt/loan is unsecured debt, which is not connected to any specific piece of property and instead the creditor may only satisfy the debt against the borrower rather than the borrower's collateral and the borrower.<br />
A mortgage loan is a very common type of debt instrument, used to purchase real estate. Under this arrangement, the money is used to purchase the property. Commercial banks, however, are given security - a lien on the title to the house - until the mortgage is paid off in full. If the borrower defaults on the loan, the bank would have the legal right to repossess the house and sell it, to recover sums owing to it.<br />
In the past, commercial banks have not been greatly interested in real estate loans and have placed only a relatively small percentage of assets in mortgages. As their name implies, such financial institutions secured their earning primarily from commercial and consumer loans and left the major task of home financing to others. However, changes in banking laws have allowed commercial banks to make more home mortgage loans.<br />
In acquiring mortgages on real estate, these institutions follow two main practices. First, some of the banks maintain active and well-organized departments whose primary function is to compete actively for real estate loans. In areas lacking specialized real estate financial institutions, these banks become the source for residential and farm mortgage loans. Second, the banks acquire mortgages by simply purchasing them from mortgage bankers or dealers.<br />
In addition, dealer service companies, which were originally used to obtain car loans for permanent lenders such as commercial banks, wanted to broaden their activity beyond their local area. In recent years, however, such companies have concentrated on acquiring mobile home loans in volume for both commercial banks and savings and loan associations. Service companies obtain these loans from retail dealers, usually on a non-recourse basis. Almost all bank/service company agreements contain a credit insurance policy that protects the lender if the consumer defaults.<br />
<h3>
<span id="Unsecured_loan">Unsecured loan</span></h3>
Unsecured loans are monetary loans that are not secured against the borrower's assets (no collateral is involved). There are small business unsecured loans such as credit cards and credit lines to large corporate credit lines. These may be available from financial institutions under many different guises or marketing packages such as:<br />
<ul>
<li>Bank overdrafts</li>
<li>Corporate bonds</li>
<li>Credit card debt</li>
<li>Credit facilities or lines of credit</li>
<li>Personal loans</li>
</ul>
A corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation. It is a bond that a corporation issues to raise money in order to expand its business. The term is usually applied to longer-term debt instruments, generally with a maturity date falling at least a year after their issue date. (The term "commercial paper" is sometimes used for instruments with a shorter maturity.)<br />
Sometimes, the term "corporate bonds" is used to include all bonds except those issued by governments in their own currencies. Strictly speaking, however, it applies only to bonds issued by corporations, not to bonds of local authorities and supranational organizations.<br />
Corporate bonds are often listed on major exchanges (bonds there are called "listed" bonds) and ECNs like Bonds.com and MarketAxess and the coupon (or interest payment) is usually taxable. Sometimes, this coupon can be zero, with a high redemption value. However, despite being listed on exchanges, the vast majority of trading volume in corporate bonds in most developed markets takes place in decentralized, dealer-based, over-the-counter markets.<br />
Some corporate bonds have an embedded call option that allows the issuer to redeem the debt before its maturity date. Other bonds, known as convertible bonds, allow investors to convert the bond into equity.<br />
Corporate credit spreads may alternatively be earned in exchange for default risk through credit default swaps, which give an unfunded synthetic exposure to similar risks on the same "Reference Entities". However, quite volatile credit default swaps "basis" make the spreads on credit default swaps and the credit spreads on corporate bonds be significantly different.<br />
<h3>
<span id="Primary_functions">Primary functions</span></h3>
Commercial banks perform various functions:<br />
<ul>
<li>Commercial banks accept various types of deposits from public especially from its clients, including saving account deposits, recurring account deposits, and fixed deposits. These deposits are payable after a certain time period</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Commercial banks provide loans and advances of various forms, including an overdraft facility, cash credit, bill discounting, money at call etc. They also give demand and demand and term loans to all types of clients against proper security.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Credit creation is the most significant function of commercial banks. While sanctioning a loan to a customer, they do not provide cash to the borrower. Instead, they open a deposit account from which the borrower can withdraw. In other words, while sanctioning a loan, they automatically create deposits, known as a credit creation from commercial banks.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
<span id="Secondary_functions">Secondary functions</span></h3>
Along with primary functions, commercial banks perform several secondary functions. The secondary functions of commercial banks can be divided into agency functions and utility functions.<br />
Agency functions include:<br />
<ul>
<li>To collect and clear cheques, dividends and interest warrant.</li>
<li>To make payments of rent, insurance premium, etc.</li>
<li>To deal in foreign exchange transactions.</li>
<li>To purchase and sell securities.</li>
<li>To act as trustee, attorney, correspondent and executor.</li>
<li>To accept tax proceeds and tax returns.</li>
</ul>
Utility functions include:<br />
<ul>
<li>To provide safety locker facility to customers.</li>
<li>To provide money transfer facility.</li>
<li>To issue traveller's cheque.</li>
<li>To act as referees.</li>
<li>To accept various bills for payment: phone bills, gas bills, water bills, etc.</li>
<li>To provide merchant banking facility.</li>
<li>To provide various cards: credit cards, debit cards, smart cards, etc.</li>
</ul>
<h2>
<span id="See_also">See also</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>Assets and Liabilities of Commercial Banks in the United States</li>
<li>Mortgage constant</li>
</ul>
Federal regulation:<br />
<ul>
<li>Glass-Steagall Act (1933)</li>
<li>Grammâ€“Leachâ€“Bliley Act (1999)</li>
<li>Dodd-Frank Act of 2010</li>
</ul>
<h2>
<br /></h2>
<br />
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<img alt="19542fb22dfb49e8d09538f134551a ..." src="https://cdn1.lockerdome.com/uploads/19542fb22dfb49e8d09538f134551a953f80a61657577fd63ca0fe5afa801ab2_large" title="19542fb22dfb49e8d09538f134551a ..." /></div>
<ul>
<li>Brunner, Allan D.; Decressin, JÃ¶rg; Hardy, Daniel C. L.; Kudela, Beata (2004-06-21). "Germany's Three-Pillar Banking System: Cross-Country Perspectives in Europe". International Monetary Fund. ISBNÂ 1-58906-348-1. ISSNÂ 0251-6365.<span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACommercial+bank&rft.au=Brunner%2C+Allan+D.&rft.au=Decressin%2C+J%C3%B6rg&rft.au=Hardy%2C+Daniel+C.+L.&rft.au=Kudela%2C+Beata&rft.aulast=Brunner%2C+Allan+D.&rft.btitle=Germany%27s+Three-Pillar+Banking+System%3A+Cross-Country+Perspectives+in+Europe&rft.date=2004-06-21&rft.genre=book&rft.isbn=1-58906-348-1&rft.issn=0251-6365&rft.pub=International+Monetary+Fund&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook">Â </span> Abstract</li>
<li>Khambata, Dara (1996). <i>The practice of multinational banking: macro-policy issues and key international concepts</i> (2nd ed.). New York: Quorum Books. p.Â 320. ISBNÂ 978-0-89930-971-2.<span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACommercial+bank&rft.au=Khambata%2C+Dara&rft.aulast=Khambata%2C+Dara&rft.btitle=The+practice+of+multinational+banking%3A+macro-policy+issues+and+key+international+concepts&rft.date=1996&rft.edition=2nd&rft.genre=book&rft.isbn=978-0-89930-971-2&rft.pages=320&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Quorum+Books&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook">Â </span></li>
<li>Commercial Banks directory and guidelines Commercial Banks</li>
</ul>
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<img alt="Bank Charge-off Rate Highest Since 1992 for Commercial Banks ..." src="http://www.mybudget360.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/bank-charge-offs.png" title="Bank Charge-off Rate Highest Since 1992 for Commercial Banks ..." /></div>

Commercial Bank

A commercial bank is a type of bank that provides services such as accepting deposits, making business loans, and offering basic investm...

