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To: Benny Baga who wrote (6020)	7/21/1998 1:02:00 PM
From: TLindt	Respond to of 8545

>>>Although, Citibank might be licking its Chops. I don't know about Citi...but I'm licking mine!

To: Benny Baga who wrote (6020)	7/21/1998 8:11:00 PM
From: Brian K Crawford	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 8545

TLindt said: >>>All I know is NetB@nk better get one of those shareholder rights things put together or they might find themselves being eating by a brick & mortar monster.<<< Benny said: <<Maybe Brian Crawford can help us out here, but I don't think that just any company can buy a bank (Gov. regs), otherwise, Microsoft would have done it a while ago. Although, Citibank might be licking its Chops.>> Hey, there is quite a little banker bashing going on in here tonight...did I see someone use the dinosaur word? Q. You know the only thing more conservative than a banker? A. A Credit Union executive. (which I am) To answer your question Benny, as best I know, commercial banks can be owned by individuals and institutional investment companies, but not by non-bank corporations. So you are right, a MSFT can't own or control Atlanta Internet Bank. But Citi could snap it up under a holding company and run it as a separate operation. However, non-bank companies can and do own and control Federal Savings Banks (Amex, USAA, Fidelity, all have one). FSB's can do real estate and consumer lending, and issue CD's and service checking accounts, but they have limits on the amount of commercial lending they can do. So, I think MSFT COULD own an FSB, and serve individual account holders...if it wanted to.... Personally, I think ETrade has the best strategic position. No bricks. * No sales people. * Investor core brings bigger asset base. * Add-on services will include mortgages, credit cards, where margins are decent. * Chip, chip, chip away at Schwab, and Merrill, and the banks, and the credit unions * and then add in the "Portal Factor" (this factor has unknown real business value, but has unlimited speculative value) See you in Florida, (any scuba divers coming?....I am looking for a dive buddy for Sunday morning) Brian