Banks Need Women Executives to Stabilize Financial Institutions

 

By Linda Frances Marie

 

Banks in America hire women as assistants, tellers and managers but keep them from holding executive positions, only a few ever achieve this level for a short time as coupons to attract investors. Why?  Women are not allowed as they are too honest and by male bankers standards honesty holds no ground for money, yet women are excellent with details for first mortgages, equity lines of credit, budgets, savings, organizers and planning long term investments with a positive return.  Male customers prefer communicating with women as they are more likely to be honest and male bankers know women bring in the saving accounts, credit customers and investments and use them as a customer service front to up profits. Women are patient and have a superior level in communicating with the public.    

Bankers are a corrupt breed of men who take risks and hold no respect for there investors.  They answer to the Board of Directors who are just as corrupt.  Within this core they have one thing in common taking risks to make money and they hold no friendship, and they will do anything to maintain their status as they continue taking risks investing and giving unstable loans, then buying risky investments, and foreclosing on property as quickly as possible with confusing red tape fees on mortgage loans they buy and sell playing the shell game moving the deed to your property from one peanut shell (bank) to the other peanut shell (mortgage lenders).

One of the big issues raised by the credit crunch is the Lehman Sisters question: whether banks might not have collapsed so spectacularly if there were more women in senior positions. We can never know for sure, but there are strong suspicions: a survey for consultancy the Aziz Corporation suggested business executives thought macho culture was at least in part to blame for the financial crisis, with 89% saying an environment that encouraged and rewarded excessive risk-taking was at the heart of it, and 83% believing the failure to understand risk was fuelled by machismo. Almost half of respondents and a majority of those working in financial firms thought more women in senior positions could have prevented some of the excesses.

Moreover, several studies show a link between profit and gender. Companies with several high-ranking women at either officer or director levels tend to have higher earnings per share, return on equity and stock prices than competitors with few or no senior women. Look at some of the more stunning losses incurred at banks in recent years: Barings, Société Générale and UBS. All were caused by men betting with other people’s money.

Four high profile males (Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin, Timothy Geithner, Lawrence “Larry” Summers) worked there way into back door investments gambling with investor’s funds then where appointed under the Obama Administration economic team of advisers damaging the American economy. Long before the meltdown, one women tried to warn about a threat to the financial system, but the gambling continued as they set-up to destroy this female attorney who questioned their financial threat as they lied to Congress.  When (Senator Phil Gramm R-Texas) asked What are you trying to protect? Brooksley Born, a security legal attorney with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission replied “Where trying to protect the money of the American public which is at risk in these markets”.  Six months later there game in the hedge funds derivatives secret bank investments caused a melt down of the financial markets a documentary aired on (PBS.org  Frontline “The Warning”) tracked bankers and those who confirmed what was done to shut Brooksley up from exposing their gambling without regulation, which caused American’s to loose there homes, savings, investments and jobs.

A comparison of behavioral trends in financial management found in a report indicates that from the 1950’s to today society has moved from an era in which women, while responsible for financial survival of the household, were kept in the dark and in many cases were denied independent access to financial services, until financial changes where implemented women where not allowed to own property unless a male co-signed. Several countries are still in the dark ages with dominating males stopping women from establishing bank accounts. But that will change as a new wave of micro loans is being implemented by Nobel Peace Prize winning bank Professor Mohammad Yunus, who founded the Grameen bank; lending money to women he found that when women did take the loans the impact on the family was greater and more positive than if the money was borrowed by men.  “Nowadays most of our borrowers are women and our bank has become a global organization with a 99 percent repayment rate.

A female bank manager with a California bank that has a secure financial base of customers was asked at a meeting, which of the two genders male or female are likely to survive the recession?  She stated “males with loans who own business have failed and defaulted, they are high risk” and how many businesses operated and owned by women have failed with loans held by your branch or other branches?  None of the females with our bank have defaulted on there loans.

Several males I spoke with tried to get loans at different banks and where turned down for different reasons such as; you need a bachelor’s degree in business and financial management, not enough collateral, even when they wanted to establish a loan using a savings account as collateral. Yet several women I spoke with who owned a business where able to get loans. Why?  Each one presented a financial plan for there business with different levels of returns when the economy would slow and had a record of not missing payments.  If they were concerned they brought this to the bank and were given another plan of correction until there returns increased, they were not taking risks.

Financial institutions in foreign countries for the first time have appointed women after the huge loss and scandals robbed investors breaking down the government’s financial stability. The media has not shown this in America, yet it is in foreign websites and broadcast in other countries this has become big news “can women bankers as investment managers get us out of the economic mess that their male colleagues got us into?” Will it take women to ensure the future of financial institutions? The answer is Yes.  Women have values, they are careful and very risk-aware as males are risk takers and females ask stupid questions when they don’t understand and they think in long terms with plans towards a positive value of investments and they think more about the people.  