Bear Stearns - Stearns Bank

Nahara Narnia 1 Bear Stearns, Stearns Bank 9:09 PM

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<img height="240" src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-DV855_REM072_G_20140725220732.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based worldwide venture bank and securities exchanging and business firm that fizzled in 2008 as a major aspect of the worldwide money related emergency and subsidence and was along these lines sold to JPMorgan Chase. Its principle business ranges before its disappointment were capital markets dealer, riches administration and worldwide clearing administrations.<br />
<br />
In the years paving the way to the disappointment, Bear Stearns was vigorously included in securitization and issued a lot of benefit upheld securities, which on account of home loans were spearheaded by Lewis Ranieri, "the father of home loan securities". As financial specialist misfortunes mounted in those business sectors in 2006 and 2007, the organization really expanded its presentation, particularly the home loan sponsored resources that were key to the subprime contract emergency. In March 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York gave a crisis advance to attempt to turn away a sudden breakdown of the organization. The organization couldn't be spared, on the other hand, and was sold to JP Morgan Chase for $10 per offer, a cost far underneath its pre-emergency 52-week high of $133.20 per offer, yet not as low as the $2 per share initially settled upon by Bear Stearns and JP Morgan Chase.<br />
<br />
The breakdown of the organization was a prelude to the danger administration emergency of the speculation saving money industry in the United States and somewhere else that built up and finally finished in September 2008, and the resulting worldwide budgetary emergency of 2008â€"2009. In January 2010, JPMorgan stopped utilizing the Bear Stearns name.<br />
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<h2>
History </h2>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tdtN6vczVig/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tdtN6vczVig?feature=player_embedded" style="text-align: -webkit-center;" width="320"></iframe><br />
<br style="text-align: -webkit-center;" />Bear Stearns Bravo - Play Bear Stearns Bravo: http://www.bearstearnsbravo.com Los Angeles, 2007. The Regulators Franco and Henri have been dispatched to Bear Stearns, ...<br />
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Bear Stearns was established as a value exchanging house on May Day 1923 by Joseph Ainslee Bear, Robert B. Stearns and Harold C. Mayer Sr. with $500,000 in capital. Inside pressures rapidly emerged among the three originators. The firm survived the Wall Street Crash of 1929 without laying off any workers and by 1933 opened its first branch office in Chicago. In 1955, the firm opened its first universal office in Amsterdam.<br />
<br />
In 1985, Bear Stearns turned into a traded on an open market organization. It served partnerships, establishments, governments and people. The organization's business included corporate fund, mergers and acquisitions, institutional values, settled wage deals & hazard administration, exchanging and exploration, private customer administrations, subsidiaries, remote trade and fates deals and exchanging, resource administration and guardianship administrations. Through Bear Stearns Securities Corp., it offered worldwide clearing administrations to specialist merchants, prime agent customers and other expert brokers, including securities giving. Bear Stearns was likewise known for a standout amongst the most broadly read market knowledge pieces in the city, known as the "Early Look at the Market."<br />
<br />
Bear Stearns' World Headquarters was situated at 383 Madison Avenue, between East 46th Street and East 47th Street in Manhattan. By 2007, the organization utilized more than 15,500 individuals around the world. The firm was headquartered in New York City with workplaces in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Irvine, San Francisco, St. Louis, Whippany, New Jersey; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Globally the firm had workplaces in London, Beijing, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Lugano, Milan, Sã£o Paulo, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.<br />
<br />
In 2005â€"2007, Bear Stearns was perceived as the "Most Admired" securities firm in Fortune's "America's Most Admired Companies" overview, and second in general in the security firm segment. The yearly study is a prestigious positioning of representative ability, nature of danger administration and business development. This was the second time in three years that Bear Stearns had accomplished this "top" qualification.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Lead-up to the disappointment â€" expanding presentation to subprime contracts </h3>
<br />
By November, 2006, the organization had all out capital of give or take $66.7 billion and aggregate resources of $350.4 billion and as indicated by the April 2005 issue of Institutional Investor magazine, Bear Stearns was the seventh-biggest securities firm as far as aggregate capital.<br />
<br />
After a year Bear Stearns had notional contract measures of roughly $13.40 trillion in subordinate monetary instruments, of which $1.85 trillion were recorded prospects and alternative contracts. Furthermore, Bear Stearns was conveying more than $28 billion in 'level 3' benefits on its books toward the end of monetary 2007 versus a net value position of just $11.1 billion. This $11.1 billion upheld $395 billion in resources, which implies an influence proportion of 35.6 to 1. This profoundly utilized accounting report, comprising of numerous illiquid and conceivably useless resources, prompted the fast lessening of speculator and moneylender certainty, which at long last vanished as Bear was compelled to call the New York Federal Reserve to fight off the approaching course of counterparty danger which would result from constrained liquidation.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Begin of the emergency â€" two subprime home loan stores fall flat </h3>
<br />
On June 22, 2007, Bear Stearns promised a collateralized advance of up to $3.2 billion to "rescue" one of its stores, the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Fund, while arranging with different banks to advance cash against guarantee to another trust, the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Enhanced Leveraged Fund. Bear Stearns had initially set up quite recently $35 million, so they were reluctant about the bailout; in any case, CEO James Cayne and other senior administrators agonized over the harm to the organization's notoriety. The stores were put resources into meagerly exchanged collateralized obligation commitments (CDOs). Merrill Lynch seized $850 million value of the hidden security yet just had the capacity closeout $100 million of them. The occurrence started concern of disease as Bear Stearns may be compelled to sell its CDOs, provoking a discount of comparable resources in different portfolios. Richard A. Marin, a senior official at Bear Stearns Asset Management in charge of the two mutual funds, was supplanted on June 29 by Jeffrey B. Path, a previous Vice Chairman of adversary speculation bank, Lehman Brothers.<br />
<br />
Amid the week of July 16, 2007, Bear Stearns revealed that the two subprime mutual funds had lost almost the greater part of their worth in the midst of a quick decrease in the business sector for subprime contracts.<br />
<br />
On August 1, 2007, speculators in the two stores made a move against Bear Stearns and its top board and danger administration chiefs and officers. The law offices of Jake Zamansky & Associates and Rich & Intelisano both documented discretion claims with the National Association of Securities Dealers charging that Bear Stearns misdirected speculators about its introduction to the trusts. This was the first lawful activity made against Bear Stearns. Co-President Warren Spector was requested that leave on August 5, 2007, as an aftereffect of the breakdown of two speculative stock investments fixing to subprime contracts. A September 21 report in the New York Times noticed that Bear Stearns posted a 61 percent drop in net benefits because of their fence investments misfortunes. With Samuel Molinaro's November 15 disclosure that Bear Stearns was recording a further $1.2 billion in home loan related securities and would confront its first misfortune in 83 years, Standard & Poor's minimized the organization's FICO score from AA to A.<br />
<br />
Matthew Tannin and Ralph R. Cioffi, both previous chiefs of mutual funds at Bear Stearns Companies, were captured June 19, 2008. They confronted criminal charges and were found not liable of misdirecting speculators about the dangers included in the subprime market. Tannin and Cioffi have additionally been named in claims delivered by Barclays Bank, who claims they were one of the numerous financial specialists deceived by the officials.<br />
<br />
They were likewise named in common claims acquired 2007 by financial specialists, including Barclays Bank, who guaranteed they had been misdirected. Barclays asserted that Bear Stearns realized that certain benefits in the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Master Fund were worth a great deal not exactly their declared qualities. The suit asserted that Bear Stearns chiefs formulated "an arrangement to profit for themselves and further to utilize the Enhanced Fund as a store for dangerous, low quality speculations." The claim said Bear Stearns told Barclays that the improved trust was up just about 6% through June 2007â€"when "actually, the portfolio's advantage qualities were falling."<br />
<br />
Different financial specialists in the store included Jeffrey E. Epstein's Financi<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Sustained bailout and deal to JPMorgan Chase </h3>
<br />
On March 14, 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York consented to give a $25 billion credit to Bear Stearns collateralized by without a worry in the world resources from Bear Stearns keeping in mind the end goal to give Bear Stearns the liquidity to up to 28 days that the business was declining to give. Evidently the Federal Reserve Bank of New York had a change of heart and told Bear Stearns that the 28 day advance was occupied to them. The arrangement was then changed to where the NY FED would make an organization to purchase $30 billion value of Bear Stearns resources. After two days, on March 16, 2008, Bear Stearns consented to a merger arrangement with JP Morgan Chase in a stock swap worth $2 an offer or under 7 percent of Bear Stearns' fairly estimated worth only two days prior. This deal cost spoke to a stunning misfortune as its stock had exchanged at $172 an offer as late as January 2007, and $93 an offer as late as February 2008. The new organization is supported by credits of $29 billion from the New York FRB, and $1 billion from JP Morgan Chase (the lesser advance), with no further plan of action to JP Morgan Chase. This non-response credit implies that the advance is collateralized by home loan obligation and that the administration can't seize JP Morgan Chase's benefits if the home loan obligation guarantee gets to be inadequate to reimburse the advance. Administrator of the Fed, Ben Bernanke, protected the bailout by expressing that a Bear Stearns' liquidation would have influenced the genuine economy and could have brought on a "disordered loosening up" of ventures over the US advertises.<br />
<br />
On March 20, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox said the breakdown of Bear Stearns was because of an absence of certainty, not an absence of capital. Cox noticed that Bear Stearns' issues raised when bits of gossip spread about its liquidity emergency which thusly disintegrated financial specialist trust in the firm. "Despite that Bear Stearns kept on having astounding guarantee to give as security to borrowings, market counterparties turned out to be less eager to go into collateralized subsidizing game plans with Bear Stearns," said Cox. Bear Stearns' liquidity pool began at $18.1 billion on March 10 and afterward dove to $2 billion on March 13. Eventually market bits of gossip about Bear Stearns' troubles got to be self-satisfying, Cox said.<br />
<br />
On March 24, 2008, a class activity was documented for the benefit of shareholders, testing the terms of JPMorganâ€™s as of late declared securing of Bear Stearns. That same day, another assention was come to that raised JPMorgan Chase's offer to $10 an offer, up from the beginning $2 offer, which implied an offer of $1.2 billion. The amended arrangement was intended to calm miracle speculators and any consequent lawful activity brought against JP Morgan Chase as an aftereffect of the arrangement and additionally to avoid representatives, a large portion of whose past remuneration comprised of Bear Stearns stock, from leaving for different firms. The Bear Stearns bailout was seen as a compelling case situation, and keeps on bringing up noteworthy issues about Fed intercession. On April 8, 2008, Paul A. Volcker expressed that the Fed has taken 'activities that stretch out to the very edge of its legitimate and suggested forces.' See his comments at a Luncheon of the Economic Club of New York. On May 29, Bear Stearns shareholders endorsed the deal to JPMorgan Chase at the $10-per-offer cost.<br />
<br />
An article by writer Matt Taibbi for Rolling Stone battled that exposed short offering had a part in the downfall of both Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. A study by fund specialists at the University of Oklahoma Price College of Business mulled over exchanging monetary stocks, including Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, and discovered "no proof that stock value decays were brought about by exposed short offering."<br />
<br />
<h2>
Structure before breakdown </h2>
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<img alt="After Crashing Bear Stearns, Mortgage Executives Have Plum Jobs on ..." src="http://www.occupy.com/sites/default/files/20080317_bear_stearns_graph.jpg" title="After Crashing Bear Stearns, Mortgage Executives Have Plum Jobs on ..." /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<h3>
Overseeing Partners/Chief Executive Officers </h3>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Salim L. Lewis: 1949â€"1978 </li>
<li>Alan C. Greenberg: 1978â€"1993 </li>
<li>James Cayne: 1993â€"2008 </li>
<li>Alan Schwartz: 2008â€"collapse </li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Real shareholders </h3>
The biggest Bear Stearns shareholders as of December 2007 were:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Dump cart Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss â€" 9.73% </li>
<li>Joseph C. Lewis â€" 9.36% </li>
<li>Morgan Stanley â€" 5.37% </li>
<li>James Cayne â€" 4.94% </li>
<li>Legg Mason Capital Management â€" 4.84% </li>
<li>Private Capital Management â€" 4.49% </li>
<li>Barclays Global Investors â€" 3.10% </li>
<li>State Street â€" 3.01% </li>
<li>Vanguard Group â€" 2.67% </li>
<li>Janus Capital Management â€" 2.34% </li>
</ul>
<br />
<h2>
<br />See moreover </h2>
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<img alt="File:Leverage Ratios.png - Wikimedia Commons" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Leverage_Ratios.png" title="File:Leverage Ratios.png - Wikimedia Commons" /></div>
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<h2>
<br /></h2>
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<img alt="Ruling in Suit Against Ex-Bear Stearns Leaders - Document ..." src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/783004/pages/ruling-in-suit-against-ex-bear-stearns-leaders-p9-normal.gif" title="Ruling in Suit Against Ex-Bear Stearns Leaders - Document ..." />.</div>
<h2>
<br /></h2>
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<img alt="Rule #1: Don't trade in a closet! | Benzinga" src="http://mrtopstep.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/bsc_bear_stearns_obituary.png" title="Rule #1: Don't trade in a closet! | Benzinga" /></div>

Bear Stearns - Stearns Bank

The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based worldwide venture bank and securities exchanging and business firm that fizzled in ...

