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Vanderbilt Student Group Protests Wachovia's Support of ACORN Vanderbilt University's chapter of Youth for Western Civilization will be protesting Wachovia Bank's support of ACORN today in front of Wachovia's West End location from 4:30 – 5:30pm.ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has recently come under fire since conservative activists revealed the multiple instances of outrageous behavior.Most notably, videos surfaced of ACORN employees giving advice on how to receive tax breaks for housing underage, illegal immigrant El Salvadorian prostitutes.Since then, both houses of Congress have voted to defund ACORN and Bank of America has opted to "suspend...

A jury decided last June that Wachovia had violated his rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act, which requires employers to provide workers returning from service a salary, status and seniority similar to what they had before leaving. It was left to Judge Arterton to decide damages.

Wells Fargo has its named removed from golf tournamentAssociated Press Published: Thursday, March 5, 2009 CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- One by one, the three men in charge of Charlotte's PGA Tour event came to the podium Thursday and referred to the bank that's on the hook for roughly $3 million a year only as the "title sponsor." They then unveiled the new logo for the new name of the tournament, the Quail Hollow Championship. No mention of any bank. "I'm not sure that anybody's been in this position before," tournament director Kym Hougham said after the news conference. "The bank has...

In covering the hearing of the nine bank chief executives on Capitol Hill, it didn’t take long for me to see that Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf was having a hard time of it, valiant effort though he did make to defend his bank’s lending practices. Because to look inside Wells Fargo, you will find the worst of the mortgage lenders housed in this bank, Wachovia, which Wells Fargo bought last fall for $15.4 bn, and housed within Wachovia is Golden West Financial, which Wachovia bought for a stupefying $25 bn, Golden West, the purveyor of some of the worst...

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) laid off 300 Wachovia employees last month due to a human-resources process that evaluated eligibility of employees to work at the firm as part of the merger process. Wells Fargo agreed to acquire Wachovia last October, and the deal closed earlier this month. The combined entity has $1.4 trillion in assets, and the community-banking group is now in 39 states and the District of Columbia.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wachovia Corp's shareholders approved the bank's takeover by rival Wells Fargo & Co on Tuesday, bringing one of the largest mergers stemming from the financial crisis near to completion. Separately, regional bank PNC Financial Services Group Inc said its planned takeover of National City Corp was approved by shareholders of both banks and is expected to close by December 31.

In front of a ballroom full of N.C. bankers in January 2006, Wachovia chief executive Ken Thompson warned of the dangers of “toxic” home loans. A problem with so-called option adjustable-rate mortgages, he told the group, was that homeowners can end up owing more at the end of the month than the beginning, which can be a “tough situation” for customers and lenders. “I have literally been amazed at the terms offered by some mortgage lenders, thankfully not at Wachovia and thankfully not so much in North Carolina,” he said. Four months later in May 2006, Thompson took a $24...

Less than two months ago, Citigroup emerged from the wreckage of the financial crisis as one of the last titans left standing on Wall Street. Now, in a stunning turnabout, the banking giant has sunk to its knees after a series of blows that have driven its stock price to a mere $3.77 on Friday — and left it running short on time and options. In the decade since Citigroup was born from the merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group, it weathered many storms that threatened to pull it apart. But the current turmoil can be traced back to the...

THIS WILL CHANGE YOUR RETIREMENT For those among you who have more money than you will ever need, save your time and delete this email. For the rest of us who are still working with mortgages, children and grandchildren or retired living on a pension and or Social Security perhaps you will take a couple of minutes to read the proposed changes in the American tax system. Sharing this email with others can make a difference on November 4, 2008; for our citizens and our country. INTERESTING DATA JUST RECEIVED ON TAXES This is something you should be aware of...

UnCommon Crisis by: Bethany Stotts, October 20, 2008 At the beginning of this month, it was believed that over 1,000 universities could be facing crises with payroll, staffing, and other expenditures over the next year. Their common plight: investing large sections of capital in a short-term fund with the Connecticut non-profit, Commonfund. On September 29, Wachovia announced that it would resign as a trustee of Commonfund and limited colleges access to their funds to ten percent of each college’s contribution value. Fund availability would rapidly increase over the next week. As reported in the New York Times on October 1,...

