By Emily Roach, The Palm Beach Post, Fla.

Feb. 22--JUPITER -- South Florida business owners shared ideas with the U.S. House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, exploring ways to make small- and medium-sized businesses more competitive in the half-trillion dollar industry of defense spending.

U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, hosted a roundtable discussion with Armed Services Committee member Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., and Small Business Committee Chairman Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., at the Florida Atlantic University campus in Jupiter. West sits on both committees.

"Specifically the panel is looking at contracting and regulatory impediments that face the defense industry, how to best use incentives and mandates to increase small and disadvantaged business participation, how to reduce the barriers to entry in the defense industry, and what can be done to increase competition, which we believe will spur innovation, " said Shuster, who chairs the committee's Panel on Business Challenges Within the Defense Industry.

More than a dozen South Florida companies bracketed the congressmen at nearby tables, with more seated around the outside of the room. Media members were excluded after opening statements.

Graves said seven in 10 jobs in the country are in small businesses and those companies need a better playing field to compete for federal contracts, especially with the biggest player, the Department of Defense.

"The issue of making sure small businesses are really getting their fair share of contracting versus big businesses" is a primary concern, said Mark Llano, president and CEO of Source One in Wellington. The former Marine said one topic was how to give more advantage to veteran-owned businesses.

David York, CEO of United Electronics in Davie, which provides mobile power equipment to military operations, said he wants the process to be fair for his 62-employee company. He hires vets, meets all standards, and manufactures all products in the United States. But not all who hold contracts do, he said.

"If you're going to write a standard, enforce a standard," he said before the hearing started.

TD Bank, a provider of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services, has introduced the TD Business Checking, to provide small business owners with more checking choices and better control of their money.

The new product offering consists of three checking accounts with tiered features, and enables small business owners to choose the account that best suits the needs of their business.

"Providing convenient banking products and legendary customer service to local small businesses is what distinguishes TD Bank as a leading small business bank," said Fred Graziano, Head of Regional Commercial Banking, Government Banking and Small Business, TD Bank.

"We conducted extensive research and gathered substantial customer feedback to design a new checking suite for small businesses of all sizes that offers industry-leading value, including more convenience and attractive benefits," said Ravi Subbaraya, Head of Business Banking Product Management, TD Bank.

According to the company, the following checking accounts are now offered through TD Business Checking: TD Business Simple Checking - recommended for startup or smaller businesses with low balances and fewer transactions, TD Business Convenience Checking Plus - recommended for mature or medium-sized businesses (annual revenues greater than $100,000) with moderate deposit balances and more transactions and TD Business Premier Checking - recommended for mid-to-larger businesses (annual revenues of $500,000 or more) looking for a relationship-based product that rewards them for their higher deposit balances. Rewards include safe deposit box discounts, free check images on paper statements, and discounts on business loan rates.

All TD Business Checking accounts provide free TD Bank BusinessDirect Online Banking with bill pay and information and transactions; instant-issue Debit/A card usable at more than 1,870 TD Bank ATMs from Maine to Florida.

The TD Business Checking accounts are available for both new and existing customers. Small businesses customers who already have checking accounts with TD Bank can choose to keep their existing accounts or switch to the new product suite.

"We're providing each customer with an abundance of information and comparison tools to help make choosing a business checking account simple and hassle-free," said Subbaraya.

"TD Bank is a one-stop banking provider for small business owners from Maine to Florida, offering full-scale solutions and easy-to-use products delivered by local professionals," said Graziano. "With expanded conveniences and a variety of business checking choices, TD Bank is committed to helping small business owners focus on what's most important: the success of their business."

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.

By Jefferson Antiporda, The Manila Times, Philippines

Feb. 23--SENATE President Juan Ponce Enrile on Wednesday directed the concerned Senate committee to investigate the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC)

for possible violation of the bank secrecy law by accessing bank records of individuals without a court order.

Enrile learned about the supposedly illegal incursion into bank accounts when a witness in the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona revealed that the BSP and AMLC audited the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) from September to November 2010 and the bank accounts of Corona were among those reviewed by the audit team.

According to PSBank President Pascual Garcia 3rd, the AMLC observed that Corona's account was not classified as "politically exposed people" or PEP.

"I'm not against any examining as required by the law, but if they looked into the accounts of anybody in this country, then what are the Republic Acts that imposed secrecy on certain matters of this country? Is this not violation of our laws? Is this not an intrusion of the bill of rights? Is this not violation of rule of law in this country?" Enrile said during the Senate session on Wednesday morning.