Zurich Cantonal Bank

Nahara Narnia 0 Zurich Cantonal Bank 9:01 PM

<img height="240" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7320/8721758311_b2729b5eb4_b.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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<b>Zurich Cantonal Bank</b> (in German: <i>ZÃ¼rcher Kantonalbank</i>, or <b>ZKB</b>) is the largest cantonal bank and fourth largest bank in Switzerland, as well as the leading financial services provider in the Greater Zurich area, with total assets of over CHF 110 billion.<br />
ZKB, as an independent, incorporated public-law institution, is wholly owned by the Canton of Zurich. Ultimate supervision of ZKB is the responsibility of the Cantonal Council of Zurich, whose duties are laid down in Zurich's Cantonal Bank Act.<br />
Under the law, the canton of Zurich bears responsibility for all ZKB's liabilities should the bank's resources prove inadequate. This cantonal guarantee acts as a stabilising force for the financial market as a whole, particularly in times of economic uncertainty.<br />
On October 2009, <i>Global Finance</i> magazine rated ZKB at one of the five safest banks in the world, on the basis of it being one of only five financial institutions that enjoyed a triple Standard & Poor's, Fitch and Moody's AAA/Aaa rating globally.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span id="Network">Network</span></h2>
<br />
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9gzdX2cnXPY/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9gzdX2cnXPY?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br /><br />Save The Snowman - Zurich Insurance Commercial (2014) - Zurich Insurance Adverts & Commercials Archive Save The Snowman If you truly love something, you protect it in the best way. Every spring, kids watch as their ...</center>
<br />
With 103 outlets, ZKB is the largest network of branches in the canton of Zurich.<br />
ZKB also maintains a network of international representatives and regional advisory offices in Beijing, Mumbai, Singapore, Panama, and Sao Paulo.<br />
<h2>
<span id="ZKB_Gold_ETF">ZKB Gold ETF</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="Bank UBS ZÃ¼rich - Bentley | Didier Ruef | Photography" src="http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000IWHOLn.gvOQ/s/850/850/004-UBS-Bank-Zuerich-Bahnhofstrasse-2006.jpg" title="Bank UBS ZÃ¼rich - Bentley | Didier Ruef | Photography" /></div>
On 15 March 2006, Zurich Cantonal Bank launched the ZKB Gold ETF, which is listed in Switzerland under the symbol ZGLD. The fund invests exclusively in physical gold. The ETF has three unit classes traded in different currencies: USD, EUR, and CHF. Shares are sold in 1 ounce gold units, with a minimum purchase of one unit (one ounce).<br />
Units are normally bought and sold for cash. For payment in kind, only integral 12.5Â kg ingots are assured (subject to the total holding). The NAV is based on closing prices on the New York exchange according to Bloomberg Golds Comdty HP.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Notes_and_references">Notes and references</span></h2>
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<img alt="Safe bank. ZÃ¼rich | Didier Ruef | Photography" src="http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I00002mGvwyuOdUA/s/850/850/0006-Zuerich-Safe-bank-2006.jpg" title="Safe bank. ZÃ¼rich | Didier Ruef | Photography" /></div>
<h2>
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<img alt="Swiss to vote on massive gold-buying plan | The Salt Lake Tribune" src="http://www.sltrib.com/csp/mediapool/sites/dt.common.streams.StreamServer.cls%3FSTREAMOID%3D4deqZTZtX1GCiG7yRJ31Z8%24daE2N3K4ZzOUsqbU5sYvU4FuBCsIMZH0y5XzlatMoWCsjLu883Ygn4B49Lvm9bPe2QeMKQdVeZmXF%249l%244uCZ8QDXhaHEp3rvzXRJFdy0KqPHLoMevcTLo3h8xh70Y6N_U_CryOsw6FTOdKL_jpQ-%26CONTENTTYPE%3Dimage/jpeg" title="Swiss to vote on massive gold-buying plan | The Salt Lake Tribune" /></div>
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Zurich Cantonal Bank

Zurich Cantonal Bank (in German: ZÃ¼rcher Kantonalbank , or ZKB ) is the largest cantonal bank and fourth largest bank in Switzerland, ...

Ecobank - Eco Bank

Nahara Narnia 0 9:00 PM

Ecobank, whose official name is Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI), but at the same time is known as Ecobank Transnational, is a skillet African managing an account aggregate, with keeping money operations in 36 African nations. It is the main autonomous provincial managing an account amass in West Africa and Central Africa, serving wholesale and retail clients. It additionally keeps up backups in Eastern Africa, and in Southern Africa. ETI has delegate workplaces in Angola, China, Dubai, France, South Africa and in the United Kingdom.<br />
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Review<br />
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Bank Reform-ECOBank Shut Down by Protesting Staff - ECO bet on Ozumba Mbadiwe road in lagos was closed down today by many dis-connected with staff. The nonconformists who were some time ago staff of old maritime ...<br />
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ETI is an extensive budgetary administrations supplier with workplaces in 39 nations around the globe, and vicinity in 36 sub-Saharan nations. As of December 2012, ETI's client base was evaluated at 13.7 million, with 9.6 million (70.2%), situated in Nigeria, the landmass' most crowded country. Around then, the bunch's aggregate resources were esteemed at US$20.0 billion, with shareholders' value of US$2.176 billion. ETI's branch system numbered 1,305, with 1,981 organized ATMs. The bank had 19,565 representatives, in 39 nations, in Africa, Asia and Europe, toward the end of March 2014.<br />
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<h2>
Gathering system </h2>
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<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="Ecobank" src="http://www.ecobank.com/demo_img/account_summary_page_graphic.jpg" title="Ecobank" /></div>
As of June 2014, Ecobank Transnational had managing an account operations in 36 African nations, with agent workplaces in Angola, Beijing, Dubai, Ethiopia, South Africa and the United Kingdom:<br />
<br />
Ecobank Transnational has operational bank auxiliaries in the accompanying nations, starting July 2013:<br />
<br />
<h3>
Africa </h3>
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Ecoboank Angola - (Representative office in Luanda) </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Benin </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Burkina Faso </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Burundi </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Cameroon </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Cape Verde </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Central African Republic </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Chad </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Congo Brazzaville </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Cã'te d'Ivoire </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Democratic Republic of the Congo </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Ethiopia - (Representative office in Addis Ababa) </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Equatorial Guinea </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Gabon </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Gambia </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Ghana </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Guinea </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Guinea-Bissau </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Kenya </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Liberia </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Malawi </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Mali </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Mozambique </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Niger </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Nigeria (incorporates Oceanic Bank) </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Rwanda </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Sã£o Tomã© and Prãncipe </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Senegal </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Sierra Leone </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank South Africa (Representative office in Johannesburg) </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank South Sudan </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Tanzania </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Togo </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Uganda </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Zambia </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Zimbabwe </li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Outside Africa </h3>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Paris, France - Affiliate office </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>London, United Kingdom - France associate delegate office </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Representative office </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Beijing, China - Representative office </li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<h2>
History </h2>
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="CRT Guide : ECO Bank" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhcE2Y90YvEBauPEf-__wrsV-WC6vIuxbEqm3wFlBEu3ocHV_X8u5e5uALynJvnqgHJ_5Rrxpk9quYA_FXNuEVCF2ZycQfYqtHjKZ9-xRVBmdcEBNBr4QoiI9eR20jsJKjVTLx8OAPGxd/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-12+at+12.19.00+PM.png" title="CRT Guide : ECO Bank" /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
ETI, an open restricted obligation organization, was built up as a bank holding organization in 1985 under a private area activity initiated by the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry, with the backing of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In the mid 1980s the managing an account industry in West Africa was commanded by outside and state-claimed banks. There were not really any business banks in West Africa possessed and oversaw by the African private segment. ETI was established with the target of filling this vacuum.<br />
<br />
The Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce advanced and started a venture for the making of a private local keeping money establishment in West Africa. In 1984, Ecopromotions S.A. was joined. Its establishing shareholders raised the seed capital for the achievability studies and the limited time exercises prompting the formation of ETI.<br />
<br />
In October 1985, ETI was joined with an approved capital of US$100 million. The beginning paid up capital of US$32 million was raised from more than 1,500 people and establishments from West African nations. The biggest shareholder was the ECOWAS Fund for Cooperation, Compensation and Development (ECOWAS Fund), the advancement account arm of ECOWAS. A Headquartersâ€™ Agreement was marked with the legislature of Togo in 1985 which conceded ETI the status of a worldwide association with the rights and benefits important for it to work as a territorial foundation, including the status of a non-inhabitant monetary establishment.<br />
<br />
ETI has two particular backups: Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) and eProcess International (eProcess). EDC was joined with a wide order to create Ecobankâ€™s speculation managing an account and consultative organizations all through the nations where Ecobank works. EDC works business houses on every one of the 3 stock trades in West Africa and has gotten licenses to work on the two stock trades in Central Africa: the Douala Stock Exchange in Cameroon and the Libreville Exchange in Gabon. The command of eProcess is to deal with the Groupâ€™s data innovation capacity with a perspective to at last incorporating the Groupâ€™s center and back office operations to enhance effectiveness, administration norms and decrease costs.|<br />
<br />
<h2>
Backups </h2>
<br />
The Specialized backup organizations of Ecobank incorporate the accompanying:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>EBI SA Groupe Ecobank - Paris, France </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>EBI SA Representative Office - London, United Kingdom </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) - Lomã©, Togo </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>EDC Investment Corporation - Abidjan, Cã'te dâ€™Ivoire </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>EDC Investment Corporation - Douala, Cameroon </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>EDC Securities Limited - Lagos, Nigeria </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>EDC Stockbrokers Limited - Accra, Ghana </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Asset Management - Abidjan, Cã'te dâ€™Ivoire </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>e-Process International SA - Lomã©, Togo </li>
<li><br /></li>
<li>Ecobank Asset Management Company P/L - Harare, Zimbabwe </li>
</ul>
<br />
<h2>
<br />The Ecobank Nedbank partnership </h2>
<br />
With more than 1,500 branches in 35 nations, the Ecobank-Nedbank Alliance is the biggest keeping money arrange in Africa. The union was shaped in 2008 between the Ecobank Group and the Nedbank Group, one of South Africa's four biggest money related administrations suppliers, with a developing foot shaped impression of operations over the Southern African Development Community.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Proprietorship </h2>
<br />
The shares of Ecobank Transnational Inc., the guardian organization of Ecobank, are exchanged on three West African stock trades, in particular: the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) and the BRVM stock trade in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. As of December 2012, the ten biggest institutional shareholders in Ecobank Transnational are recorded in the table underneath:<br />
<br />
<br />

