At A Glance
It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.Paragraph Block- is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.


Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
- This is a list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Sub list
- Sub list 2
- Sub list 3
- More list
- More list 2
- More list 3
- More more
- More more
This is the pull quote block Lorem Ipsumis simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s,
ExperianThis is the citation

This is the pull quote block Lorem Ipsumis simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s,
ExperianThis is the citation
| Table element | Table element | Table element |
| my table | my table | my table |
| Table element | Table element | Table element |

Media Text Block
of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum
My Small H5 Title


Understanding the Champion/Challenger testing strategy As the economic world continues to change, collection strategy testing becomes increasingly important. Champion/Challenger strategy testing is performed using a sample segment and the results provide a learning tool for determining which collections strategies are most effective. This allows strategies to be tested before rolling them out across the entire portfolio. The purpose of this experimental element to collections strategy management is to observe the effectiveness of new strategies, support continuous improvement of collection approaches and facilitate adaptability to changes in consumer behavior. The methodology behind testing is simple. First, the current environment should be assessed to identify specific areas for potential improvement. Then, a test plan is designed. The test plan should, at a minimum, include well-defined objectives and goals, proposed strategy design, determination of sample size, operational considerations, execution approach, success criteria, and evaluation timetable. After the framework for the test plan has been outlined, running “what if” scenarios will improve refinement of the collections strategy. In the next phase, implementation occurs following the directives of the test plan. Evaluating strategies commences after implementation and continues throughout the duration of the test. This includes analyzing metrics established during the test plan phase to identify trends and changes as a result of the new challenger strategy. The challenger strategy is declared the new champion if the test achieves or exceeds expectations. However, before proceeding with the new champion strategy over the entire portfolio, carefully consider any operational constraints that might hinder the success of the strategy on a grand scale. Once these operational constraints have been identified and their impact assessed, the new champion strategy should be executed.

I encourage all of you to have a look at this newly launched Federal Trade Commission Web site dedicated to the Red Flags Rule guidelines. It is a good resource to that organizes the requirements of the Rule in a user-friendly manner. It also looks to be an ongoing resource for the posting of updates and related commentary. I suggest you make this site one of your bookmarks today: The Federal Trade Commission has launched a Web site to help entities covered by the Red Flags Rule design and implement identity theft prevention programs. The Rule requires “creditors” and “financial institutions” to develop written programs to identify the warning signs of ID theft, spot them when they occur, and take appropriate steps to respond to those warning “red flags.” Of particular interest, is the "Read the Guide" tab, where you can view and download the new FTC guide to Red Flag Rules. For those in the telecommunications and utilities spaces, check out the "Publish the Articles" tab where you will find two bulletins on Red Flags in these arenas. Enjoy.

By: Tom Hannagan Beyond the financial risk management considerations related to a bank’s capital, which would be directly impacted by Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) participation, it should be clear that TARP also involves business (or strategic) risk. We have spoken in the past of several major categories of risk: credit risk, market risk, operational risk and business risk. Business risk includes a variety of risks associated with the outcomes from strategic decision making, corporate governance considerations, executive behavior (for better or worse), management succession events (Apple and Steve Jobs, for instance) or other leadership occurrences that may affect the performance and financial viability of the business. Aside from the monetary impact on the bank’s capital position, TARP involves a new capital securities owner being in the mix. And, with a roughly 20 percent infusion of added tier one capital, we are almost always talking about a very large, new owner relative to existing shareholders. The United States Department of the Treasury is the investor or holder of the newly issued preferred stock and warrants. The Treasury Department says it does not seek voting rights, but none-the-less has gotten them in at least some cases. The real “kicker” is embedded in the Treasury’s Securities Purchase Agreement – Standard Form. The most interesting clause, that appears to represent a very open-ended business risk to management decision making, is one relatively small paragraph, named Amendment, in the middle of Article V – Miscellaneous, just ahead of governing law (which is federal law, backed up by the laws of the State of New York). Amendment begins normally enough, requiring the usual signed agreement of each party, but then states: “provided that the Investor may unilaterally amend any provision of this Agreement to the extent required to comply with any changes after the Signing Date in applicable federal statutes.” Wow. My reading of this is that if in the future Congress enacts anything that Treasury finds applicable to any aspect of the previously signed TARP Agreement, the bank is bound to go along. Regardless of whether the Treasury negotiates any voting rights, once the TARP Agreement is executed by the bank, management is not only bound by what is in the document to begin with, it is subject to future federal law as long as the TARP shares are held by the government. As a result, many banks have said no thank you to TARP. At least four banks have recently paid back $340 million to repurchase the government’s shares. And, apparently another bank has offered to pay back $1 billion but, according to Andrew Napolitano at Fox Business Channel, the offer was turned down and the bank was threatened with adverse consequences if it persisted in its attempt to get out. More pointed and public, and much larger in size, is the dance taking place now between Chrysler Corporation, Fiat, the UAW, four lead lenders and, you guessed it, the federal government. The secured loans in question total almost $7 billion and the government wants J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citicorp and Morgan Stanley to exchange $5 billion of the loans for Chrysler stock. The banks know they would do better (for their shareholders) by selling off Chryslers assets. This is an example of why bankruptcy exists. The stakes are large and so is the business risk of the influence from the government. It will be interesting to see how things turn out. So, this new major owner does have a voice. If Congress wants certain lending volumes or terms, or they want certain compensation levels, it needs to be enacted into federal law. Short of having to pass a law, there is the implied threat of the big stick in the TARP agreement. The Purchase Agreement covers what the new owner wants now and may decide it wants in the future. This a form of strategic business risk that comes with accepting the capital infusion from this particular source.
In this article…
typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.