The Senate chief maintained that the AMLC and the BSP has no authority to look into or scrutinize bank accounts without a court order.

"The people are involved, our depositors are involved, our banking system is involved . . . This is a serious matter. Only totalitarian countries can look into the private affairs of their people. We are not. We are democratic society," Enrile said.

The Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies chaired by Sen. Sergio Osmena 3rd was tasked to conduct the inquiry.

Sen. Edgardo Angara also expressed his concern over the practice of classifying PEP in the implementation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

"I have been wondering about this category of 'Politically Exposed Persons', and its impact and implications on a group of citizens being classified as such, in terms of credit extensions, withdrawals and special treatment," Angara said.

Angara, the vice chairman of the Senate committee on finance, expressed his concerns over the possible deprivation of credit and limited access to other services of a person included in this category.

By ROBERT BARR

LONDON - Lloyds Banking Group has canceled bonus payments for its former chief executive and a dozen other directors over their involvement in the costly misselling of payment protection insurance.

Lloyds, struggling to emerge from part-nationalization, has set aside 3.2 billion pounds ($5.1 billion) to reimburse people persuaded to buy policies which they did not need. That's by far the biggest provision by any British bank.

Former CEO Eric Daniels will lose 40 percent of his bonus for 2010, Lloyds announced Monday, worth about 580,000 pounds ($920,000). The bank will withhold shares of that value which were part of his deferred bonus.

Four other directors would lose 25 percent of their bonuses, and eight senior executives would lose 10 percent, the bank said.

Montana-born Daniels, who stepped down a year ago, headed the bank when it took over Halifax/Bank of Scotland, a deal which loaded the company with bad loans and forced the government to intervene.

Lloyds would not confirm the names of the directors, but the Press Association news agency said they were outgoing finance director Tim Tookey, the head of wholesale banking Truett Tate, former retail banking chief Helen Weir and former head of insurance Archie Kane.

All face similar hits on deferred bonuses due for 2011, the bank said.

"The board wishes to emphasize that its decision is based entirely on the principle of 'accountability' and in no way on culpability or wrongdoing by the individuals concerned," Lloyds said.

Lloyds, which reports full-year results on Friday, has been under pressure to cut costs and improve its image after it was ordered, along with several other British lenders, to refund customers for payment protection insurance. A court rejected bankers' claims that the rules on the insurance should not be applied retrospectively.

The financial crisis has focussed political and public anger on bonuses, particularly at Lloyds, where taxpayers took a 41 percent stake to save the company, and Royal Bank of Scotland where the public stake is twice as large.

RBS Chief Executive bowed to pressure and refused his 2011 share bonus worth 963,000 pounds. Lloyds new chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio, has already said he won't take a bonus for the year.

Barclays PLC, which reported results on Feb. 10, said it was cutting its bonus pool by 25 percent after its net profit for 2011 fell by 15 percent to 3 billion pounds.

Meanwhile, the Financial Services Authority said Monday that it had fined Banco Santander 1.5 million pounds for failing to promptly clarify information on compensation available to investors in certain structured products. The regulator said customers began raising questions in 2008 but Santander did not clarify the position until early in 2010.

None of Santander's customers had lost money because of the lapse, the FSA added.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.

When it comes to managing money, there's no lack of advice online, on everything from figuring out a budget to calculating your retirement plan.

But for 20-somethings? Not so much.

And that's the concept behind YoBucko.com, a new personal finance website aimed squarely at those in their 20s. It's the brainchild of Eric Bell, a 28-year-old Washington, D.C., entrepreneur who sees a void in personal finance guidance for his generation.

What Bell lacks in years, he's made up in passion for personal finances. While in college, Bell started money-management workshops at four universities in his native Arkansas. After graduating in 2006 ("one of the last group of graduates to easily get jobs"), he spent four years in the private banking division of Citigroup. Now finishing an MBA program at Georgetown University, he just finished two years as president of the Greater Washington, D.C., Jumpstart Coalition, a national nonprofit that promotes financial literacy in schools.

It all led to November, when he founded YoBucko, which offers advice to 20-somethings on budgets, debt, savings, insurance and more.

He recently talked by phone with McClatchy Newspapers about his website and his generation's attitudes on work, taking risks and the recession's lasting impact. Here's an excerpt:

QUESTION: Where did (the YoBucko name) come from?

ANSWER: I wanted a name that made people laugh. There's so much out there on personal finances but not a lot you can laugh about ... . Real problems come from personal finances. But people aren't receptive to the message if they can't smile about it.

Q: Why focus on 20-somethings?

