Checking and saving accounts, mortgages, and the like are the stuff of household finances, and as such are the underlying base of the larger global economy. Credit unions provide such services and facilitate consumer spending for 90 million Americans, in addition to making critical, smaller-dollar loans to businesses. Now, like every other regulatory agency at this particular economic moment, the National Credit Union Administration is eying measures that it believes would stimulate job growth in the overall economy and hedge risks in the credit union sector.

Earlier this month, at the 2011 Congressional Caucus of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions, NCUA chairman Debbie Matz outlined steps the agency is pursuing to reach those goals. The NCUA supports legislation that would raise the cap on loans that credit unions are allowed to dispense to member businesseslending that often finances payrolls and helps keep employers and their employees going.

Obviously, employment is one of the best indicators of the health of the economy, says NCUA chief economist John Worth. The key concern is really that we need positive job creation to bring down the unemployment rate.

As Matz testified [PDF] to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in June, firms that employ fewer than 50 employees comprise about 40 percent of private-sector employment. More so than larger firms, small businesses often depend on access to credit for their livelihood.

Credit unions have been meeting those needs at an escalating rate, says Worth. In 2007, credit unions had approximately $20 billion in outstanding business loans on their books; by the second quarter of 2011 (the most recent data available), credit unions were holding about $37 billion in outstanding business loans.

However, federal credit unionswhich are owned and operated by their membersare currently only allowed by law to lend up to 12.25 percent of their assets to their member businesses. While some credit unions have lent up to, or near, that cap, others have told the NCUA that the cap is too low to make it worth their while to make these loans, given the costs of setting up the necessary infrastructure.

Matz supports legislation, currently making its way through Congressional channels, that would bump the cap, in stages, up to 27.5 percent.

We think that lending would obviously be good for economic growth, good for the economy, says Worth. And for credit unions it provides a valuable area for potential growth, as well as a valuable area of diversification of their portfolios.

Another major issue for the NCUA is ensuring that credit unions are accounting for the interest-rate risks in their portfolios. While neither NCUA nor the Federal Reserve foresees a strong likelihood of inflation at the moment, Worth notes that the risk of inflation, or inflation expectations jumping, or long-term interest rates jumping for another reason, is always out there.

As such, the agency introduced an interest rate risk rule that would require credit unions to maintain an interest rate risk-management policy in writing. The proposed rule is now under review by the agency, and could be finalized by the end of the year, or in early 2012.

Beyond the scope of its own corner of the fiscal world, the NCUA is also a voice on the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in the wake of the economic downturn. NCUA joins with the heads of the traditionally larger-sector banking regulators, as well as Federal Reserve and US Treasury officials, to monitor the nations financial system and identify institutions that may merit more oversight.

The council works to improve the lines of communication amongst its members, and in so doing, says Worth, creates a vehicle that can improve our ability to understand and deal with risks as theyre evolving.

ARLINGTON, Va. (TheStreet) — Think back to the last time you applied for a credit card. If youre like most people, you probably didnt read the fine print. Who has the time, let alone the patience, to wade through all that tiny, dense text, right?

Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) — A benchmark measure of US corporate credit risk held at about the highest level since June 2010 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank has tools to stimulate the economy without saying if they will be deployed.

The Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index, which investors use to hedge against losses on corporate debt or to speculate on creditworthiness, increased 0.7 basis points to a mid-price of 126.4 basis points as of 10:53 am in New York, according to index administrator Markit Group Ltd.

Traders pushed the gauge higher, signaling deterioration in credit confidence, as Bernanke stopped short of indicating the central bank will move ahead with a third round of government bond-buying in comments at a symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Optimism about more Fed stimulus dissipated this week even as reports showed US home prices fell 5.9 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier for the biggest decline since 2009, and overall business activity in the mid-Atlantic region factories fell to minus 10 in August.

With the possibility of another round of stimulus finally off the table we are seeing an expected sell off in risk assets as the market did not get its fix and the Bernanke Put premium is coming out of the market, Adrian Miller, a strategist at Miller Tabak Roberts Securities LLC in New York wrote in a note to clients.

The index is poised for its fifth weekly increase and is up from 92.6 on July 22 as economists at Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase amp; Co. cut estimates for growth. The measure rose to 126.8 on Aug. 22, the highest end-of-day price since June 9 2010.

Credit swaps pay the buyer face value if a borrower fails to meet its obligations, less the value of the defaulted debt. A basis point equals $1,000 annually on a contract protecting $10 million of debt.

