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www.leasingnews.org Wednesday,
22, 2002 Accurate,
fair and unbiased news for the equipment Leasing Industry
Headlines---- U.S. Stocks Fall on Concern Profit Rebound Will Disappoint Fed's Olson: Banking Industry Is Sound but “Wobbly” Despite a Year of Upheavals, Economic Optimism Is High? Saks Reports $25.4 Million Quarterly Loss Perelman Sells Stake in Golden State Bank (California Thrift ) to Citigroup For $5.8 Billion UPS workers approve strike (sell UPS Leasing?) Six arrested over 'Nigerian e-mail' fraud IKON Prices $635 Million Securitization The Monitor Broadcasts Daily Interest Rate Updates Make it Happen--- Phil Lieber Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation UAEL Special Early Early Bird Discount Larkin Named President of AMI Leasing
William J. Bridget--Obituary ### Denotes Press Release Tomorrow---Bulletin Board Complaints---Mike Cingari of MSM Capital, former president of Colonel Pacific, faces the Bulletin Board Complaints Merrill Lynch to Pay $100 Million “Chump Change” to Settle Analyst Charges By PATRICK McGEEHAN New York Times Merrill Lynch & Company said yesterday that it would pay $100 million in penalties to New York and other states and change the way it pays stock analysts to end an investigation that its chairman said had damaged the firm's reputation. The settlement averted the possibility that Eliot L. Spitzer, the attorney general of New York, would file criminal charges against Merrill or any of its analysts or managers. Citing e-mail messages written by Henry Blodget and other Internet stock analysts, Mr. Spitzer had accused Merrill of promoting stocks of companies whose investment banking business Merrill wanted. Merrill still, however, faces civil lawsuits and complaints in arbitration by individual investors. Federal securities regulators are also investigating conflicts of interest among Wall Street analysts. (Merrill has a lot of money, some call it “chump change,” so this is viewed by many as a “payoff” to get the publicity out of the newspapers and fears from its customers, and potential customers. Editor.) =========================================================== U.S. Stocks Fall on Concern Profit Rebound Will Disappoint New York: U.S. stocks fell for the first day in three after Merrill Lynch & Co. advised investors to sell technology shares because of ``anemic'' profit growth. Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. led the drop. Merrill said last week's gains, the biggest in seven months, reflected too much investor optimism. The comments followed new warnings of terrorist attacks on the U.S. and aggravated concern that the economic rebound is slowing. The New York Stock Exchange had its slowest day this year. ``Rallies like we saw last week are not sustainable,'' said James Gribbell, who manages about $2 billion at David L. Babson & Co. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ``We have a weak, murky business environment.'' The Standard & Poor's Index fell 14.71, or 1.3 percent, to 1091.88. Technology stocks accounted for about one-third of the drop. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 123.58, or 1.2 percent, to 10,229.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 39.80, or 2.3 percent, to 1701.59. ( courtesy of EFJ.com ) \ Fed's Olson: Banking Industry Is Sound but “Wobbly” WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve (news - web sites) governor Mark Olson on Tuesday said the U.S. banking system is sound, but cautioned that weaknesses could come to light now that the economy has pulled out of recession, the first in a decade. "We have just concluded more than ten years of economic prosperity, followed by slightly more than one year of recession -- a recession that is now behind us," Olson said in prepared remarks before the Maryland Bankers Association's convention in Palm Beach, Fla. "At this point in the economic cycle, whatever weaknesses have crept into our risk-management systems are most likely to come to light," he said. But even so, Olson said the condition of the banking industry is sound. "Capital, earnings, and asset quality have improved for banks of all sizes from the smallest segment (less than $50 million) to the largest (more than $10 billion)," he said. "As much as banking has changed in the last decade, any analysis of the industry suggests that banks of all sizes can continue to prosper." Still, he warned that after a decade of economic prosperity, many loan officers have not experienced an economic downturn, which raises concerns about credit quality. "Our credit-scoring models are based on credit histories that reflect only prosperity. Commercial business and real estate loans that were approved during the period of economic expansion may now be affected by changed circumstances," he said. "Indeed, we are noticing some deterioration of asset quality among banks of all sizes," he said, but added that deterioration in the banking system is not seen reaching the dimensions of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Saks Reports $25.4 Million Quarterly Loss By BLOOMBERG