A: I focus on 20-year-olds and up because I am one. I understand the challenges they're facing ... . When I was in college, I wanted to take classes on money management but nothing was available. ... I'm trying to get in front of problems and (help prevent) a lot of what we've seen with credit card debt, bad mortgages, etc.

Q: Like many college graduates, you're saddled with $100,000 in student loans, the legacy of finishing your Georgetown University MBA. Does that make you more -- or less -- credible with your audience?

By Al Heavens, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Feb. 19--Since reporting the details of President Obama's latest housing recovery plan, I have been inundated with e-mails and calls from homeowners looking to refinance their mortgages to record low rates through the Federal Housing Administration.

The volume, along with regular appeals from readers asking me to intercede for them with lenders and servicers, are proof positive the financial crisis is far from over.

The problem is that Congress, including a Republican House majority hostile to the plan, has to approve it first, and that may not happen.

The need for congressional action is twofold.

The first reason is that the administration wants banks to be charged what Obama called "a small fee" to pay the $5 billion to $10 billion cost of refinancing millions of mortgages rather than add to the deficits that threaten the economy, as Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told the House Budget Committee two weeks ago.

The second is that Congress must authorize the expansion of FHA capacity to refinance these mortgages, including establishing a way to insure these loans separately from the rest of the agency's portfolio to limit the risk to the more solid ones.

Two years ago, when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, the administration proposed charging lenders a fee to pay the costs of modifying loans. That idea didn't pass.

In addition, despite denials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHA solvency remains an issue for many economists. If the situation reaches the tipping point, it would end in another multibillion-dollar taxpayer bailout.

There may be as many as 10 million U.S. borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth. Just setting up a mechanism to handle them would take months, because existing "Home Affordable" programs don't appear to have been up to the task.

All I'm saying is, don't count on this one.

Why? After the announcement, HUD kept forwarding to me -- unsolicited -- testimonials from academics and others on the program's viability.

Yet, if House Speaker John A. Boehner (R., Ohio) says "no way" 90 minutes before Obama even announces the program, all the favorable comments in the world won't change the outcome.

WASHINGTON -- Congress on Friday overwhelmingly approved extending a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers through the end of the year, probably the biggest accomplishment lawmakers will be able to savor in 2012.

The rare bipartisan agreement, which also provides jobless benefits to the long-term unemployed and preserves Medicare payment rates to physicians, came without the hostility that has scarred economic debates since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009.

The House of Representatives voted 293-132 to approve the plan. Minutes later, the Senate agreed 60-36.

Under the bill, Social Security taxes for workers will remain at their current 4.2 percent level this year on wages up to $110,100. The rate was scheduled to go up by 2 percentage points next month. Friday's fix assures that the average worker earning $50,000 a year would continue to get a weekly break of $20.

Medicare payments to doctors, which had been scheduled to drop by 27.4 percent, will stay at current levels. Extended unemployment benefits for people who have been out of work for long stretches will continue, though for shorter periods.

Obama planned to sign the bill "right away when I get home," he told an audience at a Boeing plant in Everett, Wash., where he was wrapping up a three-day West Coast swing that included eight campaign fundraisers. He was due to return to the White House at 12:45 a.m. EST Saturday.

The legislation was crafted with unusual speed and bipartisan cooperation. Congress' approval rating has hit record lows in recent Gallup polls -- it was 10 percent earlier this month -- and most lawmakers face re-election in the fall.

Serious budget issues remain. Congress is supposed to approve an outline for the fiscal 2013 federal budget by mid-April, but few expect that to happen. Most anticipate little, if any, serious action on major deficit-cutting until after the November elections.

Friday was a day for lawmakers to show that they could get something done, though most conceded that it was a small step.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said, "This is an economic relief bill, not a growth bill."

"It's not perfect but it is certainly the right thing to do now," added Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "Our economy is still struggling, big time."

U.S. President Barack Obama Friday toured Boeing's Everett, Wash., manufacturing plant, touting the strength of the American worker.

"Air Force One was built right here in Everett 25 years ago. So I get to see your handiwork in action every day," Obama told assembled workers after he learned about four stages of the 787 Dreamliner's assembly -- fuselage integration, landing gear installation, interiors installation and the completed plane.

"The Dreamliner really is the plane of the future," Obama said.

Obama used the appearance to push his 2013 budget proposals he said will help expand the economy "based on American manufacturing and the importance of promoting American exports."

Obama lauded Boeing for keeping production in the United States, noting the flight of other manufacturing facilities overseas has been "incredibly painful" for millions of Americans and their communities.