The Markit Group Ltd. CDX North America High Yield Index, which falls as investor confidence deteriorates, dropped 0.4 percentage point to 91.4 percent of face value as of 10:55 am in New York. Thats the lowest level since September 2009.

–Editors: Pierre Paulden, Alan Goldstein

(CBS) – Tales of Steve Jobs impact on the tech industry have been circulating for years. Now that hes retired and stepping out of the public eye, his contemporaries are getting nostalgic.

Steve Jobs resigns, what does it mean for Apple?
Read Steve
Jobs resignation letter

Complete
coverage of Steve Jobs on Tech Talk
Complete
coverage of Apple on Tech Talk

Jobs is one the biggest tech legends of our time and only comparable to Microsoft founder Bill Gates. While Gates is more reserved and straight edge, Jobs is colorful and eccentric. Its only natural that with his retirement, the tech industry is retelling their best encounters with Jobs during his tenure at Apple.

One of the most amazing stories weve seen making rounds was told by Googles Senior Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra.

Delivered via his Google+ page and titled Icon Ambulance, Gundotra talks about a phone call he received from Jobs on a Sunday morning in January of 2008.

So Vic, we have an urgent issue, one that I need addressed right away. Ive already assigned someone from my team to help you, and I hope you can fix this tomorrow, Jobs told Gundotra. Ive been looking at the Google logo on the iPhone and Im not happy with the icon. The second O in Google doesnt have the right yellow gradient. Its just wrong and Im going to have Greg fix it tomorrow. Is that okay with you?

You read that correctly. Jobs had Apples Greg Christie fix Googles logo. How incredible. This interaction is akin to the Beatles revising a Rolling Stones song. (Okay, I realize how uber geeky fangirl-esque that last statement is, but no apologies here.)

Gundotra ended the post with a nod to Jobs leadership at Apple, CEOs should care about details. Even shades of yellow. On a Sunday.

CHICAGO, Aug 26, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
Monroe Credit Advisors today announced the closing of an $11.25 million
unitranche loan facility by a New York based private debt fund. Proceeds
of the loan refinanced maturing debt and provide ongoing working capital
for the firm’s private equity client and its portfolio company.

Mark Gertzof, Managing Partner and a co-founder of Monroe Credit
Advisors, said, “The unitranche structure is a nice fit for the company
and will better position it to meet the sponsor’s growth and value
expectations.”

The private equity sponsor’s portfolio company is a leading producer of
component parts for conveyor systems. The company’s chief executive
officer said the financing will give the company ample working capital
to grow the business. “Operating in full cooperation with our financial
sponsor, Monroe Credit Advisors worked exclusively with us to secure
debt financing to refinance a maturing credit facility. Their process
was extremely efficient and provided us with multiple financing
options,” he said. “Monroe’s efforts ultimately allowed us to select the
most competitive terms and form a partnership with a new lender that now
clearly understands the key attributes of our business.”

Monroe Credit Advisors is executing more engagements with private equity
sponsors, particularly with their existing portfolio companies that
require refinancing. Christopher Gentry, a managing director and
co-founder of the advisory firm said, “Being former lenders and
specializing in raising debt capital makes us extremely efficient and
adept at finding the best terms the market can offer in a difficult
financing environment. Engaging us to focus on the debt raise allows the
sponsor to focus more on new investments, returning capital to their
limited partners and raising the next fund.”

Approximately half of Monroe Credit Advisors’ client engagements have
been with private equity sponsors. The firm is also focusing on working
with sponsors on new acquisitions. “Utilizing the sponsor’s due
diligence vastly cuts down on the time preparing the deal for potential
lenders, which allows us to offer more competitive fees. We also think
our credit focused process and deep lender relationships deliver the
best deal in the market, which optimizes economics and terms that more
than offset our fees,” Gentry added.

About Monroe Credit Advisors LLC

Monroe Credit Advisors, the investment banking affiliate of middle
market lender, Monroe Capital, provides debt capital solutions to middle
market companies and their investors through strategies built for
today’s dynamic credit markets. The firm advises on structuring and
arranging credit through its relationships with a broad spectrum of debt
providers including banks, commercial finance companies, debt investment
funds and leasing companies. The firm’s experienced team of leveraged
finance professionals approaches the market with a lender’s perspective,
delivering to its clients real time market intelligence and structuring
expertise that results in significant savings of time and money, as well
as increased certainty of execution. To learn more about Monroe Credit
Advisors, visit
www.monroecredit.com .