NEWS IRMINGHAM, Ala., (Bloomberg News) — Saks Inc. had a first-quarter net loss of $25.4 million as it wrote down the value of its Saks Fifth Avenue chain of department stores. The loss was 17 cents a share, in contrast to net income of $26.5 million, or 18 cents, a year earlier. Sales in the quarter, which ended May 4, fell 2.6 percent, to $1.43 billion from $1.46 billion, the company said. Excluding the write-down and other items, Saks, which is based in Birmingham, would have earned $21.9 million, or 15 cents, topping the 13 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call. Saks had to write down the value of its 1998 purchase of the Saks Fifth Avenue chain, said a spokeswoman, Julia Bentley. _________________________________________________________ Despite a Year of Upheavals, Economic Optimism Is High? By DAVID LEONHARDT New York Times With a stock market bust, a recession that wiped out almost two million jobs and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Americans would seem to have plenty of reasons to worry about a diminished future. Instead, they have emerged from the nation's recent turmoil far more optimistic than after any other economic downturn in a generation. In place of the economic malaise that generally plagued the public in the 1970's and from the late 1980's through the early 1990's, polls show that by wide margins Americans now say that the coming years will be prosperous and that today's children will live better than their parents. In a survey by the University of Michigan, for example, half of those polled said that they believe that the next five years will bring continuous good times, more than did at any point from 1970 to 1996 and up from a low of 8 percent in 1975. Monthly measures of consumer confidence, much higher than they were at the end of other downturns in recent decades, suggest that people now see a recession as merely a hiccup. On Friday, Michigan's widely followed index of consumer sentiment moved up in a sign that many people believe that the country's recent economic troubles are fading. "I think back to how it felt in the early 90's, and it was much different," said Arla Lerman, 43, a real estate broker who lives in Evanston, Ill. "We were really worried about what was going to happen and how we were going to come out of it." Today's underlying optimism helps explain a central economic mystery of the last year: the continued willingness of consumers, despite uncertain times, the fall in the stock market and a sharp contraction in business investment, to take on more debt and buy new houses and other costly items. Their spending allowed last year's economic downturn to be among the shortest and perhaps the mildest on record, defying many post-Sept. 11 predictions that it would turn into the worst in decades. Indeed, the recent recession is now almost certain to be the only one since 1949 in which consumer spending did not decline in any quarter. Last week, the government said that retail sales rose a solid 1.2 percent from March to April. But the recovery could be shaping up to be a meager one, according to leading economic indicators released yesterday by the Conference Board, a research firm in New York. The confidence in America's economic future rests on two decades in which inflation and interest rates generally fell, one foreign economic rival after another faltered and long-term investments in stocks and homes were usually rewarded. Even though the Dow Jones industrial average has dropped nearly 10 percent in the last year, it is twice as high as it was in late 1995. House prices are still rising in most cities. Unemployment has spiked since late 2000 but is significantly lower than it was at the end of past recessions. "The image of America has been of a powerful, booming country without peer, an image that we haven't seen since the 1950's," said Alan Brinkley, a professor of American history at Columbia University. "We're seeing the cumulative impact of a social experience that extends back over a generation." This rosy spirit may not necessarily last. The national mood tends to shift slowly, as it did when the problems of the 1970's chipped away relentlessly at the confidence of previous years. Many people are holding onto memories of the booming 90's, public opinion experts said; a stagnating stock market, a slump in earnings, or another terrorist attack could bring a new wave of doubt. Already, people give a rosier appraisal of the country's condition than they do of their own, said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center. Much of the new optimism probably stems from the higher pay that people in all income groups have been getting since 1996. When joblessness fell in the late 1990's to the lowest level since the early 1970's, even the poorest fifth of American families received, on average, a 14 percent raise over the rate of inflation from 1996 to 2000, according to the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. From 1973 to 1996, real incomes for those in the same group fell 2 percent. Middle-class families, who made only meager gains in the 1970's and 