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FDIC creates temporary bank for Waterfield

Like many community banking companies striving to protect capital against a rising tide of problem assets, Integra Bank Corp. in Evansville, Ind., is making some tough choices.

A little-noticed provision tucked into regulatory reform legislation by the Treasury Department is causing a furor among large institutions, which say it would effectively ban all derivative transactions between banks and their affiliates.

Investors showed uncanny calm, inertia or perhaps even malaise during the recession, with a scant 1% selling out of equity funds at the height of the market volatility in October 2008, Vanguard found.

Baltimore asset management titan T. Rowe Price reported its executives took compensation cuts in 2009, led by CEO James Kennedy, who had his compensation package slashed by 17%.

Nine percent of executives in the finance, insurance and real estate sector plan to hire full-time staff members in the next quarter, a new survey by Robert Half International found. Overall, 10% are planning on hiring, and only 6% are planning layoffs.

The fixed investment mandates of mutual funds and the pressures put on portfolio managers to deliver short-term gains take a head-turning toll on gains. Just take a look at the 20% annualized gains of Berkshire Hathaway over its 45 years of existence.

Long-term mutual funds gained another $10.97 billion in sales in the week ended Feb. 24, the Investment Company Institute said. Sales over the past 50 weeks have been consistently positive and near half a trillion, or $487 billion.

America has yet to witness the tremendous societal transformation retiring Boomers will have, as the oldest is a mere 64 and the youngest, 46. But we are beginning to see signs of the tsunami-sized impact this army of 77 million will have on the workplace, the economy, healthcare and even the arts and entertainment.

The changes mark the latest move by Robert McCann, the head of UBS Wealth Management Americas.

It’s impossible to completely protect against inflation but some old asset classes, and one new product, can help.

Do you know what your clients want? If not, there’s a good reason: The affluent mind has changed.

Merrill Lynch’s high account minimums could banish many BofA clients to a call center, taking their advisors’ main source of production with them.

But, even a few bankruptcies can set a bad precedent.

Amid encouraging news, two “lost years” weigh heavily on participants near retirement.

America has yet to witness the tremendous societal transformation retiring Boomers will have, as the oldest is a mere 64 and the youngest, 46. But we are beginning to see signs of the tsunami-sized impact this 77 million-strong army will have on the workplace, the economy, healthcare and even the arts and entertainment.

As the Senate Banking Committee considers reform of the nation’s financial regulatory system, the American Insurance Association is seeking to amplify the distinctions between insurers and other financial services firms.

The Independent Community Bankers of America sent a letter Thursday to top Senate Banking Committee leaders raising concerns about rumored plans to name the Treasury Secretary as head of a proposed systemic risk council.

Just over a year after the height of the financial crisis, Citigroup Inc. is a fundamentally different company than it was when it needed billions to stave off a collapse.

UBS will have to purchase up to $200 million in auction rate securities from investors who were not covered in UBS’ initial agreement with state and federal regulators.