"Too many jobs that provided a decent living have been shipped overseas. And the hard truth is, a lot of those jobs aren't coming back. In a global economy, some companies will always find it more profitable to pick up and do business in other parts of the world," Obama said.

"But that doesn't mean we have to sit by and settle for a lesser future. I don't accept that idea. In America, there's always something we can do to create new jobs and new manufacturing and new security for the middle class."

Obama pledged the United States "will not go back to an economy that was weakened by outsourcing, bad debt and phony financial profits." He took the opportunity to plug changes in the tax code that will encourage companies to open manufacturing facilities within the United States.

"So if we want an economy that's built to last, we have to do everything we can to strengthen American manufacturing, and make it easier for companies like Boeing to create jobs at home and sell their products abroad," he said. "We have to keep investing in American-made energy, and new skills for American workers. And above all, we have to renew the values that have always made this country great: Hard work. Fair play. Shared responsibility.

"These aren't Democratic or Republican values. They're American values. They've seen us through some tough challenges, and helped us emerge stronger than before."

By Dominic Gates, The Seattle Times

Feb. 17--President Obama, speaking at Boeing's Everett plant Friday, plans to announce a series of measures to promote U.S. exports, according to an outline of his remarks provided by the White House.

For Boeing, the most significant action may be an expansion of the authority of the federal Export-Import Bank that could help protect sales of the 737 MAX.

Obama is set to announce that he'll extend Ex-Im Bank financing and loan guarantees to cover not only international but also domestic sales of U.S. products, if foreign governments offer such financing for competing products.

Until now, Ex-Im has stayed out of domestic sales. Providing federal financing to, for example, a U.S. airline interested in buying Boeing's 737 MAX, would be a break with long-standing practice.

The shift may be directed to support the MAX against competition from Bombardier of Canada's new CSeries jet.

The President "will not allow U.S. companies and workers to lose out on valuable business due to unfair export financing -- and will use the Administration's full powers to ensure that they are competing on an even footing," according to the advance summary of his remarks.

In addition to the extension of Ex-Im authority to domestic sales, the President's prepared remarks include a call for Congress to reauthorize the Bank before it hits its $100 billion lending ceiling, which could happen as early as next month.

He'll also lay out a pilot program for the Ex-Im Bank to help small business exporters with 6-12 month loans of up to $500,000.

The prepared remarks state that this program will give Boeing suppliers access to more than $700 million in short-term credit this year.

The underlying theme is creating manufacturing jobs. The Boeing plant is the perfect location to promote the Ex-Im Bank as a powerful agency to push that election-year agenda.

The Canadian government is set to provide loan guarantees to Bombardier to help boost CSeries sales, which have so far been slow.

By KEN THOMAS

EVERETT, Wash. - President Barack Obama called Friday for more steps to help U.S. companies compete overseas, standing in front of an enormous Boeing Dreamliner to summon a bright future for American manufacturing and exports.

Visiting a Boeing plant in Washington state where he watched some of the massive 787s under assembly, Obama pushed for Congress to continue financing a national export credit agency crucial to a goal of doubling exports by 2014.

The president announced steps to offer financing to U.S. companies to match help their foreign competitors are getting from overseas to help reduce trade imbalances that favor other countries.

Addressing workers at the plant, Obama said: "You're the most productive on earth. You can compete with anybody. You will outwork anybody. As long as the playing field is level, you can compete with any worker, anywhere, anytime, in China, in Europe, it does not matter. If we have a level playing field, America will always win, because we have the best workers."

"I will not stand by when our competitors don't play by the rules," he said.

Obama delivered his remarks in front of a huge Dreamliner turbine after emerging from the back of the aircraft and walking down red-carpeted stairs to the tune of "Hail to the Chief" in a dramatic piece of White House staging. It came at the end of a three-day trip that included heavy fundraising along the West Coast and a stop at a Milwaukee padlock manufacturer.

Obama called on Congress to extend the Export-Import Bank's authorization. Congress already extended it through May of this year, but White House officials said the bank will reach its lending limit at the end of March. Obama pointed to the bank as a key player in helping promote U.S. exports.

At the same time, the White House announced that Boeing will participate in an Export-Import Bank program that helps companies advance money to suppliers on export-related contracts. Administration officials said Boeing would be committing to more than $700 million in short-term credit this year. Officials said the arrangement would help Boeing compete for foreign clients against European jet maker Airbus.

Obama also said he was instructing the Export-Import Bank to help U.S. companies with financing to counter foreign companies that are getting unfair assistance from their governments.