80's, also achieved solid progress in the late 90's. Affluent families continued to make the biggest strides. The nation's families do not consider their own financial situation to be better than they did 20 years, according to polls, perhaps because many now work longer hours. But the recent income gains seem to have made them more sanguine about the years ahead. "Maybe I'm overly optimistic," said Shirley Kagiwama-Manley, a 42-year-old computer programmer who lives in Littleton, Colo., with her husband and two children. "I just think everything is cyclical." Over all, she was still confident enough to spend a recent afternoon on what she called a "girls' splurge," getting pedicures with friends at a Denver spa and then going to dinner. "This isn't something I do all the time," she said, while waiting for her red toenail polish to dry. The political implications of the new optimism are less clear than the economic effects, public opinion experts said. Incumbents have won a large share of their races over the last eight years, but many analysts think that reflects other factors as much as it does the improved sense of national well-being. It is clear, however, that Americans have recently become more satisfied with and more optimistic about the economy. In a monthly survey, the Conference Board asks people to evaluate the economy as positive, negative or neutral and to predict its condition in six months. In April, the index that the company calculates from the responses was at 109, up from a recent low of 85. In the 1990-91 recession, by contrast, it hit a low of 55, fell back to 47 in 1992, and did not recover to last month's level of 109 until 1996. The index fell to similar lows in the early 80's and mid-70's. In the 60's, a decade of mostly good times, confidence measures behaved much as they have the last decade. Similarly, in early September — even before the terror attacks caused a surge of a patriotism and the answers to become more positive — 43 percent of people told the Gallup Poll that they were satisfied "with the way things were going in the United States." In 1990, the number fell as low as 29 percent and then dipped further, in 1992, to 14 percent. In the late 70's and early 80's, it fluctuated from 12 percent to 35 percent. Perelman Sells Stake in Bank to Citigroup For $5.8 Billion By RIVA D. ATLAS New York Times The financier Ronald O. Perelman is selling his largest and his most profitable holding, a stake in Golden State Bancorp, as part of a $5.8 billion acquisition of Golden State by Citigroup, the companies announced yesterday. The sale by Mr. Perelman — who, with nearly a third of Golden State's shares, is its largest investor — and by its other shareholders will enable Citigroup to increase sharply its share of banking deposits in California and Nevada, two fast-growing markets. Golden State is the parent company of California Federal Bank, the nation's third-largest savings and loan, based on assets, according to SNL Financial, a research firm. It also owns First Nationwide Mortgage, one of the largest providers of residential mortgages, according to Citigroup. More on Sale Reuters: BY MARY KELLEHER NEW YORK - (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc.(C.N), the No. 1 U.S. financial services company, on Tuesday said it plans to buy West Coast thrift Golden State Bancorp(GSB.N) for about $5.8 billion in cash and stock, to expand its vast consumer operation in California and tap the Hispanic market. The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, brings New York-based Citigroup 335 branches in California, 17 branches in Nevada, $25 billion in deposits and $54 billion in assets. San Francisco-based Golden State is the parent of Cal Fed, the second-largest thrift in the United States, and, through its First Nationwide Mortgage business, the eighth-largest mortgage servicer. Citigroup is paying about a 10-percent premium on Golden State's closing stock price of $36.50. One of its largest shareholders is financier Ronald Perelman, who has agreed to vote in favor of the deal. Citigroup wants to target California's large Hispanic population with money transfer business and Spanish-speaking staff and marketing tactics from its acquisition of Mexican bank Banamex. California also is attractive because of its large, affluent population. "It is consistent with what management has been talking about over the past six months," Joan Solotar, a bank analyst at CS First Boston, said. "It wants to build its consumer deposit base, it is interested in California as a marketplace...and banking is an area where the company continues to have small market share. Citigroup has leaned on its global branch banking and other consumer lending businesses like mortgages and credit cards to churn out profits as it weathered the past year's sharp downturn in once high-flying businesses like selling stocks, advising on mergers and investing. But while the company operates banking, brokerage and insurance operations in around 100 countries, Citigroup still has room to expand in the United States. Citigroup only had about 80 branches in California