EU Leaders Agree Bailout

EU politicians and financial executives have agreed to inject billions of euros into banks in an effort to stabilize and restore confidence in the world financial system.

The basic plan follows that of Britain', with the governments taking direct equity stakes in distressed banks and guaranteeing bank lending for up to five years. France and Germany are expected to release national packages worth billions of Euros on Monday. Some figures have been bandied about, Germany is considering a plan to inject 50 billion to 100 billion euros into its banks, with a price tag for all of the new measures reaching as much as 400 billion euros, or $536 billion, according to a person briefed on the government’s work.


“The meeting that we had was exceptional,” President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, said at a news conference. “We need concrete measures, we need unity. That’s what we achieved. The plan on which we agreed today will be applied in all our respective states.”

The Belgian finance minister, Didier Reynders, said, “We are committed in all European states to recapitalize banks if we establish a threat to solvency and a risk to the economy....The goal is to kick-start the interbank lending market,” he said.

Additionally unfreezing the commercial paper market used by companies to finance their businesses, is to be an aim of the plan.

Contrary to Britain or the US, a price tag has not been put on the rescue package.

“Our goal is to have coordinated action for the euro zone,” Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said, and the meeting “is a very important signal for the strength of the euro zone.”

U.S. Banking Women

The top women in U.S. banking according to U.S. Banker magazine.

APPENDIX A: The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking
Heidi Miller
CEO, Treasury and Securities Services
JPMorgan Chase

Barbara Desoer
President, Mortgage, Home Equity and Insurance Services
(ranked based on prior role as Chief Technology and Operations Officer)
Bank of America

Carrie Tolstedt
Senior EVP, Community Banking
Wells Fargo

Pamela Joseph
Vice Chair, Payment Services, U.S. Bancorp
Chairman, Elavon
U.S. Bancorp

Sallie Krawcheck
Chairman and CEO
Citi Global Wealth Management
Citigroup

Karen Peetz
CEO of Issuer, Treasury, Broker-Dealer and Hedge Fund Services
(ranked based on prior role as CEO of Global Corporate Trust)
The Bank of New York Mellon

Mollie Hale Carter
President and CEO
Sunflower Bank

Diane D'Erasmo
EVP and Regional President, Commercial Banking
HSBC Bank USA

Sheila Schauer
President and CEO
Four Corners Community Bank

Charlotte McLaughlin
President and CEO, PNC Capital Markets
The PNC Financial Services Group

Catherine Keating
CEO, U.S. Private Bank
JPMorgan Chase

Diane Reyes
Global Treasury and Trade Sales Head
Global Transaction Services
Citi

Amy Woods Brinkley
Global Risk Executive
Bank of America

Diane Thormodsgard
Vice Chairman and Head of Wealth Management
and Securities Services
U.S. Bancorp

Kathleen Murphy
CEO, ING US Wealth Management
ING Group

Iris Chan
EVP, Head of Commercial Banking
Wells Fargo

Barbara Stymiest
COO
Royal Bank of Canada

Deanna Oppenheimer
CEO, UK Retail Banking
Barclays Bank PLC

Beth Mooney
Vice Chair, Community Banking
KeyCorp

Cynthia Smith
SVP and Director of BankCard Products and Services
Zions Bancorporation

Ellen Alemany
CEO
RBS Americas

Ranjana Clark
Senior EVP and CMO
Wachovia

Alberta Cefis
EVP and Group Head, Global Transaction Banking
Scotiabank

Jacque Fiegel
EVP and COO
Coppermark Bank

Lisa Binder
President and COO
Associated Banc-Corp

APPENDIX B: The 25 Women to Watch
Colleen Johnston
Group Head, Finance and CFO
TD Bank Financial Group

Carol Nelson
President and CEO
Cascade Financial Corp.

Avid Modjtabai
CIO
Wells Fargo

Elyse Weiner
Managing Director, Global Head of Liquidity and Investments
Global Transaction Services
Citi

Maura Markus
EVP, Head - International Consumer Banking
Citi

Lynn Pike
President
Capital One Bank

Mary McDowell
President and CEO
CitiFinancial North America

Leslie Godridge
EVP, Head of National Corporate and Institutional Banking
U.S. Bank

Lisa Banner
SVP, Executive Private Banking Manager
Zions First National Bank

Carmen Jordan
SVP, Corporate Energy Services Division Manager
Amegy Bank of Texas

Diana Starcher
Group EVP and Director, Customer Service, Sales and Operations
Wells Fargo