Ecobank - Eco Bank

Ecobank, whose official name is Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI), but at the same time is known as Ecobank Transnational, is a skillet Afric...

HomeTrust Bancshares - Hometrustbank

Nahara Narnia 0 HomeTrust Bancshares, Hometrust Bank 8:52 PM

<br />
HomeTrust Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ:Â HTBI) is an Asheville, North Carolina-based bank holding organization with 43 branches and $2.8 billion in resources in North and South Carolina in the wake of finishing a pending obtaining. It is the guardian of seven group banksâ€"HomeTrust Bank, Tryon Federal Bank, Shelby Savings Bank, Home Savings Bank, Industrial Federal Bank, Cherryville Federal Bank and Rutherford County Bank.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span id="History">History</span></h2>
<br />
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QHWGHBkCCvo/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QHWGHBkCCvo?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></center>
<br />
HomeTrust Bank Sponsor Banner Goes Up! It's Recital Time! - In foresight of the May 9, 2015 Spring Recital we attached the pennant declaring It's Recital Time! Much obliged to HomeTrust Bank, our Spring Recital ...<br />
<br />
HomeTrust Bank began "around a pot-bellied stove" as Clyde Building and Loan in Clyde, North Carolina in 1926. Later, the name changed to Clyde Savings and Loan Association and afterward Clyde Savings Bank. Ed Broadwell joined the bank in 1965 at age 27, the most youthful bank president in the state. The bank had $10 million in resources and five individuals worked there. In 1973, the bank purchased a piece in Asheville and fabricated another three-story base camp. Dana Stonestreet, who assumed control after Broadwell's retirement, said, "They procured a bigger number of individuals to open that office than they had in the entire history of the bank." Clyde Savings Bank ventured into Buncombe County and Henderson County. In 2003, the name changed to HomeTrust Bank. By 2010 HomeTrust had two areas in Haywood County, five in Buncombe County and one in Henderson County in North Carolina. In 2013, Broadwell resigned following 48 years.<br />
<br />
Tryon Federal Bank, began in 1935, had two workplaces in Polk County, and Shelby Savings Bank, began in 1905, had two workplaces in Cleveland County.<br />
<br />
Rutherford County Bank opened its first office in Forest City in May 2007, at which time it likewise turned out to be a piece of HomeTrust Banking Partnership.<br />
<br />
Home Savings Bank of Rockingham County started June 9, 1909. As of its tenth commemoration in 2009, it had two workplaces in Eden and one in Reidsville.<br />
<br />
Modern Federal Bank began in 1929. On January 31, 2010, Industrial Federal Bank, with three areas in Davidson County, turned out to be a piece of the HomeTrust Banking Partnership. This gave the association 19 workplaces, and with $1.6 billion in resources, the organization was the biggest shared bank in the state and the second-biggest in the southeastern United States.<br />
<br />
Cherryville Federal Savings and Loan in Cherryville joined the organization later in 2010, including one area.<br />
<br />
As of January 2012, when HomeTrust Bank and its accomplices reported transformation from common to stock. HomeTrust Banking Partnership, if thought of one as bank, would have been the eleventh biggest in North Carolina. The development of HomeTrust Bancshares was additionally declared at the time. In July 2012 HomeTrust had 20 branches and $1.6 billion in resources.<br />
<br />
In 2013, HomeTrust made its first securing outside North Carolina, BankGreenville Financial Corp. of Greenville, South Carolina, in a $7.8 million arrangement.<br />
<br />
On January 23, 2014, HomeTrust reported the securing of Jefferson Bancshares Inc. of Tennessee, began in 1963, with over $498 million in resources and 12 workplaces, in an arrangement worth $51.2 million.<br />
<br />
On June 10, 2014, HomeTrust declared it would purchase ten Bank of America branches with $504 million in stores.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<br /></h2>
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="Home Trust Bank | MB HAYNES Corporation, Asheville NC" src="http://www.mbhaynes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/102_0158.JPG" title="Home Trust Bank | MB HAYNES Corporation, Asheville NC" /></div>
<h2>
<br /></h2>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="Photo Gallery: Home Trust Bank - UNC Asheville Bulldogs Official ..." src="http://www.uncabulldogs.com/pics32/1024/WA/WABSARQBKPONLLJ.20110610143538.jpg" title="Photo Gallery: Home Trust Bank - UNC Asheville Bulldogs Official ..." /></div>
<br />

HomeTrust Bancshares - Hometrustbank

HomeTrust Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ:Â HTBI) is an Asheville, North Carolina-based bank holding organization with 43 branches and $2.8 billion...

DBLCI Optimum Yield (OY) Index - Optimum Bank

Nahara Narnia 0 DBLCI Optimum Yield (OY) Index, Optimum Bank 6:39 PM

<img height="240" src="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1159508/000095010312001203/p46.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<br /><br />
In May 2006, Deutsche Bank launched a new set of commodity index products called the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodities Indices Optimum Yield, or DBLCI-OY. The DBLCI-OY indices are available for 24 commodities drawn from the energy, precious metals, industrial metals, agricultural and livestock sectors. A DBLCI-OY index based on the DBLCI benchmark weights is also available and the optimum yield technology has also been applied to the energy, precious metals, industrial metals and agricultural sector indices. Like the DBLCI, the DBLCI-OY is available in USD, EUR, GBP and JPY on a hedged and un-hedge basis. The DBLCI-OY is rebalanced on the fifth index business day of November when each commodity is adjusted to its base weight. The DBLCI-OY is also listed as an exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the American Stock Exchange.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span id="Rolling_Methodology">Rolling Methodology</span></h2>
<br /><br />
The rationale of the Optimum Yield technology was to address the dynamic nature of commodity forward curves. Unstable forward curves has meant the traditional approach employed by commodity indices, namely rolling futures contracts on a predefined scheduled (e.g. monthly) has, in our view, become an inferior strategy for passive commodity index investing. The DBLCI-OY indices are designed to select the futures contacts that either maximises the positive roll yield in backwardated term structures or minimises the negative roll yield in contangoed markets from the list of tradeable futures that expire in the next 13 months.<br />
The changing pattern in commodity term structures has important implications for commodity index investing. Historically the engine room of performance within a commodity index has derived from the positive roll return generated in the energy sector due to the tendency for forward curves in this part of the commodity complex to be downward sloping or backwardated. However, the appearance of contango in the crude oil term structure over the past three years has meant the benefits of a positive roll return have disappeared and have been replaced by a negative roll return.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Characteristics_of_the_DBLCI-Optimum_Yield">Characteristics of the DBLCI-Optimum Yield</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="slide010.jpg" src="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1159508/000095010308001176/slide010.jpg" title="slide010.jpg" /></div>
<ul>
<li>Six commodities: WTI crude oil, heating oil, aluminium, gold, corn and wheat.</li>
<li>Index rolls to the futures contract that generates the maximum implied roll return from the list of tradable futures that expire in the next 14 months.</li>
<li>Commodity weights are re-balanced annually.</li>
<li>The DBLCI-OY is listed as an Exchange Traded Fund on the American Stock Exchange</li>
<li>Total and excess returns data are available from December 2, 1988.</li>
</ul>
<h2>
<span id="Components_and_Base_Weights">Components and Base Weights</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="slide27.jpg" src="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1159508/000095010311000042/slide27.jpg" title="slide27.jpg" /></div>
<br />
<h2>
<span id="The_DBLCI_Family_of_Commodity_Indices">The DBLCI Family of Commodity Indices</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="slide15.jpg" src="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1159508/000095010309002646/slide15.jpg" title="slide15.jpg" /></div>
<ul>
<li>Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index (DBLCI)</li>
<li>DBLCI Mean Reversion (MR) Index</li>
<li>DBLCI Optimum Yield (OY) Broad Index</li>
<li>DBLCI Optimum Yield (OY) Balanced Index</li>
</ul>
<h2>
<span id="Other_indices">Other indices</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="p70.jpg" src="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1159508/000095010312001203/p70.jpg" title="p70.jpg" /></div>
<ul>
<li>Dow Jonesâ€“AIG Commodity Index</li>
<li>Reuters-CRB Index</li>
<li>Rogers International Commodity Index</li>
<li>Standard & Poor's Commodity Index</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="slide16.jpg" src="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1159508/000095010311000042/slide16.jpg" title="slide16.jpg" /></div>

DBLCI Optimum Yield (OY) Index - Optimum Bank

In May 2006, Deutsche Bank launched a new set of commodity index products called the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodities Indices Optimum Yiel...