before this deal, making the state its second-largest behind the 237 branches it has in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Citigroup plans to pay $16.40 a share in cash and 0.5234 of its stock for each Golden State stock. Perelman, who also controls a chunk of cosmetics maker Revlon Inc. (REV.N), and Golden State Chairman and Chief Executive Gerald J. Ford's Hunters Glen/Ford firm hold about 32 percent of the bank's stock and will vote for the deal. Citigroup expects the acquisition to add several cents to its earnings per share in the first full year after it closes. "This gives us the opportunity to grow what was the second-largest state for us in our branch network and make it really something," Sandy Weill, Citigroup Chairman and Chief Executive, told reporters and analysts. The deal stands out against a dearth of bank mergers in the past year, after loan losses and tumbling stock prices forced prospective buyers to the sidelines despite numerous prospects to acquire rivals and expand into new regions. One of the biggest of the United States, California has 35 million people and the largest deposit base in the country at $492 billion, the bank said. One-third of the state is Hispanic, executives said. But one consumer advocate group, Inner City Press/Community on the Move, said on Tuesday it would oppose deal because Citigroup has failed to improve its tactics lending to poor people and minorities. Citigroup, which came under fire after it bought consumer finance company Associates, has said it has taken steps to improve consumer lending standards. Citigroup stock closed down 59 cents a share, or 1.3 percent, at $45.26 a share on Tuesday while Golden State closed up 66 cents, or $1.84 percent, at $36.50. Golden State options were very active last week but Citigroup declined to comment on the fluctuations. Despite the problems commercial banks traditionally have had buying thrifts that mostly just take deposits and make loans, Citigroup said it will succeed because Golden West already has made its branches more like those of commercial banks by also selling money market funds and assigning representatives to sell mutual funds and other products. UPS workers approve strike Talks continue until July 31 ( sell UPS Leasing? ) George Raine, San FranciscoChronicle Staff Writer
United Parcel Service employees represented by the Teamsters union voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if negotiations fail for renewal of a contract that expires July 31, union officials said Monday. A strike was authorized by 93 percent of voters, with 75 percent of local unions having reported weekend balloting, officials said. The number of individuals voting was not disclosed. The vote is procedural, and UPS, the world's largest transportation company, says it remains confident a contract settlement can be reached before the expiration of a five-year contract. Nevertheless, the union said it is encouraged by the results of the vote. "The purpose (of the vote) was to do what it has done -- send a very clear message to the company that our members are prepared to fight to obtain a contract that is fair and reasonable for our folks," said Ken Hall, the chief negotiator for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. When contract negotiations began in February, UPS said it sought an early resolution lest customers, fearing a repeat of the Teamster's 1997 strike against UPS, turn their business over to rivals. UPS lost $750 million in revenue during the course of that 15-day strike; negotiations began in May in that contract dispute. On Monday, UPS spokesman Malcolm Berkley said the company expects to reach a "fair and balanced agreement in a timely fashion. The (strike authorization) vote is a part of the negotiation process. We are making progress and are looking forward to getting this done by July 31." Last month, the union increased dues to finance a strike fund, should a work stoppage be necessary. It will increase weekly benefits from $55 to 10 times a worker's hourly wage. The union said Monday it is in the process of obtaining a $100 million line of credit to fund potential strike actions. Hall, a West Virginian who was the chief union negotiator in 1997, said the strike authorization should move the contract talks to a faster pace. He said he doesn't think negotiators will get to economic matters for two more weeks. The union wants unspecified salary and pension benefits. Meanwhile, Hall said the two sides continue to work on regional supplemental contacts involving such workplace issues as required overtime and management performing unionized employees' duties. The UPS-Teamsters contract, covering 230,000 people, 10,000 of them in the Bay Area, is considered the largest private-sector collective- bargaining agreement in the nation. E-mail George Raine at graine@sfchronicle.com. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Six arrested over 'Nigerian e-mail' fraud By Graeme Wearden, ZDNet News Six people were arrested in South Africa over the weekend on suspicion of being involved in the infamous "Nigerian" e-mail and letter fraud.