Ellen Costello
CEO
Harris Bankcorp

Catherine Smith
CEO, US Insurance
ING Group

Julie Monaco
Head of Global Transaction Services, North America
Citi

Katrina King
SVP, Treasury Management Sales Manager
Amegy Bank of Texas

Lisa Lane White
SVP and Senior Director of Innovative Solutions
Synovus

Anne Finucane
Chief Marketing Officer
Bank of America

Cece Sutton
EVP, Head of Retail and Small Business Banking
Wachovia

Karen Lee Hail
Senior EVP and COO
MidSouth Bancorp

Cara Heiden
Co-President, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
Wells Fargo

Susan Horton
Chairman, CEO and president
Wheatland Bank

Donna DeMaio
President and CEO
MetLife Bank

Lori Chillingworth
SVP and Business Banking Director
Zions First National Bank

Mary Tuuk
EVP and Chief Risk Officer
Fifth Third Bancorp

Deloris Sims
President and CEO
Legacy Bank

APPENDIX C: The Top 3 Banking Teams
U.S. Bancorp
Zions National Bank
Citigroup

APPENDIX D: The Top 25 Nonbank Women in Finance
Nicole S. Arnaboldi
Vice Chairman, Alternative Investments
Credit Suisse

Clara Furse
CEO
London Stock Exchange

Stacy Bash-Polley
Partner and Managing Director
Co-Head of Fixed Income Sales in the Americas
Goldman Sachs

Abigail Johnson
President, Personal and Workplace Investing
Fidelity

Clare R. Scherrer
Partner and Managing Director
Goldman Sachs

Maliz Beams
President and CEO TIAA-CREF Individual and Institutional Services
EVP, Institutional and Individual Client Services
TIAA-Cref

Anne Stausboll
Interim Chief Investment Officer
CalPERS

Wei Christianson
Managing Director and China Chief Executive
Morgan Stanley

Joyce A. Phillips
President and Chief Operating Officer
American Life Insurance Company (ALICO)

Renu Sud Karnad
Joint Managing Director
Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited, India

Marjorie Magner
Managing Director
Brysam Global Partners

Candace Browning
President, Global Research
Merrill Lynch

Carla J. Brooks
Managing Director/Deputy Portfolio Manager
Commerce Street Capital LLC

Renuka Ramnath
Managing Director and CEO
ICICI Venture Funds Management Company Limited

Margaret Keane
President and CEO, Retail Consumer Finance Unit
GE Money-Americas

Barbara Goodstein
EVP Marketing, Chief Innovation Officer and CMO
AXA Equitable

M. Elaine Crocker
President
Moore Capital Management

Lisa M. Weber
President, Individual Business
MetLife, Inc.

Anne Dias Griffin
Founder and Managing Director
Aragon Global Management LLC

Karen Finerman
Founder
Metropolitan Capital

Christine L. Reilly
President
CIT Small Business Lending Corporation

Susan Shaffer Solovay
CEO
Pomegranate Capital

Eileen Murray
President
Duff Capital Advisors

Joan Kelly
Group Executive, Systems Delivery,
MasterCard Global Technology and Operations
MasterCard Worldwide

Diane Offereins
Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Discover Financial Services

Fidelity Southern Board Election

Dr. Donald A. Harp, Jr. has been elected to Fidelity Southern Corporation's Board of Directors, and to the Board of Fidelity Bank.

Private Banking and IT by ITC

A recent publication by leading independent research and advisory firm Financial Insights, an IDC company, points to the quantum shift in the importance of IT as a part of the private banks' world, and provides an overview of the most relevant solutions available in the arena. The report entitled, "Private Banking: Volume 2 - Software Solution Vendor Analysis"(Doc#FIN213931), outlines private banking software solutions requirements by the Asian market, and presents a snapshot of the prominent private banking solution vendors in Asia. It also discusses the typical package selection criteria adopted by private banks to narrow down their search for the most appropriate solution provider, and issues vendors need to keep top-of-mind when targeting the market.

Financial Insights analyses the market in Asia.
"With the competitive changing panorama for private banks, it has become increasingly crucial that these institutions boast a stellar supporting technology backbone," comments Li-May Chew, CFA, senior research manager for Financial Insights Asia/Pacific Financial Advisory Service. "The key vendors which we explored in this report include ERI, Odyssey Financial Technologies, SS&C Technologies, SunGard, and Temenos. Topics covered include vendors' solution architectures, notable functionalities, selected references, on-ground presence, as well as Financial Insights' opinion of them. "

Li-May points out that "no two vendors appear to be competing head-on within the same space, with the same breadth of solution, or depth of offerings. Odyssey for instance, excels within the front- and middle- office offerings, while SS&C Technologies provides particular focus on clients' middle-office asset valuations and accounting requirements."