Ally Financial - Who Owns Ally Bank

Nahara Narnia 11 Ally Financial, Who Owns Ally Bank 6:38 PM

<img height="240" src="http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Ally-Financial-logo.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<br /><br />
<b>Ally Financial Inc.</b>, previously known as <b>GMAC Inc.</b> (an acronym for <b>General Motors Acceptance Corporation</b>), is a bank holding company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States at Tower 200 of the Renaissance Center.<br />
The bank has more than 15 million customers worldwide and provides a range of financial services including auto financing, corporate financing, insurance, mortgage services, and online banking. In 2009, Ally employed 18,900 people. In 2008, the firm provided financing to 75% of the 6,450 General Motors dealers.<br />
The company was bailed out by the US Government during the financial crisis of 2007â€“08 taking over from its previous owner General Motors. On 24 December 2008, the Federal Reserve accepted then-GMAC's application to become a bank holding company. Ally returned to profitability in 2010, posting a net profit of $1.075Â billion for the fiscal year. Ally planned but did not execute an initial public stock offering in 2011. Ally announced plans to launch an IPO in spring 2014, and the shares began to be traded as NYSE:ALLY on Apr 10, 2014. The US Government sold its remaining shares in December 2014.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span id="History">History</span></h2>
<br />
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pePQDh4atRw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pePQDh4atRw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br /><br />Ally Bank Financial Etiquette: Company Time is Company Money - Are you spending too much of your workday doing personal business? In this episode of Ally Bank's "Financial Etiquette: Workplace Edition," LinkedIn's career ...</center>
<br />
The company was founded in 1919 by General Motors Corporation as the General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) to be a provider of financing to automotive customers. Over the following years the business has expanded to include insurance, online banking, mortgage operations, and commercial finance.<br />
In 1919, GMAC branches opened in Detroit, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Toronto.<br />
In 1985, GMAC formed GMAC Mortgage after it acquired the mortgage loan operations of the Colonial Mortgage Service companies and the servicing arm of the former Norwest Mortgage, Inc. In subsequent years, the division acquired additional mortgage-related operations, including ditech.com, and in 2005 the division was reorganized into Residential Capital (ResCap). By that time, the company was heavily into subprime lending.<br />
In 2000, GMAC was given conditional approval to form GMAC Bank.<br />
In 2006, General Motors Corporation sold a 51% interest in GMAC to Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity company. (The next year, Cerberus acquired Chrysler Corporation.) Also in 2006, GMAC divested a majority stake of GMAC Commercial Holdings, its real estate division, to a trio of investors â€” Goldman Sachs, KKR and Five Mile Capital Partners â€” thereby creating Capmark Financial Group Inc. Capmark later filed for bankruptcy and was acquired in part jointly by Leucadia and Berkshire Hathaway.<br />
On December 29, 2008, the United States Department of the Treasury invested $5Â billion in GMAC from its $700Â billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).<br />
On May 15, 2009, GMAC's banking unit changed its name to Ally Bank.<br />
On May 21, 2009, the U.S. Treasury announced it would invest an additional $7.5Â billion in GMAC LLC, which gave the U.S. government a majority stake in the company.<br />
On December 30, 2009, the U.S. Treasury department said that they would invest another $3.8Â billion in GMAC because the company had been unable to raise additional funds in the private sector. This raised the total government investment in GMAC to $16.3Â billion.<br />
On May 10, 2010, GMAC Inc. announced that it re-branded itself as Ally Financial Inc.<br />
On August 25, 2010, Ally briefs its customer Freddie Mac that it would hold a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. "Ally Financial officials knew a large number of documents submitted in support of mortgage foreclosure proceedings were mishandled as early as August, but did not take action to stop the evictions until last week, according to a Bloomberg report" stated Washington Post reportage dated September 24, 2010.<br />
On September 20, 2010, Ally announces that, effective October 1, 2010, it will halt evictions on homes in 23 states due to 'an important but technical defect' in its foreclosure filings. (See "Robo Signing" below)<br />
On December 30, 2010, the U.S. Treasury announced it would be converting $5.5Â billion of interest-bearing preferred Ally stock into common equity.<br />
On March 31, 2011, Ally Financial filed with the SEC for an initial public offering, although was not pursued due to stock market volatility of summer 2011.<br />
On November 9, 2011, the bank announced it was considering filing for bankruptcy-protection for its ResCap mortgage unit, after the unit's loan write-downs of around half a billion dollars brought it close to the legally required net asset value threshold of $250Â million.<br />
As of January, 2012, TARP had about $12Â billion invested in Ally. The government stake represented a 74% ownership interest in Ally. In March, 2012, Ally failed the Federal Reserve's financial "stress test" for capital adequacy. The company said in a statement that the Fed's â€œanalysis dramatically overstates potential contingent mortgage riskâ€. A possible outcome would be a requirement to raise additional capital.<br />
On May 15, 2012, the company put its ResCap subsidiary into Chapter 11 bankruptcy after it failed to make an interest payment of $20 million on unsecured debt. ResCap had written off $22 billion in mortgages in 2009, 2010, and 2011 much of it subprime mortgages. The move was seen as attempt for the company to focus on its profitable core business of auto loans and direct banking (Ally showed a $2.72 billion profit in 2011 in its auto finance unit but had a $402 million loss at ResCap).<br />
In mid-2013, financial columnist Allan Sloan wrote that he thought the Ally bailout would yield a modest profit for the US Treasury.<br />
<blockquote>
By my conservative math, that [US] stake is worth $1.5 billion more than it cost. And Iâ€™m not including the $6.1 billion of dividends the government has collected from Ally. Taxpayers coming out ahead on a company that spent $8.3 billion, all of it lost, to keep ResCap afloat? That has committed another $2.3 billion to settle its ResCap liabilities? Yes, itâ€™s true.</blockquote>
Sloan also opined that Cerberus Capital and its private-equity investors were "down almost 75 percent on their $8.15 billion Ally investment". Sloan emphasized that his analyses were vulnerable to changing factors before final disposition.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Structure">Structure</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="Ally Asks: What's Your New Year's Resolution? | Straight Talk Blog ..." src="http://community.ally.com/straight-talk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Ally_Asks_word_cloud_v2.png" title="Ally Asks: What's Your New Year's Resolution? | Straight Talk Blog ..." /></div>
As of December 2010, 73.8% of Ally was owned by the United States Treasury, with the remainder divided between Cerberus Capital Management, General Motors, and other investors.<br />
The company's Global Automotive Services offer retail auto financing and leasing; dealer lines of credit for vehicle inventory, equipment or facilities; insurance coverages including retail vehicle service contracts and commercial insurance; and remarketing services through physical auctions and online services. Ally Financial also operates Ally Servicing (previously Semperian) within its Global Automotive Services division. Ally Servicing provides customer relationship management, servicing, and collection through several inbound call centers across the U.S.<br />
Ally Financial's mortgage subsidiaries include Residential Capital, LLC (ResCap) and the mortgage activities of Ally Bank and ResMor Trust. Through these divisions, the company focuses primarily on the residential real estate market in the U.S. Business activities include the origination, purchase, servicing, sale and securitization of residential mortgage loans.<br />
GMAC Home Services is the parent for GMAC Real Estate, formed by the purchase of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate in 1998, and GHS Mortgage. Brookfield Residential Property Services purchased the GMAC Home Services business in September 2008. Brookfield is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management, a global asset manager located in Toronto, Canada.<br />
Ally Financial's subsidiary bank in the U.S., Ally Bank, offers savings products, including certificates of deposit (CDs), online savings accounts, interest checking accounts and money market accounts. ResMor Trust Company offers Ally-branded deposit products in Canada, including online savings, guaranteed investment certificates (GIC) and tax free products. Ally Bank and ResMor Trust Company are members of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation respectively.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Legal_action_over_robo-signing">Legal action over robo-signing</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="Ally Auto Mobile Pay - Making Vehicle Payments Just Got Easier ..." src="https://www.ally.com/resources/pres/auto/images/AAOS_Services_Slide_One.jpg" title="Ally Auto Mobile Pay - Making Vehicle Payments Just Got Easier ..." /></div>
On October 6, 2010 Attorney General of Ohio Richard Cordray filed suit against Ally Financial Inc seeking $25,000 in penalties for each instance of fraud, in addition to undisclosed amount of consumer restitution. The action could potentially mean hundreds or thousands of individual penalties for each instance of robo-signing that occurred in the state of Ohio.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Sponsorships">Sponsorships</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="Why Ally Didn't Want Me - Andera Blog" src="http://blog.andera.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ally-Letter-2.jpg" title="Why Ally Didn't Want Me - Andera Blog" /></div>
<h3>
<span id="College_Bowl_Game">College Bowl Game</span></h3>
From 2001 to 2010, GMAC sponsored the GMAC Bowl played annually at Ladd Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.<br />
<h3>
<span id="NASCAR_Driver">NASCAR Driver</span></h3>
GMAC sponsored Ricky Hendrick in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2000, Brian Vickers in the #5 GMAC Chevrolet in the Busch Series in 2003 and in the #25 GMAC/ditech.com Chevrolet in the Nextel Cup Series in 2004. In 2007 GMAC sponsored Casey Mears with co-sponsorship from the United States National Guard.<br />
<h2>
<span id="See_also">See also</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="GM Financial Double Crosses Their Ally - The Truth About Cars" src="http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/05/GM-Establishes-GM-Financial-1024x539.jpg" title="GM Financial Double Crosses Their Ally - The Truth About Cars" /></div>
<ul>
<li>List of banks</li>
<li>List of banks in United States</li>
<li>John McNamara â€” former United States businessman, who was convicted of a Ponzi scheme fraud through gaining loans to a value of $6Bn from General Motors financing arm GMAC, to develop a $400M car sales and property development business.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Roger Smith â€” former Chairman & CEO of General Motors Corporation from 1981â€“1990.</li>
</ul>
<h2>
<span id="References">References</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="Ally Bank Reviews & Ratings - View Accounts, Interest Rates, & Fees" src="http://img1.findthebest.com/sites/default/files/765/media/images/Ally_Bank_6583211.jpg" title="Ally Bank Reviews & Ratings - View Accounts, Interest Rates, & Fees" /></div>
<h2>
<span id="External_links">External links</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="mobile-photo">
<img alt="Ally Auto Mobile Pay - Making Vehicle Payments Just Got Easier ..." src="https://www.ally.com/resources/pres/auto/images/AAOS_Services_Slide_Four.jpg" title="Ally Auto Mobile Pay - Making Vehicle Payments Just Got Easier ..." /></div>
<ul>
<li>Ally Bank (U.S.), official website</li>
<li>Ally (Canada), official website</li>
<li>Vintage GMAC Commercial</li>
<li>Ally Auto (U.S.)</li>
</ul>
<br />