Four of those detained were Nigerian, one was Cameroonian and the sixth was South African. Police in South Africa believe that the six are part of an international fraud and drug-dealing cartel, sending out thousands of e-mail and letters in an attempt to defraud. Police seized a large amount of drugs, as well as computer equipment and false identification papers. According to published reports from South Africa, officers from the UK's Scotland Yard were also involved in the operation. A Metropolitan police spokesman was unable to confirm this, however. The arrests could mark an important breakthrough in the battle against the international scam, which is thought to have defrauded hundreds of millions of dollars from victims. The fraud is also known as the "West African advanced fee fraud" or the "419 fraud" -- 419 being the relevant section of the Nigerian criminal code. Potential victims receive a letter -- or, more recently, an e-mail -- telling them that the sender is trying to move a large sum of money and offering them a substantial percentage of the cash in return for letting it be deposited into their bank account. Often the perpetrators claim that the Nigerian government is paying out this money in return for a completed contract, while other versions claim to involve insurance payouts after airplane crashes. People who express an interest are then told that they must first hand over an amount of money to cover expenses such as banking fees and administrative costs. These "advanced fees" often cost a bundle; there are cases where U.S. victims have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Nigerian government has set up a unit in London to fight the fraud, but many people are still being taken in. One problem is that many victims don't report that they have been defrauded, either through embarrassment or because they aren't sure who to contact. Roland Perry, vice chairman of the Internet Crime Forum, said last month that it isn't clear which law enforcement body people should contact with cybercrime complaints. "Where do you go if you get a Nigerian e-mail?" asked Perry. "Do you report it to the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the Metropolitan Police, the Fraud Squad, the National High-Tech Crime Unit or your local police? If you take one of these e-mails to your local police, what is the chap behind the desk supposed to do with it?" The Metropolitan Police, in conjunction with the Specialist Crime Operational Command Unit, has set up a Web page containing advice about the West African advanced fee fraud. Those who have fallen victim to the fraud are encouraged to contact the Specialist Crime OCU Fraud Squad by e-mail at 419@spring39.demon.co.uk. (Sent to Leasing News by Eric Chitwood (Leasing News has collected 19 more Nigeria letters, all different, and different from the other groups we have published. Was waiting for a “slow new’s day” to print them—maybe the top ten. editor ) ################ ############################################ IKON Prices $635 Million Securitization VALLEY FORGE, Pa--IKON Office Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:IKN) today announced that IKON Receivables Funding LLC, an indirectly owned, special purpose subsidiary, will issue, on or about May 30, 2002, $635 million of equipment lease-backed notes. IOS Capital, LLC, a subsidiary of IKON Office Solutions, will act as Servicer.
The four classes of lease-backed notes are anticipated to be rated A-1+/P-1 or Aaa/AAA by Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's. The notes are backed by lease contracts on copiers and other office equipment. The notes are insured by AMBAC Assurance Corporation. Bank of America Securities LLC managed the sale, with Lehman Brothers and Wachovia Securities acting as co-managers. The overall interest rate to IKON Receivables Funding LLC on this transaction is 4.12%.
A registration statement related to these securities was filed and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.
"We are extremely pleased with our sixth transaction in the asset-backed market since 1999," stated James J. Forese, Chairman and CEO. "The asset-backed market serves as our primary source of funding for our leasing business. These funds are utilized to support new growth in our lease portfolio, as existing lease receivables and the related asset-backed debt on our balance sheet are retired. IKON's ability to access the asset-backed market at favorable terms and cost of funding contributes to the consistent and very profitable returns we experience in our leasing business - a business which also serves as a key competitive advantage as customers look to do business with one vendor for their document management and related financing needs."
A copy of the prospectus related to the offering may be obtained by contacting Bank of America Securities LLC.
IKON Office Solutions (www.ikon.com) is one of the world's leading providers of products and services that help businesses communicate. IKON provides customers with total business solutions for every office, production and outsourcing need, including copiers and printers, color solutions, distributed printing, facilities management, imaging and legal document solutions, as well as network design and consulting, and e-business development. IOS Capital, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IKON, provides lease financing to customers and is one of the largest captive finance companies in North America. With Fiscal 2001 revenues of $5.3 billion, IKON has approximately 600 locations worldwide including the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland and Denmark. CONTACT:
IKON Office Solutions, Inc.