(AP) Federal antitrust regulators on Friday cleared Wells Fargo's $11.7 billion acquisition of Wachovia Corp., capping a weeklong battle for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank. The rapid approval comes a day after Citigroup Inc. walked away from its own efforts to buy Wachovia - which experienced a $5 billion run on deposits in late September after the failure of west coast rival Washington Mutual Inc., according to court documents filed Friday by Citigroup. Late Thursday, Citigroup broke off talks with Wells Fargo and federal regulators after the suitors failed to reach an agreement over how to split up the bank. San...

No story just a headline. Citigroup Files Lawsuit Against Wachovia, Wells Fargo Seeking More Than $60 Billion in Damages

Shares of Wachovia Corp. surged nearly 40% Thursday evening after Citigroup Inc. said it has ended negotiations to buy the bank. Wachovia (WB: 3.60, -1.46, -28.8%) shares were last up 36% at $4.87 following Citigroup's announcement that after several days of talks it has been unable to reach an agreement with Wells Fargo about the possible purchase of Wachovia. Last week, Wachovia said it reached a deal to be purchased by Wells Fargo, but Citigroup objected to the proposed merger, saying that it had exclusive rights to talks about a transaction. Citigroup said it will continue to seek compensatory and...

NBC is furiously erasing its tracks. Any attempts to upload the forbidden SNL bailout skit skewering George Soros and his left-wing subprime schemer friends Herbert and Marion Sandler will likely be squashed. So, I transcribed the whole comedy sketch for you and provided screenshots for the 7-minute video that has disappeared from NBC and Hulu. (Pat Dollard’s blog has posted the full clip on its server. Thanks to Ms. Underestimated for the .wmv file.) THE SCRUBBED SNL VIDEO FROM 10-4-08 ((it wouldn't work on Firefox for me, but did on Explorer))

Wells Wins Rounds In Fight For Wachovia Liz Moyer, 10.05.08, 11:24 PM ET The battle between Citigroup and Wells Fargo for Wachovia continued late into Sunday, with federal court appearances, a tussle in New York State court and ongoing negotiations between all parties in a merger dispute that now involves the Federal Reserve. Wachovia sued erstwhile suitor Citigroup in federal court in New York on Sunday, winning a hearing date for Tuesday in its attempt to back out of a deal in principle struck last Monday under which Citi, working with the FDIC, was to pay $2 billion to buy...

Wachovia, one of America's major banks, has seen its stock price plummet over the last few months and will be purchased either by Citibank for the proverbial song -- a few dollars a share for a stock that sold at more than $50 a share late last year -- or by Wells Fargo at a premium. What brought about the wreckage of Wachovia?

Citigroup announced late Saturday that it had persuaded a New York judge to temporarily block Wells Fargo from acquiring Wachovia, firing the first shot in what could be a prolonged legal battle. Citigroup has accused Wells Fargo of wrecking its plan to acquire Wachovia’s banking operations for $2.2 billion, or $1 a share, in a deal arranged by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Four days after that deal was struck, it fell apart when Wachovia agreed to Wells Fargo’s offer to pay seven times as much for the entire company. The underlying battle is over which company will emerge from...

A battle broke out for control of Wachovia on Friday as Wells Fargo signed a $15.1 billion agreement to buy the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, while Citigroup and the federal regulators backing its earlier deal insisted that Citi's takeover bid go forward.

A big bank acquisition and hopes that a Wall Street bailout will pass Congress Friday afternoon pushed stocks higher, outweighing a weak jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which slid almost 350 points in the previous session, recently posted a 206-point gain, trading up 2%, at 10688.66. Investors' mood was boosted by news that Wachovia has agreed to sell itself to Wells Fargo in a $15.4 billion takeover that will require no government assistance, scrapping a federally backed deal with Citigroup. Wachovia shares surged more than 71% in recent action and Wells Fargo rose about 8% while Citi was...

NEW YORK - Wells Fargo says it is acquiring Wachovia in an all-stock transaction worth about $15.1 billion, as Wachovia ends talks with rival suitor Citigroup.

A fund that invests cash for about 1,000 colleges and private schools suddenly froze withdrawals this week, leaving school finance managers scrambling to make sure they have enough money for payroll and other bills. For 34 years, colleges and schools parked cash in the now $9.3 billion fund, which offered returns slightly above U.S. Treasury bills. That it now might take years for the institutions to get all of their money back shows how widely credit-market woes are reverberating beyond Wall Street. Monday, Wachovia Corp., the fund's trustee, said it was terminating the fund, liquidating its assets, distributing the proceeds...