SOURCE: Monroe Credit Advisors LLC

Monroe Credit Advisors LLC
Mark Gertzof, 312-523-2377
Managing Partner
mgertzof@monroecredit.com
or
BackBay Communications
Jen Dowd, 212-209-3844
jen.dowd@backbaycommunications.com

Copyright Business Wire 2011

The cost of protecting Bank of America Corp. bonds plunged while a benchmark index of credit-default swaps in the US rose.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, I provided some tips for choosing a business credit card. In this Part 2 installment, I provide details on specific cards as evaluated by CreditCard.org, a non-profit organization that provides news and advice about credit cards. What follows are business cards CreditCard.org recommends. Note that promotions change on a regular basis. So be sure to check the details of the most recent offers. Note, also, that this is not a comprehensive list of business credit cards.

Credit ratings are based on the following scores:

• Excellent: 725+
• Good: 650 – 724
• Fair: 600 – 649
• Bad: 300 – 599

American Express requires an Excellent credit score for all cards. While it offers a wide range of features and benefits, American Express cards are not as widely accepted as MasterCard and Visa.

True Earnings Business Card – American Express with Costco Branding

Features: Cash back ranging from 1 percent for Costco purchases to 4 percent for gasoline charges. Annual fee: None.

The Business Platinum Card from American Express OPEN

Features: Up to $200 airline fee credit to cover incidentals with the airline of your choice. 20 percent travel bonus when redeeming with Membership Rewards Pay with Points. Complimentary airport club access, including American Airlines Admirals Club lounges. Concierge service to assist with your business needs from gift giving to dinner reservations. Business Platinum car rental program with complimentary enrollment in the Hertz #1 Gold Club, Avis Preferred, and Emerald club from National Car Rental. Includes Platinum Office Program, offering access to 1,000 Internet-equipped business lounges in 450 major cities worldwide. Enrollment in the Membership Rewards First program. No pre-set spending limit. Requires Excellent credit. Annual fee: $450.

SimplyCash Business Card from American Express OPEN

Features: 5 percent cash back on wireless services and office supply purchases. 3 percent cash back on automobile gasoline. 1 percent cash back on other purchases. No limit to the amount of cash you can earn back. Cash back on purchases is automatically credited to your statement each month. Save 3 percent to 10 percent automatically on business expenses from FedEx, Hertz, OfficeMax, and more with OPEN Savings. Variable interest rate starting at 13.24 percent. No balance transfer promotion. Requires Excellent credit. No introductory annual membership fee.

The Plum Card from American Express OPEN

Features: Pay in full within ten days, get a 1.5 percent discount or pay a minimum of 10 percent and take up to two months to pay off the balance, interest free. Includes a cash flow management tool. No balance transfer promotion. Requires Excellent credit. No introductory annual fee for the first year, $185 thereafter.

ATamp;T Universal Business Rewards Card

Features: Earn 3 ThankYou points for every dollar spent on purchases at certain office supply merchants, gas stations, and on professional services, and 1 ThankYou point for every dollar spent on other purchases. Earn 5 ThankYou points for every dollar spent on eligible ATamp;T products and services. 0 percent interest rate on purchases for 6 months. Additional cards for employees with credit limits you set. No balance transfer promotion. Variable interest rate currently at 16.99 percent. Requires Excellent credit. Annual fee: None.

Capital One Venture for Business

Features: Earn double miles on every purchase. Get 25,000 bonus miles if you spend $1,000 within the first 3 months. Receive 5,000 bonus miles by signing up for one or more employee cards. Use your rewards for travel, cash back, gift cards, and merchandise. Fly any airline, anytime, with no mileage expiration. No foreign transaction fees. Variable interest rate currently at 13.9 percent. Requires Excellent credit. First years annual fee is waived.

Capital One Business Platinum with Preferred No Hassle Miles

Features: 0 percent introductory interest rate on all purchases until March 2012. 3 miles per $1 spent in the category of choice where you spend most, and 1 mile; per dollar on all other purchases. Redeem miles for travel, cash, merchandise, and gift cards. Fly on any airline with no blackout dates or seat restrictions. No limit on miles and no expiration. Variable interest rate between 14.99 percent and 22.99 percent. Requires Excellent credit. Annual fee: None.

Capital One Business Platinum

Features: 0 percent introductory interest rate on all purchases until June 2012. Tools to help build business credit. $0 Fraud Liability Protection if your card is lost or stolen. Automatic credit line increase program. Online and mobile banking options for easier account management. Online quarterly and year-end summaries. Variable interest rate, currently 19.99 percent. Requires Fair credit. Annual fee: $39.