Veronica Rosa, Investor Relations, 610/408-7196
vrosa@ikon.com
or
Steve Eck, Media Relations, 610/408-7295
seck@ikon.com ################# ############################################## ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Monitor Broadcasts Daily Interest Rate Updates In an effort to meet the changing needs of both its website visitors and daily e-news recipients, the Monitor announced that effective today it has launched a daily interest rate update service. http://monitordaily.com/daily_int.shtm These daily interest summaries will provide an easy to use summary of key interest rates as outlined in the H15 Federal Reserve Statistical Release. The summaries will provide three-day averages of the most recently released data on interest rates. The Monitor's editor, Lisa H. Rafter, said, "we're excited about this new feature because it's in direct response to many inquiries we've had to make this kind of information available. Since we already have the mediums through which this data can be disseminated efficiently, it was an easy commitment to make because it fits so naturally into our array of daily news services." The daily interest rate updates will be posted each day at the beginning of the Monitor's Daily E-News Update, a free email news service delivered to subscribers. (Click on the link below to register and begin your subscription.) The interest rate updates will also be posted every weekday morning on monitordaily.com--you'll find them listed on the navigation bar/menu as "daily interest rates". Click here to register/subscribe for the Monitor's Daily E-News Update, http://monitordaily.com/app_enews/ members_registration.cfm. ( courtesy of Monitordaily.com ) _____________________________________________________________ Make it Happen--- Phil Lieber .Telemarketers and the reliance upon technology to "generate" customers About a year and a half ago I made a decision to grow my business instead of pull back. I felt and still do feel the industry has tremendous opportunities. I also thought that with the changes in the industry, there would be opportunities to hire some experienced sales people. I ran an add in the monitor and on-line. We received 67 resumes, many of them quite impressive. Out of 67 resumes ONLY one(1) person contacted me to QUALIFY me about the position, even though my email and telephone number was provided. As professional sales people won't you think calling and asking me some basic qualifying questions would be in order? Do you have a niche? Average ticket size? National in scope or regional? History of Company? Goals of company? Why are you growing? Expectations? etc... etc..What this told me was we have a number of people that can talk about turn around times, paying points, etc. but we are lacking in the basics of Prospecting, Qualifying, Feature Presentation, Closing, and Follow up. At the UAEL conference I made the comment of How can we add value to the customer if we don't know what the customer is looking for in a lease solution? Some of us have forgot our basic qualifying skills, and the lessors that haven't there are many opportunities. Sales skills has been a vital part of this industry's success.
I hired nobody from my bank of resumes and instead hired Young trainable people. We hired 5 people and the only one not here is the one that had experience. These sales people came to me with no vendors, no customers, and no pre conceived opinion of our industry. They didn't know they should be wondering about the future, since the opportunity for growth "isn't there" Using basic sales training they are generating the type of volume of the "old" days. Is it hard? Absolutely....... I'd like anybody to tell me prospecting is easy. One of my top reps is a 23 year old that is finding a lot of success. This is exciting seeing a young person working extremely hard and finding success. While his college friends are still looking for work he is well on his way. I can only hope that my son or daughter has the same opportunities that he has had in what ever industry they choose, but I would not discourage them at all if they showed interest in this industry. I have never known success to be easy. I agree with Bob Rodi’s comments on the generation of telemarketers and the reliance upon technology to "generate" customers There is plenty of opportunity in this business and to the guy "wondering about his future in this industry" stop wondering and make it happen. Phil Lieber PLieber@plcapital.com P&L Capital ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation In response to all of you who are concerned with the "graying" of the industry, now is your time to help build the awareness of equipment leasing as a viable career. Contribute to the EQUIPMENT LEASING & FINANCE FOUNDATION. ELFF has not only delivered valuable educational and informational reports (The Perfect Storm, State of the Industry Report) but also builds alliances with Academic Institutions. We have funded several case studies based on Leasing and leasing companies which are being used by several top business schools. By contributing to the foundation you will contribute to the growth and education of the future of our industry. It is "our" industry and we should all give back to what it has given to us. Call me or email me and I will be happy to tell you how you can help! Sincerely, Deborah J. Monosson Treasurer EQUIPMENT LEASING & FINANCE FOUNDATION 617-267-2900 or debbie@bfec.com Boston Financial & Equity Corporation. http://www.bfec.