CNBC's Mad Money showhost Jim Cramer made an on-air apology last night (9/30/08) for recommending Wachovia stock just 2-weeks ago. His recommendation followed a Mad Money appearance by Wachovia's CEO Robert Steel. On Sept. 15, the day Steel appeared on the Cramer's TV show, Wachovia stock closed at $10.71 per share. On Sept. 29th, it closed at $1.84 per share. Youtube likely has the clip showing Steel's appearance. And last night after Wachovia's implosion, comes Cramer's apology: "I let you down, because I wasn't skeptical enough." Compare Cramer's "I let you down because I wasn't skeptical enough" statement with America's...

Call it the birth of Citichovia. In another day of Wall Street’s epic saga, news came today that Citigroup will acquire Wachovia’s banking operations for $2.1 billion in stock and will assume another $53 billion in Wachovia debt. Which leaves Wachovia customers scratching their heads, as Washington Mutual customers were last week. But there’s a big difference between the Wachovia and WaMu dealings — time.

Wachovia Bank, a major institution, has seen its stock plummet and its continued viability called into question, as the nation's financial crisis muddles forward. [Update: shortly after publication of this article, Citigroup agreed to purchase Wachovia's banking operations in a deal facilitated by the FDIC.] Largely ignored in this crisis is the key role played by Herbert and Marion Sandler, founders of Golden West Financial (GDW), one of the largest savings and loans in the nation. Wachovia purchased GDW for $24 billion dollars in 2006. This was one of the worst merger and acquisition deals of all time for the...

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Federal regulators are pressing Wachovia Corp. to sell itself, and Wells Fargo has emerged as the leading candidate to buy the Charlotte bank amid intensifying talks, according to reports late Sunday. The Wall Street Journal reported that Wachovia is also talking with Citigroup but that San Francisco-based Wells appeared to have the upper hand. Even as Congress unveiled a bailout plan to help banks offload troubled assets, Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department officials were pushing for a more dramatic solution for Wachovia, the New York Times reported. A sale would mean that an N.C. institution that became a nationwide...

Wachovia Corp. is reportedly in preliminary talks with suitors including Banco Santander SA, Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc., and the bank's shares slid lower in late trading on concerns it may take another big mortgage-related write-down. A sale to either Banco Santander, Wells Fargo, or Citigroup would make Wachovia the latest victim of the ongoing credit crisis, as the bank has succumbed to the triple threat of falling real estate prices, overaggressive lending and panic in the credit markets.

Although Wachovia Corp. has been mentioned as one of the more troubled big U.S. banks, at least some analysts believe it is not at risk and is unlikely to suffer the same fate of Washington Mutual Inc. They also believe that Wachovia will be able to survive on its own, without merging with another big financial institution. Still, shares of the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank plunged Friday as investors, the day after WaMu's failure, shifted their focus to other financial institutions that also suffer under the weight of mounting losses tied to toxic assets. Shares plummeted $4.90, or 35.8 percent, to...

Wachovia has begun preliminary talks with Citigroup about a potential merger, people briefed on the matter said Friday afternoon. Feelers have also been extended between Wachovia and Wells Fargo and Spain’s Banco Santander, these people said. These talks are early, however, and no deal may emerge from them.

The Financial Times this evening offers an update on the Morgan Stanley (MS) merger scenario that claims Morgan is more interested in taking financing from China Investment Corp., China’s sovereign fund, than it is in merging with Wachovia Bank (WB). Both firms have been rumored in the last 24 hours as potential saviors for Morgan’s rapidly eroding share price.

Morgan Stanley, one of the two last major American investment banks, is considering a merger with Wachovia or another bank, according to people briefed on the discussions. Morgan Stanley’s chief executive, John J. Mack, received a telephone call on Wednesday from Wachovia expressing interest in the Wall Street bank. Morgan Stanley is considering other options as well. Other banks have also expressed interest in Morgan Stanley. The talks are preliminary and no deal may emerge, these people cautioned. But if one is reached, it would mark the end of Morgan Stanley, one of the descendants of the original J. P....