Ink Classic

Features: Earn 5x Points on the first $25,000 in annual expenditures on office supplies, wireless services, landline communication and cable services. Earn 2x Points on the first $25,000 in annual expenditures on fuel and lodging. Unlimited 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. Redeem points for travel, gift cards, merchandise; rewards never expire. 0 percent introductory interest rate for 6 months for purchases and balance transfers. Variable interest rate between 13.24 percent and 19.24 percent after six months. Requires excellent credit. Annual fee: None.

Ink Bold with Ultimate Rewards

Features: Pay balance in full card, no interest. Earn 25,000 bonus points after first purchase. No limit to the number of points you can earn and points never expire. Over 45,000 bonus points every year redeemable towards flights. Requires Excellent credit. No first year fee, $95 annual fee thereafter.

Ink Cash Business

Features: Earn up to $250 bonus cash back. 5 percent cash back on the first $25,000 spent annually on office supplies, cable services, and telecom services. 2 percent cash back on the first $25,000 spent annually on gas and dining. 1 percent cash back on all other purchases with no limit on the amount of cash back you can earn. Cash back rewards do not expire. 0 percent introductory interest rate for 6 months. 0 percent for six-month balance transfers. Variable interest rate between 13.24 percent and 19.24 percent after introductory rate expires. Requires Good credit. Annual fee: None.

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Imagine you’re about to take a trip, but a few days before you leave, you lose your credit card. What to do? You can’t wait for the bank to send you a new card in the mail. If you’re lucky, you might be able to pay a fee for expedited delivery. Or, if you’re a Freedom Credit Union member, you can just stop by their branch and pick up a new one on the spot no waiting, no fee.

The credit union has issued check and ATM cards since 2009, but expanded the service to include credit cards in April this year. Using a Datacard 150i, which costs approximately $13,000 per branch, Freedom will replace a member’s lost or stolen debit/credit card for free. Members only need to present proper ID to have a new card made.

For those opening new accounts especially new members the instant issue service helps get the relationship off to a smooth, efficient start. Someone leaving the branch with a card in hand can start using their new account immediately. But if they have to wait for their card in the mail, they are likely going to feel impatient and frustrated.

Reality Check: No one wants to “wait 5-10 business days” for anything anymore. People expect instant gratification. The world is now measured in milliseconds. A whole day now feels like a millennium.

A debit/credit card is a symbol of purchasing power. It is the consumer’s most frequent point of interaction with their bank account. Handing someone their card in person as Freedom has done some 11,000 times already has a tremendous positive psychological impact.

Reality Check: For all the benefits online and mobile banking solutions offer, instant issue cards is one convenience available only at physical branch locations. (Of course, who knows how long plastic credit cards will be around.)

DATACARD 150i

Free webinar on implementing a financial literacy strategy from Banzai!

Freedom rolled out the instant issue credit card service in three of its branches, but says it will have units at all six by the end of the year.

There are plans to promote the service with members as additional machines are added. In the meantime, cards will still be mailed out to some members. Any member who wants an expedited card can choose to pick it up at a branch.

“The Instant Issue machines save Freedom members time as well as money,” said Freedom spokesperson Dana Feeney. “Having a card expeditiously shipped from the manufacturer can cost up to $25.”

According to Freedom Credit Union, TD Bank and Wells Fargo (ne Wachovia), both competitors in their area, also offer instant issue cards.

Freedom Credit Union has over $490 million in assets and more than 57,000 Members, with branches in Pennsylvania.

This article copy 2011 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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More stories about: Branches, Featured, credit cards, debit cards, Freedom, TD, Wachovia

Reach the student market with this free webinar for credit unions Connect with local teachers and students using , the award-winning online financial literacy program used in thousands of schools across all 50 states. Banzai has worked with more than 100 credit unions. No licensing fees, no ongoing commitment. Click here to view a free webinar!

* Benchmark funding rates edge higher

* Dollar swap costs stabilise

* But credit risk measures reflect concerns over banks

By Kirsten Donovan

LONDON , Aug 26 (Reuters) – Benchmark borrowing costs for
euro zone banks pushed higher on Friday as lenders, particularly
of dollars, remained reluctant to provide any but the shortest
maturity funds on fears over borrowers exposure to euro zone
sovereign debt.

Implementation risk over a second bailout package for Greece
has sent Greek bond yields soaring again. Athens warned it may
opt out of a crucial debt swap. .

Although some risk indicators are showing signs of
stabilising well below levels seen during the 2008 financial
crisis after widening sharply in recent weeks, the cost of
insuring against bank defaults — as indicated by the iTraxx
senior financial CDS index — has soared high above
levels seen in early 2009.