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UAEL Special Early Early Bird Discount “Top Gun” United Association of Equipment Leasing 2002 ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION October 3-6 Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina San Diego, CA Register before June 1st and save $50 with the Super Early Bird Registration Attached is the Exhibitor Registration Form, Sponsorship Opportunities and Super Early Bird Registration Form Online registration is available at www.uael.org or go here: http://www.leasingnews.org/docs/Super%20Early%20Bird%20 Registration%20Form.doc for other information: http://www.leasingnews.org/docs/EXHIBITOR%20INVITE.doc http://www.leasingnews.org/docs/General%20Sponsorships.doc ________________________________________________________________ ################# ################################# Larkin Named President of AMI Leasing AMI Leasing announced that Steve Larkin, a 16-year veteran of Ford Credit, has been named President of AMI Leasing. He replaces Arthur B. Wolpert, who retired after 37 years of service. Larkin said he will apply his familiarity with Ford Credit and its resources to help AMI grow and prosper. Likewise, he believes that sharing AMI's entrepreneurial culture, scope of specialized services, sharp customer focus and proximity to the end user can benefit Ford Credit. AMI Leasing is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Credit, which purchased the company in 1999. "What impresses me most about AMI is the passion its employees have for customer service and the respect they have for the relationships they have built," Larkin said. "Customers make a commitment by choosing AMI for leasing and fleet services. Every employee I have met is dedicated to ensuring that the customer made the right choice. That creates a competitive advantage that would be difficult to duplicate." Larkin said he expects AMI to expand its services and geographic market, but that expansion will not take place at the expense of service. "In the process of growing," he said, "we cannot sacrifice our focus on our current customers. I want to ensure that we take care of them, first and foremost. Expansion will be focused on areas that give us critical mass and the capacity to provide expanded services and better value to all of our customers." Larkin joined Ford Credit in 1986, when it purchased Sperry New Holland, where he managed construction and agricultural financing. While at Ford Credit, Larkin was a retail branch manager in Memphis, TN; opened a commercial branch in Atlanta, GA; was a retail and commercial branch manager in Toronto, Ontario, and held many positions in Dearborn, MI, including regional sales manager, international operations; electronic commerce manager; marketing manager; customer communications manager, and director, product development. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Larkin has been active with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which supports breast cancer research. He has served as chairman of the E-Commerce Committee of the American Financial Services Association (AFSA), and as a member of the marketing faculty at the AFSA Management II Workshop at Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI. ################## ##################################### OBITUARY WILLIAM J. BRIDGES SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & STRATEGIC PLANNING, KEY EQUIPMENT FINANCE SUPERIOR, CO, The management team of Key Equipment Finance, one of the nation's largest bank-held equipment financing companies, announced with great sadness the death of William J. Bridges, senior vice president, global business development and strategic planning. Bridges succumbed to leukemia on May 16th after a brief but valiant fight. Bridges joined Key Equipment Finance in October 1999 as vice president, worldwide business development, and was promoted to his present position a year later. "Bill has been a valued member of our management team," said Paul A. Larkins, president and chief executive officer. "His contributions to the company are limitless, and I will miss his role as my trusted advisor. Bill was a leader and pioneer in the growth of our industry. Starting with US Leasing in the late 1970s, Bill led a number of major divisions and initiatives, including starting US Leasing's operation in the United Kingdom. Bill then moved on to AT&T Capital, where he held a variety of senior leadership roles, including president of the small ticket business unit and president of AT&T Capital Latin America. Funeral services were held in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday, May 19th. Anyone wishing to make a donation is asked to contribute to: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Office of Donor Services 1311 Mamaroneck Avenue White Plains, NY 10605 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To
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Statement---Nothing is sent out that is not "fair." Always
unbiased reporting.
Fairness always. If it is questionable, we will ask the writer's
permission
to quote them. We will print information without attribution, but
feel
as long as we do not name the person who sent it, we can use the
information.
Any information we think is suspicious, we try to have if substantiated
first by at least two reliable people. We will not purposely send
out "negative" news. We prefer "positive"
news. We have no "axe" to grind or are not paid or seek
or accept any
remuneration for product or promotion. We do not Spam anyone. To
be added
to the mailing list, you must request it. We do not send anything
about
our company or personal e-mail or jokes to the leasing news list.
We do
not share our mailing list with anyone. We try not to send more
than one report
a day, if at that, unless an "alert." We follow Internet
Netiquette
at all times. Our sole purpose is to provide communication to improve
our profession. We reserve the right to deny sending the newsletter
when
requested. We reserve the right to edit or delete an opinion that
is not
in good taste or is outright derogatory. Leasingnews.org
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