Posted on Wed, Aug. 27, 2008 Wachovia cutting home-equity credit lines By Harold Brubaker Inquirer Staff Writer In the middle of remodeling the kitchen of their Gloucester County house, Paul and Julianne Gablin received a letter from Wachovia Bank canceling the line of credit they were using to pay for the project. Luckily for them, the Gablins own a house in Florida with another line of credit from Wachovia and were able to tap it to pay for the custom cabinets delivered yesterday. Still, the episode has soured him on Wachovia because he has always made his loan payments, Paul...

The global financial crisis is set to get worse, with a large US bank likely to collapse in the next few months, a former IMF chief economist has warned. Kenneth Rogoff's comments came as shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sank on a report that the home lenders would, in effect, be nationalised. Despite hopes that the US economy had turned the corner, Mr Rogoff claimed it was "not out of the woods". "I would even go further to say 'the worst is to come'," he said. "We're not just going to see mid-sized banks go under in the...

New York securities probe widens New York attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, is expanding investigation to include JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Wachovia Suzy Jagger Andrew Cuomo, the New York Attorney General, has renewed his onslaught against America's biggest banks, announcing that he is now pursuing three other financial institutions for compensation from the auction rate securities (ARS) debacle. Mr Cuomo said that he had contacted Wall Street banks JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and the American mortgage lender, Wachovia, and insisted that they begin settlement talks with lawyers representing the state of New York. On Thursday, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch...

Wachovia Corp, the fourth-largest U.S. bank, on Tuesday posted an $8.86 billion second-quarter loss, slashed its dividend and announced 6,350 job cuts after losses tied to mortgages soared. Its shares fell $1.67, or 12.7 percent, to $11.51 in premarket trading. The net loss for the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank equaled $4.20 per share, and compared with a profit of $2.34 billion, or $1.22, a year earlier. Excluding items, the loss was $1.27 per share, compared with the average analyst estimate of $1.30, according to Reuters Estimates. "These bottom-line results are disappointing and unacceptable," Chairman Lanty Smith said in a statement....

Charlotte bracing for Wachovia job cuts06:29 PM EDT on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 By MARK BOONE / WCNC E-mail Mark: MBoone@WCNC.com CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mecklenburg County’s second-largest employer said Tuesday it would cut nearly 11,000 jobs as Wachovia announced a second quarter loss of $8.9 billion. The bank employs more than 20,000 people, ranking just under Carolinas Healthcare System in number of workers, according to data from the Charlotte Chamber. Many of Wachovia’s positions are expected to be trimmed from the company’s Charlotte offices, said Dr. Tony Plath, an associate professor of finance at UNC-Charlotte. “Any way you look at...

Securities regulators from several U.S. states raided the St. Louis headquarters of Wachovia Securities on Thursday as part of a broad investigation into questionable practices involving auction rate securities, Missouri officials said. Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's office said the "special inspection" at the Wachovia affiliate, the former A.G. Edwards, concerned the $330 billion auction rate securities meltdown. It said regulators were looking for information about Wachovia Securities' sales practices, internal evaluations of the auction rate securities market, and marketing strategies. A spokeswoman for Wachovia was not immediately able to comment. The bank owns 62 percent of Wachovia Securities...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Wachovia Corp. said late Tuesday it has appointed Robert Steel as the company's new Chief Executive, President and member of the board of directors, effective immediately. Steel most recently served as Under Secretary for Domestic Finance for the U.S. Department of Treasury. His appointment ends a search that began at the Charlotte-based bank in early June with the departure of former CEO Ken Thompson.

Michael Serricchio had all he had ever hoped for in a career by the summer of 2001. At 29, he was working in the pressure cooker world of securities trading, managing millions of dollars for hundreds of investors and planning to support a family on the $200,000 he was collecting in commissions. He also was a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. (snip) But, he says, his welcome back was less than what he had hoped for. After a three-month delay, he said, Wachovia made a salary and employment offer that was so unsatisfactory it amounted to an effective...

Wall Street analysts say the ouster of Ken Thompson as Wachovia Corp. chief executive could lead to a sale of the bank, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. identified as the most likely buyer.

WASHINGTON -- Federal prosecutors are investigating Wachovia Corp. as part of a broad probe of alleged laundering of drug proceeds by Mexican and Colombian money-transfer companies, according to people familiar with the matter. Wachovia is one of several large U.S. banks that have come under scrutiny for their relationships with such companies. It is in discussions with the Justice Department about reforms in its compliance system and faces a possible deferred-prosecution agreement that would require extensive federal oversight. An official of Wachovia said it is cooperating in the probe. Wachovia, based in Charlotte, N.C., and some other U.S. banks severed...