Stress tests revealed banks significant exposures to
sovereign risk, said BNP Paribas rate strategist Patrick Jacq.

As this risk has increased sharply, credit assessment on
banks has worsened significantly.

That, Jacq said, is a main cause of the widening in the
spread of three-month Libor rates over overnight indexed swaps
– the Libor/OIS spread.

In Europe, that spread has risen five-fold to 60 basis
points since early July. But that is well below the near 200 bps
seen at the height of the financial crisis and further widening
is likely to be limited with the European Central Bank still
providing unlimited liquidity to banks.

The dollar equivalent has doubled to around 27 basis points.

Unless there is a significant decrease in banks CDS –
ie reduced concerns about sovereign risk exposure driven by
signs of improvement in peripherals — the potential for OIS/BOR
spreads to tighten is small, Jacq said.

RBS strategist Simon Peck also highlighted increasing use of
the ECBs deposit facility — its highest since February after
the central bank handed out 6-month funding earlier this month
– and a decline in Eonia overnight trading volumes.

It is clear that reliance is growing on the ECB as a
financial transmission channel of the interbank market with
banks becoming more reluctant to lend to each other.

Benchmark three-month euro Libor rates edged up
to 1.48125 percent, with equivalent dollar rates up a third of a
basis point at 0.32278 percent.

The three-month euro-dollar cross currency basis swap
, which measures the premium banks have to pay to
swap euros into dollars, was steady around minus 83 basis
points. It was under minus 20 basis points in April.

The widening partly reflects the scaling back of lending by
US money market funds to European banks .

And as liquidity in the short-term funding markets has
declined, many banks have instead sought to increase deposits
and go to the foreign exchange market to swap euros for dollars.

US dollar wholesale funding for European banks remains
problematic, said Commerzbank strategist Benjamin Schroeder.

The very elevated cross currency basis indicates that banks
are resorting to other avenues.

However, no banks resorted to the ECBs dollar swap line
with the Federal Reserve this week, easing nerves after one bank
took $500 million euros the previous week.

The funding is still considered expensive relative to market
rates.

(Reporting by Kirsten Donovan; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

The UK added itself to the growing list of governments seeking to cinch the noose on tax evaders hiding behind the secrecy imparted by Swiss banks, including UBS and Credit Suisse.

The Swiss banking system has thrived for decades on the back of the secrecy it provides to account holders. But with the US and Germany forcing these banks to reveal information about their citizens evading taxes, the banks have been losing their appeal among international customers.

The bilateral agreement struck by Chancellor George Osborne with the Swiss authorities is set to impinge the Swiss banking system further. ^[1] UBS is Switzerland’s largest bank in terms of assets, followed by Credit Suisse, both of which compete with the likes of Deutsche Bank’s, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.

We maintain a $20 price estimate for UBS’ stock and a $48.60 price estimate for Credit Suisse’s stock. Our estimates are at a significant premium to their market prices as we believe the current price reflects the sentiments of a market which is reacting heavily to the deteriorating European debt situation combined with the uncertainty of impact of the recent downgrade of the US long-term credit rating on the world economy.

Switzerland is no longer a tax haven for many

Earlier this month, Germany settled its tax evasion dispute with Swiss banks with an agreement that will result in Swiss banks making a one-time payment of 2 billion francs. ($2.6 billion). ^[2] The German government intends to reimburse the banks from the anonymous lump-sum tax payment option it has offered to German citizens holding untaxed accounts at these banks. The agreement also imposes a 26.37% tax on future income and gains for these accounts.

The British agreement asks for an upfront settlement of £400 million ($650 million) from the banks, a one-time payment between 19% and 34% on untaxed accounts held in Switzerland in May 2013, and a tax of 48% on future income and 27% on future capital gains for British taxpayers holding undeclared accounts with the banks beginning in 2013. ^[1]

Notably, neither agreement requires the banks to divulge details about individual customer accounts – the banks are expected to deduct the applicable taxes and turn over the collected amount to the respective government as a lump sum.

UBS settled a tax evasion case with the US in 2009 for $780 million, and Credit Suisse is currently under a similar probe. (See Credit Suisse Should Settle Tax Probe to Clear Overhang)

But UBS and Credit Suisse clearly stand to lose

At the end of 2010, UBS managed more than $700 billion of assets from American clients and an additional $600 billion of assets from other international clients. Credit Suisse managed more than $500 billion in assets from clients outside Switzerland. This represents a combined portfolio of nearly $1.8 trillion in assets managed by the two banks for clients outside Switzerland.