EconomyWorld.org

New Delhi, November 30, 2006 : As part of its global development strategy aiming at opening 200,000 new hotel rooms by 2010, of which 60% in emerging markets, Accor has signed today significant partnerships that trigger a major expansion in India. This expansion plan covers the full spectrum of the hotel market in India, including budget Formule 1 hotels, economy Ibis hotels, mid-market Novotel hotels and upper-upscale Sofitel properties.

One of the common themes among many professional people I meet is that they are just too busy to learn what is needed. They go on to tell us that all they want to do is find somebody they trust and then take their advice.

OTS is proposing changes to its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations in four areas to reestablish uniformity between its regulations and those of the other Federal banking agencies. OTS is proposing revisions to its CRA rule to promote consistency and help facilitate objective evaluations of CRA performance across the banking and thrift industries. Consistent standards could allow the public to make more effective comparisons of bank and thrift CRA performance.

OTS is proposing changes to its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations in four areas to reestablish uniformity between its regulations and those of the other Federal banking agencies. OTS is proposing revisions to its CRA rule to promote consistency and help facilitate objective evaluations of CRA performance across the banking and thrift industries. Consistent standards could allow the public to make more effective comparisons of bank and thrift CRA performance.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has finished examining 33 of 47 banks whose Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data revealed significant disparities in loan pricing. The agency has referred two of those institutions to the Department of Justice for discriminatory mortgage practices.

Working Paper 2006-22 by Christopher A. Sims, Daniel F. Waggoner, and Tao Zha. Whereas most forecasting models assume economic stability, the authors account for the volatility of economic time series by using a Markov-switching model to view structural breaks and changes in the economy.

Working Paper 2006-23 by Ellis W. Tallman and Jon R. Moen. Using unexploited, bank-specific data about clearinghouse loan certificates in New York City, the authors demonstrate that the six largest national banks provided most of the liquidity during the 1907 panic.

Working Paper 2006-24 by Thomas J. Cunningham. Using the responses to the Federal Reserve’s survey of commercial banks’ loan officers, the author finds that the officers’ success in predicting certain economic behavior does not extend to predicting changes in commercial lending.

Working Paper 2006-25 by Cyril Monnet and William Roberds. This paper presents a model of an optimal card payment system when cash is available as an alternative. Prohibition of surcharges for card use is shown to be optimal under certain conditions.

Working Paper 2006-26 by Gerald P. Dwyer Jr. and Margarita Samart�n. Banks promise to give depositors their money on demand even if banks as a rule hold fractional reserves of deposits. Exploring literature and historical episodes, the authors examine why banks make promises they cannot always honor.

The Federal Reserve has once again made some last minute changes to Validity and Quality Errors. On October 2, the FRB removed two validity errors and added five quality errors in their place. For the most part this is good news since the quality errors replace the validity errors. The FRB also made them retroactive to January 1, 2006…

A hearing has been scheduled by the Illinois regulator for November 27, 2006, with community leaders, legislators, homeowners and real estate professionals. This meeting will have an agenda that will include a call for sharing of ideas that “improve the pilot program…”

Ohio’s “home rule” doctrine restricts cities from passing more restrictive local rules on matters dealing with issues constitutionally defined for the state level. Examples given in recent artices are environmental and even health issues. The Ohio Supreme Court handed down a 5-2 decision stating that the Cleveland ordinance was too strict, saying Ohioans are “better served by a statewide standard on lending.”

Thinking about expanding into new states? Confused by the varying requirements? Are you looking for an overview of the legislative landscape and the changes coming in 2007? If so, plan on attending this informative Compliance Webinar hosted by industry expert and Vice President of Compliance at QuestSoft, Stephanie Ochoa.

After explosive growth in 2006, image exchange/share will continue to accelerate in 2007.

This quarter, Financial Update includes information about the growth of electronic check conversions, a new online publication from the Atlanta Fed about the U.S. payment system, an outlook from Donald L. Kohn, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, on the Fed’s role in payment processing, new proposals for financial institutions regarding identity theft, and results from a report on the health of banks.

French financial institutions are focusing on young adults as the next target market.

***THIS IS A REPOST WITHOUT THE MISSING PORTION OF THE PODCAST….APOLOGIES!***

I came across Dick’s Sporting Goods last week on the blog and wanted to do a podcast on this rapidly growing retail chain that recently announced a purchase of Golf Galaxy. In addition, I try to share my investing philosophy in response to an excellent letter from a reader about Sonoco (SON).

***THIS IS A REPOST WITHOUT THE MISSING PORTION OF THE PODCAST….APOLOGIES!***

I came across Dick’s Sporting Goods last week on the blog and wanted to do a podcast on this rapidly growing retail chain that recently announced a purchase of Golf Galaxy. In addition, I try to share my investing philosophy in response to an excellent letter from a reader about Sonoco (SON).

Larkin Martin, managing partner of Martin Farm and vice president of The Albemarle Corp., has been appointed chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s board of directors. Scott Davis, chief financial officer of United Parcel Service, has been appointed deputy chairman. Their one-year terms begin Jan. 1, 2007.