Ally Financial - Who Owns Ally Bank

Ally Financial Inc. , previously known as GMAC Inc. (an acronym for General Motors Acceptance Corporation ), is a bank holding company ...

Bangkok Bank - BKK Bank

Nahara Narnia 3 Bangkok Bank, BKK Bank 6:37 PM

<img height="240" src="http://image.opencartguru.com/cache/data/bkk-702x702.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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<b>Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited</b> (Thai: <span lang="th">à¸˜à¸™à¸²à¸„à¸²à¸£à¸à¸£à¸¸à¸‡à¹€à¸—à¸ž</span>, RTGS: Thanakhan Krung Thep), is a Thai commercial bank with approximately US$78 billion in total assets <small>(<i>as of 31 Dec 2013</i>)</small>. Its branch network includes over 1,000 branches within Thailand, with 26 international branches or representative offices in 13 nations, spanning ASEAN and others, including wholly owned subsidiaries in Malaysia and China. Bangkok Bank has branches in London and New York to complement its extensive network in Southeast Asia.<br />
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<h2>
<span id="History">History</span></h2>
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<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hLBygV95ho8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hLBygV95ho8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br /><br />Bangkok Bank "Fraud" - ATM hacking and skimming crime is a problem that occurs regularly in Thailand. In response to this kind of financial crime, Bangkok Bank is the one and only ...</center>
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Bangkok Bank was established in 1944. With more than 18 million accounts, it is Thailand's largest bank, and one of the largest regional banks in Southeast Asia.<br />
The bank is a publicly listed company and among the top five companies in terms of size listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The company's current president is Chartsiri Sophonpanich, the grandson of its founder and former president Chin Sophonpanich and the son of former president Chatri Sophonpanich. Bangkok Bank's executive chairman is Kosit Panpiemras.<br />
Bangkok Bank has a full range of business, investment banking, and personal banking services. It is one of the most active global traders of Thai baht and baht-denominated bonds. The bank trades in all major currencies as well as a large number of regional currencies. Other services include same day transactions in import and export bills, inward and outward remittances, swaps, options, and forward contracts and trading in the primary and secondary markets for government bonds and corporate debentures.<br />
The company received a royal warrant of appointment for its services and has had the privilege of displaying the royal garuda since 1967.<br />
The SWIFT code for Bangkok Bank is <i>BKKBTHBK</i>.<br />
Bangkok Bank currently has the largest overseas branch network, in 13 countries, of any Thai bank, including wholly owned subsidiaries in Malaysia, China, and a representative office in Myanmar.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Leadership">Leadership</span></h2>
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Presidents of Bangkok Bank since its founding are:<br />
<ul>
<li>Luang Roprukit, 1944â€“1952</li>
<li>Chin Sophonpanich, 1952â€“1977</li>
<li>Boonchu Rojanastien, 1977â€“1980</li>
<li>Chatri Sophonpanich, 1980â€“1992</li>
<li>Vichit Suraphongchai, 1992â€“1994</li>
<li>Chartsiri Sophonpanich, 1994â€“present</li>
</ul>
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Media related to Bangkok Bank at Wikimedia Commons<br />
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Bangkok Bank - BKK Bank

Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited (Thai: à¸˜à¸™à¸²à¸„à¸²à¸£à¸à¸£à¸¸à¸‡à¹€à¸—à¸ž , RTGS: Thanakhan Krung Thep), is a Thai commercial b...