Wachovia Bank has settled with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency over allegations that it allowed telemarketers to take advantage of its elderly customers, agreeing to pay a total of $144 million to end the case. The bank will settle $125 million in claims, put nearly $9 million into consumer education programs and pay a fine of $10 million, yet maintains that it did no wrongdoing and the penalties will not affect its bottom line. Wachovia had a relationship with several telemarketers and payment processors who called customers, offering discounts on discounted medical plans and other services who...

Wachovia Corp. is involved in a federal investigation launched by the Department of Justice that targets money-laundering by drug organizations, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Charlotte, N.C., company is under scrutiny for its involvement with Colombian and Mexican money-changing establishments known as “casas de cambio,” located along the Mexican/U.S. border. These organizations may be used by drug cartels to launder their money. One such exchange, Casa de Cambio Puebla, a Mexican chain, was recently the subject of a court case in Miami in which $23 million in assets were seized. The money was spread out over 23 Wachovia...

The Wachovia Corporation, the country’s fourth largest bank, is raising several billion dollars from outside investors because of mounting housing losses and an ill-timed acquisition of a big California mortgage lender, people briefed on the matter said Sunday night. It is unclear whether the investment will come from the issuing of new shares of stock to the public or from private investors. Wachovia said Sunday night that it would move up the release of its first-quarter earnings to Monday from Friday, without explanation. That has led to speculation that an announcement of an investment deal could come with its earnings...

Hedge funds claim bank knew about wrongdoing Charlotte Business Journal - by Will Boye Staff writer A group of hedge funds and a state retirement system have filed suit against Wachovia Corp.'s investment-banking unit, claiming Wachovia knew a now-bankrupt beverage company was committing fraud when the bank underwrote $285 million in debt for the company in 2006. The amended complaint, filed in federal court in New York, contends Wachovia knew LeNature's Inc. was reporting sales figures that couldn't be accurate and had been unable to make interest payments on its existing loans. The bank fronted the payments for the troubled...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wachovia Corp (WB.N), the fourth-largest U.S. bank, is fighting a lawsuit accusing it of letting fraudulent telemarketers use its accounts to bilk millions of dollars from consumers, court papers show. Documents filed last month in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, also reported in the February 6 edition of The New York Times, detail accusations the bank and its lawyers knew about the fraud allegations for years.

It’s one thing to bounce a check and it’s another to be so far in the red Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Donald Trump combined couldn’t come close to bailing you out. A Cobb County man got a letter from his bank with that very shocking news.

CONFESSION IN SLAYINGS Warrant for car leads to suspect By DAVID GAMBACORTA, DANA DiFILIPPO & JENNA OSKOWITZ gambacd@phillynews.com 215-854-5994 A fugitive who previously served federal prison time for bank robberies confessed last night to slaying two retired Philly cops. The stunning development came just a day after William Widmaier and Joseph Alullo - lifelong friends who found a second career as armored truck guards - were gunned down and robbed as they serviced an ATM in Northeast Philadelphia. The alleged confessed killer, according to police sources, has been identified as Mustafa Ali. He was arrested on an outstanding warrant from...

News Releases May 15, 2007ICE uncovers metropolitan area credit card fraud schemeTwo arrested for allegedly embezzling $6 million from major banks including Bank of America, Citigroup, Wachovia NEWARK, N.J. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents today announced the arrests of two men for allegedly masterminding a significant credit card fraud scheme that resulted in the loss of over $6 million to credit card lenders and banks nationwide. On May 11, special agents from ICE’s Office of Investigations in Newark, N.J., arrested Akbar Wrind, a 54-year-old resident of Bayonne, N.J., and Rafael Marte, a 47-year-old resident of Walnut Port,...

Wachovia bank considers NKorea cash transfer Thu May 17, 3:51 PM ET The US-based Wachovia bank said Thursday it was considering a State Department request to oversee the transfer of frozen funds back to North Korea. The move, if approved, could resolve a long-running financial dispute over 25 million dollars in reportedly tainted funds frozen in an Asian bank that has blocked progress on North Korea's pledge to start shutting down its nuclear program. "Because of our international expertise, we have been asked, on a non-profit basis, by the US State Department to help them process an interbank transfer of...