One of the best known funds was managed by a woman Sue Wagner was just 26 when she and seven others founded BlackRock twenty-one years ago. Now she’s a lead on its $13.5 billion Barclays Global Investors acquisition. The deal will create the world’s biggest asset manager.

As an Executive Assistant I personally have experienced and witnessed how banks operated some are honest but others are corrupt.  Bank of America is leading the charge with the worst reputation for hiding crimes within there system.  A female interior designer had thrifty-five thousand dollars taken out of her account by way of an inside transfer she was unaware until she checked the account.  She was contacted by the FBI and told to not disclose it to friends, family or media, then discovered five other bank customers also where missing funds.

When second mortgages became popular Bank of America hired hot shot male executives that ram roded long time female managers out by harassment.  Carol a female manger with eighteen years mortgage banking experience was up for an executive position. I received a call from this newly hired executive male wonder boy telling me that the female manager had some issues and he wanted me to look over her shoulder as she wasn’t doing her job. I personally knew this was a lie and rejected his request, within weeks he started harassing her and implemented illegal procedures to gain customers for second line of mortgages. He changed there policies and they started operating illegally just under the law without licensed brokers to unsuspecting homeowners to market lines of equity credit.

This same bank took over Country Wide’s mortgages and then merged with Merrill Lynch stocks to become one of the big brother banks that have foreclosed on unsuspecting customers.

Another one of their ideas was to train tellers from foreign countries as they took our money and asked personnel questions. This was the beginning of out sourcing as this bank brought in second language tellers from the Middle East and India to train in America allowing them access to bank accounts to enter deposits and ask personal questions about customer’s finances. 

You have rights as a consumer when doing business with a bank.  Here are some suggestions:

Before opening an account ask about the Board of Directors. How many executive women hold positions of responsibility and are not just front tokens? Ask to see this posted in writing by a bank website or hard copy.

When making a deposit, withdrawals, opening an accounting or mortgage loan, request a female executive who can work with you holding a signature authorization, if you are given an excuse take your money elsewhere. Don’t risk your money or investment by doing business with banks that are against women executives and have a rip-off consumer reputation.

Ask to see a financial report of the banks investments, types of loans and total savings accounts and compare it with their liabilities.

When banks send you offer’s of free money these are considered a savings bonus, and taxable by the IRS as interest earning income with strings attached such as monthly service fees and very low Annual Percentage Yield (APY).

Gift cards offered by your bank are not free as they link you into a monthly financial service association membership fees offered by marketing groups not associated with a retailer on the gift cards or your bank. This allows websites to watch your spending habits and gain personal information about your life style for marketing there products and ways into your pocket book. 

Banks get kick backs for selling your information to affiliated financial groups with your banks logo to gain your trust, “read the fine print”.

Ask for an opt-out request form to be removed off the list of information sharing as bankers are selling there customers personal information.  Many of these marketing promotions have no phone or address for you to stop them from sending a flood of advertising mail filling your mailbox and wasting your time shredding and a continuation of sales calls and surveys to add you to there webmasters profit database. 

On-line banking holds high risk for your account numbers and personal information to be stolen. Check your accounts by a direct phone line and write original checks or use duplicate copy checks.

Use checking account investment software to post your checks and saving account, credit cards and investments to avoid incorrect totals, missed checks and overdrafts charges.  You can confirm your check totals and have less of a chance for over draft charges and bounced checks.  It’s your money and life, learn how to keep it.

References:

Federal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov/

Women who want to save banking – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8048488.stm

Women still facing glass ceiling in 2010 Study

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BC49X20101213?type=PersonalFinance

Want less Risk? Hire More Women!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-sasha-galbraith/want-less-risk-hire-more_b_310316.html

Most recently, three investment advisers who worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch sued the bank in March in federal court in Brooklyn alleging gender bias.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/women-sue-goldman-claiming-bias-in-pay-and-jobs/

The lawsuit said five of the women were among thousands laid off in November 2008 amid the banking crisis, while in most circumstances Citigroup retained less qualified male employees.

Women sue Citigroup alleging bias

http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/women-sue-citigroup-alleging-bias-3836161

Women still face a steep climb to the top table

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/aug/23/women-directors-gender-gap-survey

Banks accused of illegally looting homes

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40777392/ns/business-the_new_york_times

Arizona, Nevada Sue Bank of America over home loans, modifications

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2010/12/18/arizona-nevada-sue-bank-of-america.html

Larry Summers, Tim Geithner and Wall Street’s ownership of government

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/04/04/summers/

Tags: banks, business, Economy, Gals, investments, money, stocks, women

Thursday, January 20th, 2011 - 8:42 PM
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