World Trade Organization - World Trade Bank

Nahara Narnia 0 World Trade Bank, World Trade Organization 6:36 PM

<img height="240" src="http://image.slidesharecdn.com/anrep14e-140910115801-phpapp01/95/2014-annual-report-world-trade-organization-wto-25-638.jpg%3Fcb%3D1410350322" width="320" /><br />
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The <b>World Trade Organization</b> (<b>WTO</b>) is an intergovernmental organization which regulates international trade. The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948. The WTO deals with regulation of trade between participating countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants' adherence to WTO agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments. Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round (1986â€“1994).<br />
The WTO is attempting to complete negotiations on the Doha Development Round, which was launched in 2001 with an explicit focus on developing countries. As of June 2012, the future of the Doha Round remained uncertain: the work programme lists 21 subjects in which the original deadline of 1 January 2005 was missed, and the round is still incomplete. The conflict between free trade on industrial goods and services but retention of protectionism on farm subsidies to domestic agricultural sector (requested by developed countries) and the substantiation of fair trade on agricultural products (requested by developing countries) remain the major obstacles. This impasse has made it impossible to launch new WTO negotiations beyond the Doha Development Round. As a result, there have been an increasing number of bilateral free trade agreements between governments. As of July 2012, there were various negotiation groups in the WTO system for the current agricultural trade negotiation which is in the condition of stalemate.<br />
The WTO's current Director-General is Roberto AzevÃªdo, who leads a staff of over 600 people in Geneva, Switzerland. A trade facilitation agreement known as the Bali Package was reached by all members on 7 December 2013, the first comprehensive agreement in the organization's history.<br />
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<h2>
<span id="History">History</span></h2>
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<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NQ952ba75Yk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NQ952ba75Yk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br /><br />How do the WTO, World Bank and IMF work? - Susan George explains what the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are and how they work.</center>
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The WTO's predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was established after World War II in the wake of other new multilateral institutions dedicated to international economic cooperation â€“ notably the Bretton Woods institutions known as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. A comparable international institution for trade, named the International Trade Organization was successfully negotiated. The ITO was to be a United Nations specialized agency and would address not only trade barriers but other issues indirectly related to trade, including employment, investment, restrictive business practices, and commodity agreements. But the ITO treaty was not approved by the U.S. and a few other signatories and never went into effect.<br />
In the absence of an international organization for trade, the GATT would over the years "transform itself" into a <i>de facto</i> international organization.<br />
<h3>
<span id="GATT_rounds_of_negotiations">GATT rounds of negotiations</span></h3>
The GATT was the only multilateral instrument governing international trade from 1946 until the WTO was established on 1 January 1995. Despite attempts in the mid-1950s and 1960s to create some form of institutional mechanism for international trade, the GATT continued to operate for almost half a century as a semi-institutionalized multilateral treaty regime on a provisional basis.<br />
<h4>
<span id="From_Geneva_to_Tokyo">From Geneva to Tokyo</span></h4>
Seven rounds of negotiations occurred under GATT. The first real GATT trade rounds concentrated on further reducing tariffs. Then, the Kennedy Round in the mid-sixties brought about a GATT anti-dumping Agreement and a section on development. The Tokyo Round during the seventies was the first major attempt to tackle trade barriers that do not take the form of tariffs, and to improve the system, adopting a series of agreements on non-tariff barriers, which in some cases interpreted existing GATT rules, and in others broke entirely new ground. Because these plurilateral agreements were not accepted by the full GATT membership, they were often informally called "codes". Several of these codes were amended in the Uruguay Round, and turned into multilateral commitments accepted by all WTO members. Only four remained plurilateral (those on government procurement, bovine meat, civil aircraft and dairy products), but in 1997 WTO members agreed to terminate the bovine meat and dairy agreements, leaving only two.<br />
<h4>
<span id="Uruguay_Round">Uruguay Round</span></h4>
Well before GATT's 40th anniversary, its members concluded that the GATT system was straining to adapt to a new globalizing world economy. In response to the problems identified in the 1982 Ministerial Declaration (structural deficiencies, spill-over impacts of certain countries' policies on world trade GATT could not manage etc.), the eighth GATT round â€“ known as the Uruguay Round â€“ was launched in September 1986, in Punta del Este, Uruguay.<br />
It was the biggest negotiating mandate on trade ever agreed: the talks were going to extend the trading system into several new areas, notably trade in services and intellectual property, and to reform trade in the sensitive sectors of agriculture and textiles; all the original GATT articles were up for review. The Final Act concluding the Uruguay Round and officially establishing the WTO regime was signed 15 April 1994, during the ministerial meeting at Marrakesh, Morocco, and hence is known as the Marrakesh Agreement.<br />
The GATT still exists as the WTO's umbrella treaty for trade in goods, updated as a result of the Uruguay Round negotiations (a distinction is made between <i>GATT 1994</i>, the updated parts of GATT, and <i>GATT 1947</i>, the original agreement which is still the heart of GATT 1994). GATT 1994 is not however the only legally binding agreement included via the Final Act at Marrakesh; a long list of about 60 agreements, annexes, decisions and understandings was adopted. The agreements fall into a structure with six main parts:<br />
<ul>
<li>The Agreement Establishing the WTO</li>
<li>Goods and investment â€“ the Multilateral Agreements on Trade in Goods including the GATT 1994 and the Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIMS)</li>
<li>Services â€” the General Agreement on Trade in Services</li>
<li>Intellectual property â€“ the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)</li>
<li>Dispute settlement (DSU)</li>
<li>Reviews of governments' trade policies (TPRM)</li>
</ul>
In terms of the WTO's principle relating to tariff "ceiling-binding" (No. 3), the Uruguay Round has been successful in increasing binding commitments by both developed and developing countries, as may be seen in the percentages of tariffs bound before and after the 1986â€“1994 talks.<br />
<h3>
<span id="Ministerial_conferences">Ministerial conferences</span></h3>
The highest decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years. It brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are countries or customs unions. The Ministerial Conference can take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements. The inaugural ministerial conference was held in Singapore in 1996. Disagreements between largely developed and developing economies emerged during this conference over four issues initiated by this conference, which led to them being collectively referred to as the "Singapore issues". The second ministerial conference was held in Geneva in Switzerland. The third conference in Seattle, Washington ended in failure, with massive demonstrations and police and National Guard crowd-control efforts drawing worldwide attention. In 2001, the fourth ministerial conference was held in Doha in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. The Doha Development Round was launched at the conference. The conference also approved the joining of China, which became the 143rd member to join. The fifth ministerial conference was held in CancÃºn, Mexico, aiming at forging agreement on the Doha round. An alliance of 22 southern states, the G20 developing nations (led by India, China, Brazil, ASEAN led by the Philippines), resisted demands from the North for agreements on the so-called "Singapore issues" and called for an end to agricultural subsidies within the EU and the US. The talks broke down without progress.<br />
The sixth WTO ministerial conference was held in Hong Kong from 13â€“18 December 2005. It was considered vital if the four-year-old Doha Development Round negotiations were to move forward sufficiently to conclude the round in 2006. In this meeting, countries agreed to phase out all their agricultural export subsidies by the end of 2013, and terminate any cotton export subsidies by the end of 2006. Further concessions to developing countries included an agreement to introduce duty-free, tariff-free access for goods from the Least Developed Countries, following the Everything but Arms initiative of the European Union â€” but with up to 3% of tariff lines exempted. Other major issues were left for further negotiation to be completed by the end of 2010. The WTO General Council, on 26 May 2009, agreed to hold a seventh WTO ministerial conference session in Geneva from 30 November-3 December 2009. A statement by chairman Amb. Mario Matus acknowledged that the prime purpose was to remedy a breach of protocol requiring two-yearly "regular" meetings, which had lapsed with the Doha Round failure in 2005, and that the "scaled-down" meeting would not be a negotiating session, but "emphasis will be on transparency and open discussion rather than on small group processes and informal negotiating structures". The general theme for discussion was "The WTO, the Multilateral Trading System and the Current Global Economic Environment"<br />
<h3>
<span id="Doha_Round_.28Doha_Agenda.29">Doha Round (Doha Agenda)</span></h3>
The WTO launched the current round of negotiations, the Doha Development Round, at the fourth ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. This was to be an ambitious effort to make globalization more inclusive and help the world's poor, particularly by slashing barriers and subsidies in farming. The initial agenda comprised both further trade liberalization and new rule-making, underpinned by commitments to strengthen substantial assistance to developing countries.<br />
The negotiations have been highly contentious. Disagreements still continue over several key areas including agriculture subsidies, which emerged as critical in July 2006. According to a European Union statement, "The 2008 Ministerial meeting broke down over a disagreement between exporters of agricultural bulk commodities and countries with large numbers of subsistence farmers on the precise terms of a 'special safeguard measure' to protect farmers from surges in imports." The position of the European Commission is that "The successful conclusion of the Doha negotiations would confirm the central role of multilateral liberalisation and rule-making. It would confirm the WTO as a powerful shield against protectionist backsliding." An impasse remains and, as of August 2013, agreement has not been reached, despite intense negotiations at several ministerial conferences and at other sessions. On 27 March 2013, the chairman of agriculture talks announced "a proposal to loosen price support disciplines for developing countriesâ€™ public stocks and domestic food aid." He added: â€œ...we are not yet close to agreementâ€”in fact, the substantive discussion of the proposal is only beginning.â€<br />
<h2>
<span id="Functions">Functions</span></h2>
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Among the various functions of the WTO, these are regarded by analysts as the most important:<br />
<ul>
<li>It oversees the implementation, administration and operation of the covered agreements.</li>
<li>It provides a forum for negotiations and for settling disputes.</li>
</ul>
Additionally, it is the WTO's duty to review and propagate the national trade policies, and to ensure the coherence and transparency of trade policies through surveillance in global economic policy-making. Another priority of the WTO is the assistance of developing, least-developed and low-income countries in transition to adjust to WTO rules and disciplines through technical cooperation and training.<br />
<ol>
<li>The WTO shall facilitate the implementation, administration and operation and further the objectives of this Agreement and of the Multilateral Trade Agreements, and shall also provide the frame work for the implementation, administration and operation of the multilateral Trade Agreements.</li>
<li>The WTO shall provide the forum for negotiations among its members concerning their multilateral trade relations in matters dealt with under the Agreement in the Annexes to this Agreement.</li>
<li>The WTO shall administer the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes.</li>
<li>The WTO shall administer Trade Policy Review Mechanism.</li>
<li>With a view to achieving greater coherence in global economic policy making, the WTO shall cooperate, as appropriate, with the international Monetary Fund (IMF) and with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and its affiliated agencies.</li>
</ol>
The above five listings are the additional functions of the World Trade Organization. As globalization proceeds in today's society, the necessity of an International Organization to manage the trading systems has been of vital importance. As the trade volume increases, issues such as protectionism, trade barriers, subsidies, violation of intellectual property arise due to the differences in the trading rules of every nation. The World Trade Organization serves as the mediator between the nations when such problems arise. WTO could be referred to as the product of globalization and also as one of the most important organizations in today's globalized society.<br />
The WTO is also a center of economic research and analysis: regular assessments of the global trade picture in its annual publications and research reports on specific topics are produced by the organization. Finally, the WTO cooperates closely with the two other components of the Bretton Woods system, the IMF and the World Bank.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Principles_of_the_trading_system">Principles of the trading system</span></h2>
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The WTO establishes a framework for trade policies; it does not define or specify outcomes. That is, it is concerned with setting the rules of the trade policy games. Five principles are of particular importance in understanding both the pre-1994 GATT and the WTO:<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Non-discrimination</b>. It has two major components: the most favoured nation (MFN) rule, and the national treatment policy. Both are embedded in the main WTO rules on goods, services, and intellectual property, but their precise scope and nature differ across these areas. The MFN rule requires that a WTO member must apply the same conditions on all trade with other WTO members, i.e. a WTO member has to grant the most favorable conditions under which it allows trade in a certain product type to all other WTO members. "Grant someone a special favour and you have to do the same for all other WTO members." National treatment means that imported goods should be treated no less favorably than domestically produced goods (at least after the foreign goods have entered the market) and was introduced to tackle non-tariff barriers to trade (e.g. technical standards, security standards et al. discriminating against imported goods).</li>