On how private banks should narrow down their search for the most appropriate solution provider, Financial Insights believes that the selection of a private banking system goes beyond merely buying packaged software with a static set of functions. Banks should take several factors into consideration. For instance, vendor offerings should correlate with the their commercial strategies; banks must consider the vendors' current and future fit with their existing platform and operating system; banks should seek vendors who are at the forefront of innovation and that have business models with high R&D components; and, preferably, vendors who utilize a system that incorporates a healthy balance of customizable components with past experiences and best practices.

Meanwhile, on the vendor's end, they are advised to implement solutions focused on customer analytics and relationship management; explore Web interfaces to support wealth managers in their proficiency and service execution; keep a close watch on clients' portfolio and risk management requirements; and offer performance and profitability management matrices that provide multi-dimensional analysis at the intersection of customer, product, and channel; which can help identify profit generators and constraints.

Trading Glossary

ABCDS
A credit default swap based on an Asset-Backed Security itself based on relatively risky home equity loans (U.S.) In effect a type of insurance against default on the underlying ABS.

ABCP
Taiwan: Asset-Backed Commercial Paper

AICPA
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

Alpha
Hedge Funds: the incremental return above the market that a manager generates.

American-Style Option
Option contract which can be excercised at any time between the purchase date and the expiration date. Most commonly exchange-traded option in the U.S.

Arbitrage
Simultaneous sale and purchase of identical or equivalent financial instruments or commodity futures to benefit from a discrepancy in their prices.

Assignment
Receipt of an exercise notice by an option writer (seller) that obligates him to sell (in the case of a call) or purchase (in the case of a put) the underlying security at the specified strike price.

At-the-money
Occurs if the strike price of the option is equal to the market price of underlying security.

Back-months
Futures or options on futures months being traded that are furthest from expiration.

BaFin
Germany: financial regulator

Bank Of England
UK Central Bank

Bear
Person who believes prices will move lower

Bear Market
Market in which prices are moving lower.

Beta
Hedge Funds: market exposure

Bid
Price that market participants are willing to pay.

Bull
Person who believes prices will move higher

Bull Market
Market in which prices are moving higher.

Buy on Close
Buy at the end of a trading session at a price within the closing range.

Buy on Opening
Buy at the beginning of a trading session at a price within the opening range.

Call
An option contract giving the holder the right to buy the underlying security at a specified price for a certain, fixed period of time.

Capped-Style Option
Option with an established profit cap. The cap price is equal to the option's strike price plus a cap interval for a call option or the strike price minus a cap interval for a put option. Exercised automatically when the underlying security closes above or below the cap price, depending on whether it is a call or a put.

CEO
Chief Executive Officer

CFO
Chief Financial Officer

CII
Council of Institutional Investors

CIO
Chief Investment Officer

Close
End of trading session period. Also called the Closing Range. The official close is designated as the high and low prices or bids and offers recorded during the period.

Closing Purchase
Transaction entered into to reduce or eliminate a short position in a given series of options.

Commission
One off fee brokerage fee to a customer when a futures or options on futures position is liquidated either by offset or delivery.

Contract
1) Unit of trading for a financial or commodity future.

2) Bilateral agreement between buyer and seller (parties) of a futures or options on futures transaction. Defined by the exchange.

Contract Month
The month in which futures contracts may be satisfied by making or accepting delivery.

Covered Call Option Writing
Trading strategy involving simultaneously selling call options and owning an equivalent position in the underlying security. The reverse is to sells a put option and shorting the underlying security.

Day Order
Order placed for execution within one trading session. Automatically cancelled if it can not be executed within the day.

Day Trading
Within one day establishing and liquidating the same position or positions. No positions should be established at the days end.

Deferred
Back Months

Delivery
Tender and receipt of an actual commodity or financial instrument, or cash in settlement of a futures contract.

Derivative Security
Financial security whose value is determined in part from an another security's (the underlying security) value and characteristic.

Dow Joines Industrial Average
US Index made up of 30 picked stocks. Weighted by share price

EAI
Enhanced Analytics Initiative

ECB
European Central Bank

EPS
Earnings Per Share

Equity Options
Options on shares of an individual common stock.

ERFRAG
European Financial Reporting Advisory Group

ERM
Enterprise Risk Management

ETF
Exchange-Traded Fund

European-style Options
Option contracts that can only be exercised during a specified period of time just prior to their expiration.

