October132011
* Softbank erases gains after iPhone order glitchBy Lisa TwaroniteTOKYO, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The Nikkei stock average dropped
on Friday, pressured by a shake-up among Olympus Corp’s top
management and by weak results from JPMorgan Chase & Co .Olympus shares plunged as much as 17.3 percent and
were the main board’s most heavily traded by turnover after the
camera and endoscope maker said on Friday that its president
Michael Woodford would step down due to major differences over
the direction of management.The Nikkei shed 0.7 percent to 8,759.57 by the
midday break, but remains well above its 25-day moving average
of 8,645, which is considered a bullish sign. The broader Topix
index declined 0.9 percent to 752.14.”Investors appear to have sold futures after the Olympus
news, although it’s clearly specific to one company and should
not have a big long-term impact on the overall market,” said
Koichi Ogawa, a chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.Instead, he said, investors were taking their cues from U.S.
earnings, and had been awaiting Chinese inflation data for any
hints on whether that country might widen its scope for policy
easing to support growth. The September CPI was in line with
forecasts.Europe’s debt problems remain a concern, strategists said,
although many investors now expect a worst-case scenario will be
avoided.Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s reminded investors that
the region’s problems are far from over, downgrading the
long-term credit rating of Spain late on Thursday by one notch
to AA-minus from AA with a negative outlook, due to weak growth,
tightening fiscal conditions and high private sector debt.U.S earnings so far have offered mixed signals.Google said on Thursday that its revenue exceeded
Wall Street’s expectations.But before the bell, JPMorgan Chase & Co was the
biggest drag on the Dow Jones industrial average after
the second-largest U.S. lender reported a drop in its
third-quarter net profit.Olympus shares were down 12.8 percent at 2,164 yen percent,
and had already traded at more than 10 times their 30-day
average full-day volume.Fast Retailing added 0.8 percent to 13,180 yen and
was the fifth-heaviest traded issue by turnover, as it prepared
to kick off a high-profile U.S. expansion by opening a new
flagship store in Manhattan on Friday to anchor its push to rely
less on its home market.Softbank Corp erased early gains and dropped 2.4
percent to 2,484 yen, after the mobile phone operator
temporarily stopped accepting contract applications when
heavier-than-expected applications for the new iPhone caused
system troubles.Apple Inc’s iPhone 4S went on sale in Japan and
other countries on Friday.Rival KDDI Corp , which also started distributing
the iPhone, rose 2.1 percent to 591,000 yen.Volume topped the previous day’s morning total, with 817
million shares changing hands on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s main
board, above Thursday’s 736 million and Wednesday’s 698 million
shares. But it still looked set to fall short of last week’s
full-day average of 1.86 billion shares.
1PM
By Dave ClarkeWASHINGTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The new U.S. Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau said on Thursday it will make
oversight of the mortgage servicing industry a top priority as
it ramps up its oversight of banks.Numerous state and government agencies are examining bank
foreclosure practices and whether the proper legal steps are
being taken by servicers, who collect and manage loan payments,
when a borrower becomes delinquent on a loan.”We are going to take a close and measured view to ensure
that servicers and financial institutions are in compliance
with the federal consumer financial laws,” Raj Date, the
Treasury official leading the bureau, said in a conference call
with reporters.The scrutiny being put on banks’ from several agencies
could lead to penalties or settlement figures in the billions.A senior CFPB official told reporters on the conference
call the agency has a wide range of actions it can take,
including imposing fines, depending on what problems it finds
during examinations.The bureau made the announcement about its servicing focus
as it released a broader guide detailing how it will routinely
supervise banks and the financial products they provide, such
as credit cards and mortgages.The agency will initially focus its supervision efforts on
the 105 banks, thrifts and credit unions that have more than
$10 billion in assets.With regard to mortgage servicing, the agency said that it
will first look at home loans in default to make sure the
proper information about loan modification programs and the
foreclosure process is being provided to borrowers.Among the areas it will scrutinize is whether a borrower
being moved through the foreclosure process is being charged
duplicative or illegal fees.Date said the servicing industry is particularly
susceptible to consumer abuses because borrowers can not choose
who collects their payments and because servicers do not get
paid more to handle foreclosures, which are more time consuming
and complicated.”Given those structural problems, it’s no surprise that the
mortgage servicing market has been plagued by pervasive and
profound consumer protection issues,” Date said.The bureau was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank
financial oversight law and it officially opened its doors for
business on July 21.ONGOING PROBESThe servicing issue burst into public view last year when
government agencies began investigating bank mortgage
practices, including the use of “robo-signers” to sign hundreds
of unread foreclosure documents a day.States and the Justice Department are currently trying to
negotiate a settlement with Bank of America Corp ,
JPMorgan Chase & Co , Citigroup Inc , Wells Fargo &
Co and Ally Financial.JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said on Thursday during an
earnings conference call that these talks are getting “bogged
down.”In April, banks entered into a settlement with the Federal
Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the
now defunct Office of Thrift Supervision on steps that have to
be taken, such as providing borrowers with a single point of
contact for questions.Banking regulators have said they anticipate a monetary
penalty to be issued later, the size of which will depend on
the problems turned up by investigations, currently being
conducted, into foreclosures initiated in 2009 and 2010.
