Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank, N.A. is a subsidiary of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBSH) , a $17 billion regional bank holding company. For more than 140 years, Commerce Bank has been meeting the financial services needs of individuals and businesses. Commerce Bank provides a diversified line of financial services, including business and personal banking, wealth management and estate planning and investments through its subsidiary and affiliated companies. Commerce Bank currently operates in approximately 350 locations in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma and Colorado. Commerce Bancshares also has operating subsidiaries involved in mortgage banking, leasing, credit-related insurance, venture capital and real estate activities.

Top 25 Women in US Banking

In a year when writedowns, bankruptcies and uncertainties have plagued financial markets, U.S. Banker, published by SourceMedia, has showcased a collection of underreported success stories in its sixth annual ranking of The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking (The 25 MPWIB). This year's ranking details how the most influential female executives in the financial services industry have kept their business units' revenue increasing and their profit goals on course in the face of significant financial and economic headwinds.

The ranking, featured in U.S. Banker's October issue and online at www.US-Banker.com, recognizes the professional achievements, personal tenacity and influence of top-performing financial services executives.

"With the pillars of Wall Street crumbling around them, these remarkable women steadily delivered outstanding results for their institutions while making meaningful contributions to their communities," said Holly Sraeel, editorial director of U.S. Banker at SourceMedia and president of The 25 MPWIB. "They navigated a complex economic environment and took on increasing responsibilities to drive results and implement best practices within their respective organizations."

Heidi Miller, JPMorgan Chase's CEO of Treasury and Securities Services, again topped The 25 MPWIB ranking for posting extraordinary financial results in 2008.

Barbara Desoer, Bank of America's president of Mortgage, Home Equity and Insurance Services, ranks second in this year's list. She is followed by Wells Fargo's Carrie Tolstedt, senior EVP of Community Banking; U.S. Bancorp's Pamela Joseph, vice chair of Payment Services; and Citigroup's Sallie Krawcheck, CEO, Citi Global Wealth Management, respectively.

U.S. Banker's October issue also profiles The 25 Women to Watch, a ranking that honors women whose leadership continues to shape the financial services industry. This year's top five, in order, include TD Bank Financial Group's Colleen Johnston, group head of Finance and CFO; Cascade Financial's Carol Nelson, president and CEO; Wells Fargo's Avid Modjtabai, EVP and CIO; Citigroup's Elyse Weiner, managing director, global head of Liquidity and Investments, GTS; and Citigroup's Maura Markus, EVP and head of International Consumer Banking.

For the second year, U.S. Banker ranked The Top 25 Nonbank Women in Finance, recognizing the top performers in the securities, asset management, insurance, private equity and exchange businesses. Topping this year's ranking is Nicole S. Arnaboldi, vice chairman of Alternative Investments, Credit Suisse; Clara Furse, CEO, London Stock Exchange; Stacy Bash-Polley, partner and managing director and co-head of Fixed Income Sales in the Americas, Goldman Sachs; Abigail Johnson, president of Personal and Workplace Investing, Fidelity; and Clare R. Scherrer, partner and managing director, Goldman Sachs.
Finally, the magazine also recognized the "Top 3 Banking Teams," naming U.S. Bancorp, Zions National Bank and Citigroup as the top three, respectively. U.S. Bancorp, headquartered in Minneapolis, has landed the top spot for three years since the designation debuted in 2005.

In addition to recognizing the accomplishments of these distinguished women, it also is important to note that this has been a year of firsts for The 25 MPWIB. This is the first time an honoree, Heidi Miller, has topped the list twice, and in consecutive years. This year is the first time a sibling of a former honoree has made the ranking, as this year's number eight on The 25 MPWIB, Diane D'Erasmo, is the sister of 2005 honoree Maryann Bruce, a Wachovia alumnus. Finally, this year's list features an unprecedented number of foreign honorees and new faces. Nine out of the 25 honorees on The 25 MPWIB rankings are new to the list, as are 10 honorees on The 25 Women to Watch and 11 honorees on The Top 25 Nonbank Women in Finance.

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

Trading Today

The Dow Jones had a respite, closing 410 points or 3.86% on todays session. Standard & Poors 500 was up 4.1% as well. The good news did not extend to the FTSE 100 which saw a 0.7% drop.