<li><b>Reciprocity</b>. It reflects both a desire to limit the scope of free-riding that may arise because of the MFN rule, and a desire to obtain better access to foreign markets. A related point is that for a nation to negotiate, it is necessary that the gain from doing so be greater than the gain available from unilateral liberalization; reciprocal concessions intend to ensure that such gains will materialise.</li>
<li><b>Binding and enforceable commitments</b>. The tariff commitments made by WTO members in a multilateral trade negotiation and on accession are enumerated in a schedule (list) of concessions. These schedules establish "ceiling bindings": a country can change its bindings, but only after negotiating with its trading partners, which could mean compensating them for loss of trade. If satisfaction is not obtained, the complaining country may invoke the WTO dispute settlement procedures.</li>
<li><b>Transparency</b>. The WTO members are required to publish their trade regulations, to maintain institutions allowing for the review of administrative decisions affecting trade, to respond to requests for information by other members, and to notify changes in trade policies to the WTO. These internal transparency requirements are supplemented and facilitated by periodic country-specific reports (trade policy reviews) through the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM). The WTO system tries also to improve predictability and stability, discouraging the use of quotas and other measures used to set limits on quantities of imports.</li>
<li><b>Safety valves</b>. In specific circumstances, governments are able to restrict trade. The WTO's agreements permit members to take measures to protect not only the environment but also public health, animal health and plant health.</li>
</ol>
There are three types of provision in this direction:<br />
<dl><dd>
<dl><dd>
<dl><dd><ul>
<li>articles allowing for the use of trade measures to attain non-economic objectives;</li>
<li>articles aimed at ensuring "fair competition"; members must not use environmental protection measures as a means of disguising protectionist policies.</li>
<li>provisions permitting intervention in trade for economic reasons.</li>
</ul>
</dd></dl>
</dd><dd>Exceptions to the MFN principle also allow for preferential treatment of developing countries, regional free trade areas and customs unions.</dd></dl>
</dd></dl>
<h2>
<span id="Organizational_structure">Organizational structure</span></h2>
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The General Council has the following subsidiary bodies which oversee committees in different areas:<br />
<dl>
<dt>Council for Trade in Goods</dt>
<dd>There are 11 committees under the jurisdiction of the Goods Council each with a specific task. All members of the WTO participate in the committees. The Textiles Monitoring Body is separate from the other committees but still under the jurisdiction of Goods Council. The body has its own chairman and only 10 members. The body also has several groups relating to textiles.</dd></dl>
<dl>
<dt>Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights</dt>
<dd>Information on intellectual property in the WTO, news and official records of the activities of the TRIPS Council, and details of the WTO's work with other international organizations in the field.</dd></dl>
<dl>
<dt>Council for Trade in Services</dt>
<dd>The Council for Trade in Services operates under the guidance of the General Council and is responsible for overseeing the functioning of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It is open to all WTO members, and can create subsidiary bodies as required.</dd></dl>
<dl>
<dt>Trade Negotiations Committee</dt>
<dd>The Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) is the committee that deals with the current trade talks round. The chair is WTO's director-general. As of June 2012 the committee was tasked with the Doha Development Round.</dd></dl>
The Service Council has three subsidiary bodies: financial services, domestic regulations, GATS rules and specific commitments. The council has several different committees, working groups, and working parties. There are committees on the following: Trade and Environment; Trade and Development (Subcommittee on Least-Developed Countries); Regional Trade Agreements; Balance of Payments Restrictions; and Budget, Finance and Administration. There are working parties on the following: Accession. There are working groups on the following: Trade, debt and finance; and Trade and technology transfer.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Decision-making">Decision-making</span></h2>
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The WTO describes itself as "a rules-based, member-driven organization â€” all decisions are made by the member governments, and the rules are the outcome of negotiations among members". The WTO Agreement foresees votes where consensus cannot be reached, but the practice of consensus dominates the process of decision-making.<br />
Richard Harold Steinberg (2002) argues that although the WTO's consensus governance model provides law-based initial bargaining, trading rounds close through power-based bargaining favouring Europe and the U.S., and may not lead to Pareto improvement.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Dispute_settlement">Dispute settlement</span></h2>
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The WTO's dispute-settlement system "is the result of the evolution of rules, procedures and practices developed over almost half a century under the GATT 1947". In 1994, the WTO members agreed on the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) annexed to the "Final Act" signed in Marrakesh in 1994. Dispute settlement is regarded by the WTO as the central pillar of the multilateral trading system, and as a "unique contribution to the stability of the global economy". WTO members have agreed that, if they believe fellow-members are violating trade rules, they will use the multilateral system of settling disputes instead of taking action unilaterally.<br />
The operation of the WTO dispute settlement process involves case-specific panels appointed by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), the Appellate Body, The Director-General and the WTO Secretariat, arbitrators, and advisory experts.<br />
The priority is to settle disputes, preferably through a mutually agreed solution, and provision has been made for the process to be conducted in an efficient and timely manner so that "If a case is adjudicated, it should normally take no more than one year for a panel ruling and no more than 16 months if the case is appealed... If the complainant deems the case urgent, consideration of the case should take even less time. WTO member nations are obliged to accept the process as exclusive and compulsory.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Accession_and_membership">Accession and membership</span></h2>
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The process of becoming a WTO member is unique to each applicant country, and the terms of accession are dependent upon the country's stage of economic development and current trade regime. The process takes about five years, on average, but it can last longer if the country is less than fully committed to the process or if political issues interfere. The shortest accession negotiation was that of the Kyrgyz Republic, while the longest was that of Russia, which, having first applied to join GATT in 1993, was approved for membership in December 2011 and became a WTO member on 22 August 2012. The second longest was that of Vanuatu, whose Working Party on the Accession of Vanuatu was established on 11 July 1995. After a final meeting of the Working Party in October 2001, Vanuatu requested more time to consider its accession terms. In 2008, it indicated its interest to resume and conclude its WTO accession. The Working Party on the Accession of Vanuatu was reconvened informally on 4 April 2011 to discuss Vanuatu's future WTO membership. The re-convened Working Party completed its mandate on 2 May 2011. The General Council formally approved the Accession Package of Vanuatu on 26 October 2011. On 24 August 2012, the WTO welcomed Vanuatu as its 157th member. An offer of accession is only given once consensus is reached among interested parties.<br />
<h3>
<span id="Accession_process">Accession process</span></h3>
A country wishing to accede to the WTO submits an application to the General Council, and has to describe all aspects of its trade and economic policies that have a bearing on WTO agreements. The application is submitted to the WTO in a memorandum which is examined by a working party open to all interested WTO Members.<br />
After all necessary background information has been acquired, the working party focuses on issues of discrepancy between the WTO rules and the applicant's international and domestic trade policies and laws. The working party determines the terms and conditions of entry into the WTO for the applicant nation, and may consider transitional periods to allow countries some leeway in complying with the WTO rules.<br />
The final phase of accession involves bilateral negotiations between the applicant nation and other working party members regarding the concessions and commitments on tariff levels and market access for goods and services. The new member's commitments are to apply equally to all WTO members under normal non-discrimination rules, even though they are negotiated bilaterally.<br />
When the bilateral talks conclude, the working party sends to the general council or ministerial conference an accession package, which includes a summary of all the working party meetings, the Protocol of Accession (a draft membership treaty), and lists ("schedules") of the member-to-be's commitments. Once the general council or ministerial conference approves of the terms of accession, the applicant's parliament must ratify the Protocol of Accession before it can become a member. Some countries may have faced tougher and a much longer accession process due to challenges during negotiations with other WTO members, such as Vietnam, whose negotiations took more than 11 years before it became official member in January 2007.<br />
<h3>
<span id="Members_and_observers">Members and observers</span></h3>
The WTO has 161 members and 23 observer governments. Seychelles is the most recent member, having joined in April 2015. In addition to states, the European Union is a member. WTO members do not have to be fully independent states. Instead, they must be a customs territory with full autonomy in the conduct of their external commercial relations. Thus Hong Kong has been a member since 1995 (as "Hong Kong, China" since 1997) predating the People's Republic of China, which joined in 2001 after 15 years of negotiations. The Republic of China (Taiwan) acceded to the WTO in 2002 as "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" (Chinese Taipei) despite its disputed status. The WTO Secretariat omits the official titles (such as Counselor, First Secretary, Second Secretary and Third Secretary) of the members of Chinese Taipei's Permanent Mission to the WTO, except for the titles of the Permanent Representative and the Deputy Permanent Representative.<br />
As of 2007, WTO member states represented 96.4% of global trade and 96.7% of global GDP. Iran, followed by Algeria, are the economies with the largest GDP and trade outside the WTO, using 2005 data. With the exception of the Holy See, observers must start accession negotiations within five years of becoming observers. A number of international intergovernmental organizations have also been granted observer status to WTO bodies. 14 UN member states have no official affiliation with the WTO.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Agreements">Agreements</span></h2>
<br /><br />
The WTO oversees about 60 different agreements which have the status of international legal texts. Member countries must sign and ratify all WTO agreements on accession. A discussion of some of the most important agreements follows. The Agreement on Agriculture came into effect with the establishment of the WTO at the beginning of 1995. The AoA has three central concepts, or "pillars": domestic support, market access and export subsidies. The General Agreement on Trade in Services was created to extend the multilateral trading system to service sector, in the same way as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) provided such a system for merchandise trade. The agreement entered into force in January 1995. The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP) regulation. It was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994.<br />
The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measuresâ€”also known as the SPS Agreementâ€”was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of GATT, and entered into force with the establishment of the WTO at the beginning of 1995. Under the SPS agreement, the WTO sets constraints on members' policies relating to food safety (bacterial contaminants, pesticides, inspection and labelling) as well as animal and plant health (imported pests and diseases). The Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade is an international treaty of the World Trade Organization. It was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and entered into force with the establishment of the WTO at the end of 1994. The object ensures that technical negotiations and standards, as well as testing and certification procedures, do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade". The Agreement on Customs Valuation, formally known as the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of GATT, prescribes methods of customs valuation that Members are to follow. Chiefly, it adopts the "transaction value" approach.<br />
In December 2013, the biggest agreement within the WTO was signed and known as the Bali Package.<br />
<h2>
<span id="Office_of_director-general">Office of director-general</span></h2>
<br /><br />
The procedures for the appointment of the WTO director-general were published in January 2003. Additionally, there are four deputy directors-general. As of 1 October 2013, under director-general Roberto AzevÃªdo, the four deputy directors-general are Yi Xiaozhun of China, Karl-Ernst Brauner of Germany, Yonov Frederick Agah of Nigeria and David Shark of the United States.<br />
<h3>
<span id="List_of_directors-general">List of directors-general</span></h3>
Source: Official website<br />
<ul>
<li> Roberto Azevedo, 2013â€“</li>
<li> Pascal Lamy, 2005â€“2013</li>
<li> Supachai Panitchpakdi, 2002â€“2005</li>
<li> Mike Moore, 1999â€“2002</li>
<li> Renato Ruggiero, 1995â€“1999</li>
<li> Peter Sutherland, 1995</li>
</ul>
(Heads of the precursor organization, GATT):<br />
<ul>
<li> Peter Sutherland, 1993â€“1995</li>
<li> Arthur Dunkel, 1980â€“1993</li>
<li> Olivier Long, 1968â€“1980</li>
<li> Eric Wyndham White, 1948â€“1968</li>
</ul>
<h2>
<br /></h2>
<b>Official pages</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Official WTO homepage<ul>
<li>WTO 10th AnniversaryÂ PDFÂ (1.40Â MB) â€” Highlights of the first decade, Annual Report 2005 pages 116â€“166</li>
<li>Glossary of termsâ€”a guide to 'WTO-speak'</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>International Trade Centre â€” joint UN/WTO agency</li>
</ul>
<b>Government pages on the WTO</b><br />
<ul>
<li>European Union position on the WTO</li>
</ul>
<b>Media pages on the WTO</b><br />
<ul>
<li>World Trade Organization</li>
<li>BBC News â€” Profile: WTO</li>
<li>Guardian Unlimited â€” Special Report: The World Trade Organisation ongoing coverage</li>
</ul>
<b>Non-governmental organization pages on the WTO</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Gatt.org â€” Parody of official WTO page by The Yes Men</li>
<li>Public Citizen</li>
<li>Transnational Institute: Beyond the WTO</li>
</ul>
<br />

World Trade Organization - World Trade Bank

The World Trade Organization ( WTO ) is an intergovernmental organization which regulates international trade. The WTO officially commen...