Exercise Settlement Amount
Difference between the exercise price of the option and the exercise settlement value of the index on the day an exercise notice is tendered , multiplied by the index multiplier.

Expiration Cycle
The dates on which options on an underlying security expire. A given option is assigned to one of three cycles, January, February or March.

Expiration Date
Date on which an option and the right to exercise it, cease to exist.

FASAC
Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council

FASB
Financial Accounting Standards Board

Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council
Overseer of the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Financial Reporting
Defined by the COSO Framework as:-

The preparation of reliable published financial statements, including interim and condensed financial statements and selected financial data derived from such statements, such as earnings releases, reported publicly.

Financial Supervisory Commission
Taiwan: financial regulator

Floor Broker
Licensed member of an Exchange, who is paid a fee for executing orders for Clearing Members or their customers.

Floor Trader
Also known as a "local". Exchange member who only trades for his own account.

Futures
All contracts covering purchase and sale of financial instruments or physical commodities for future delivery on a commodity futures exchange.

3

GAAP
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

Hedge
Strategy to limit investment loss by effecting a transaction which offsets an existing position.

Holder
Purchaser of an option

IFRS
International Financial Reporting Standards

IFRS 3
Accounting standard for "business combinations" or Merger and Acquisitions transactions. First standard written jointly by International Accounting Standards Board and the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Initial Performance Bond
Also known as "Initial Margin". Funds required when a futures position is opened.

Integrity and Ethics
Reside under the Control Environment. The senior management need to set the tone for the company. Whilst they might be considered "soft" and "intangible" concepts, they affect the design, administration and monitoring of other internal controls. According to COSO, the actions of management is more important than having them written down.

Negative examples of integrity and ethics are the infamous Enron and WorldCom scandals.

A positive example is BP which sets a high bar for ethical behaviour by employees. To back this policy up they make mention of it and its effectiveness in financial reports.

In-the-money
Occurs if the strike price of a call option is less than the market price of the underlying security. For put options the strike price has to be higher than the market price of the underlying security for it to be in-the money.

Intrinsic Value
Amount by which an option is in-the-money.

ISDA
International Swaps and Derivatives Association

LTCM
Long Term Capital Management

Margin Requirement for Options
Amount an uncovered (naked) option writer is required to deposit and maintain to cover a position. Calculated

Market Order
Order for immediate execution given to a broker to buy or sell at the best obtainable price.

Mark-To-Market
Daily adjustment of margin accounts to reflect profit and loss.

MD&A
Management's Disclosure and Analysis

Mezzanine
When applied to finance refers to moderate risk or mid level.

Minimum Price Fluctuation
Smallest increment of price movement possible in trading a given contract. It is also referred to as "lead month".

NASPP
National Association of Stock Plan Professionals

Nearby
Nearest active trading month of a futures or options on futures contract.

NYSE
New York Stock Exchange

Offer
Price at which an investor is willing to sell a futures or options contract. Offset buying if one has sold, or selling if one has bought, a futures or options on futures contract.

Open Interest
Total number of futures or options on futures contracts that have not yet been offset or fulfilled by delivery. An indicator of the depth or liquidity of a market (the ability to buy or sell at or near a given price) and of the use of a market for risk and/or asset management.

Private Equity Intelligence
Research group specialising in the private equity arena.

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
Organization set up under Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 to regulate auditing of public companies and auditors.

Regulation FD
Regulation Fair Disclosure

Rule enforced by the SEC requiring U.S. to make available to the public that they make to securities analysts. If the disclosure is intentional the release has to be simultaneous. Unintentional disclosure has to be made available to the public within 24 hours.

Repo
The practice of loaning out shares in return for cash.

Risk Assessment
One of five components of internal control according to the COSO Internal Control Framework

Risks faced by the company have to be recognized. Objectives have to be set, integrated into the value-chain. To achieve the objectives, risks have to be identified, analyzed and develop methods to manage them.

Rule 13a-15 (e)
SEC rule which defines Disclosure Controls and Procedures.

Rule 13a-15 (f)
SEC rule which defines Internal Control over Financial Reporting

SCSE
Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics

SEC
Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOX
Shorthand for Sarbanes-Oxley.

Structured Notes
Derivatives-linked bonds designed to deliver high returns over a fixed period.

Synthetic Collateralised Debt Obligations
Repackaged portfolios of credit derivatives.

TOCOM
Tokyo Commodity Exchange

TS2
System proprosed by the ECB for a single securities settlements across the Eurozone.

TSE
Tokyo Stock Exchange