There was no let up for the credit markets with a massive flow to Treasury bills, freezing the market for capital.

$180bn of loans from the Federal Reserve to other world central banks to improve money markets liquidity.

LIBOR, the rate at which banks loan money to each other is still very high.

UK banks were again in the spotlight. Now HBOS has been rescued, the wave of pessimism started on Bradford & Bingley. In the US Morgan Stanley was under the Microscope for its possible tie-up with Wachovia.

The FSA implemented its restrictions on short-selling of financial firms.

US Treasury Seizes Freddie Mac and Fannie Mac

The US Treasury Department has taken control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the troubled mortgage companies seen as having an implicit government guarantee. A four-part rescue plan includes an explicit open-ended guarantee from insolvency from the Treasury by providing as much capital as they need. The Treasury have refused to put a figure on how much is required. Tens of billions of dollars in the first year can be expected though.

Both chief executives, Daniel Mudd and Richard Syron have been removed by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, and replaced. Fannie Mae will led by Herbert M. Allison, chairman of TIAA-CREF, a teachers pension fund. Freddie Mac, has David M. Moffett, a senior advisor at Carlyle Group take the helm.

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are so large and so interwoven in our financial system that a failure of either of them would cause great turmoil in our financial markets here at home and around the globe,” Mr. Paulson said. “This turmoil would directly and negatively impact household wealth: from family budgets, to home values, to savings for college and retirement. A failure would affect the ability of Americans to get home loans, auto loans and other consumer credit and business finance. And a failure would be harmful to economic growth and job creation.”

Part one of the plan is a pledge to provide extra cash by buying up a new series of preferred shares that would offer dividends and be senior to both both the existing preferred shares and the common stock that investors around the world already hold. They companies can "modestly increase" the size of their existing investment portfolios until late 2009. Thereafter portfolios must shrink by 10% each year until they each total $250bn. Currently they hold $700bn each.

The Treasury Department will also buy up billions of dollars in Fannie and Freddie mortgage securities on the open market.

Zions Acquires Nevada State Bank

Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) subsidiary, Nevada State Bank has acquired the insured deposits of failed Henderson, Nevada-based Silver State Bank. The State of Nevada, Financial Institutions Division found that Silver State Bank was unable to meet the demands of its depositors in the ordinary course of its business. The transaction includes insured deposits of more than $800 million. All former branches of Silver State Bank will open Monday morning as branches of either Nevada State Bank or National Bank of Arizona, subsidiaries of Zions. Silver State Bank operated 13 full service branches in southern Nevada, which will become part of Nevada State Bank, and four full service branches in the Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona area, which will become part of National Bank of Arizona. The FDIC will retain most of Silver State's loan portfolio.

"We want to assure depositors of Silver State Bank that their insured deposits are safe and will be accessible when the branches open for business as usual Monday morning as Nevada State Bank and National Bank of Arizona," said Harris Simmons, chairman and CEO of Zions Bancorporation. "We look forward to welcoming former customers of Silver State Bank and earning their business and trust. We are committed to operating locally managed banks with a strong focus on service to our customers and the communities in which we do business."

Simmons added, "This acquisition is consistent with Zions' strategy to use our strong balance sheet to take advantage of opportunities in the current economic environment."

SunTrust Banks

SunTrust Banks, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, is one of the nation's largest banking organizations, serving a broad range of consumer, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. As of June 30, 2008, SunTrust had total assets of $177.4 billion and total deposits of $119.8 billion. The Company operates an extensive branch and ATM network throughout the high-growth Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states and a full array of technology-based, 24-hour delivery channels. The Company also serves customers in selected markets nationally. Its primary businesses include deposit, credit, trust and investment services. Through various subsidiaries the Company provides mortgage banking, insurance, brokerage, investment management, equipment leasing and capital markets services. SunTrust's Internet address is http://www.suntrust.com/ .

Zions Bancorporation

Zions Bancorporation is a collection of banks in select high growth markets. Zions operates its banking businesses under local management teams and community identities through more than 500 offices in 10 Western and Southwestern states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. The company is a national leader in Small Business Administration lending and public finance advisory services. In addition, Zions is included in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Financial 100 indices. Investor information and links to subsidiary banks can be accessed at http://www.zionsbancorporation.com/.