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To: John Mansfield who wrote (22204)	10/24/1998 2:25:00 AM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 116786

' Regulators Move Against Banks Said to Be Lagging on Y2K 'From: "Joseph E. McIsaac" <jem@marketpartners.com> vr 15:54 Subject: Regulators Move Against Banks Said to Be Lagging on Y2K OCC, FDIC Move Against Banks Said to Be Lagging October 23, 1998 Regulators have brought formal actions against at least a dozen financial institutions they say have fallen behind in their year-2000 preparations. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees about 2,600 institutions, has taken formal action against six banks and one service provider, said Daniel Stipano, the office's director of enforcement. Three other OCC-supervised banks are about to be charged for not being prepared, while three or four others, he said, are being closely monitored. Several hundred OCC-supervised banks have had informal actions taken against them, which are not made public, Mr. Stipano said. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which oversees about 6,000 banks, has given cease-and-desist orders to seven banks. The FDIC also has issued less serious charges, including board resolutions against 163 institutions and memoranda of understanding against 70. As the year-2000 approaches, financial regulators are cracking down on the institutions they supervise. On Tuesday securities regulators took their first actions against nearly 100 brokerage firms for not reporting year-2000 progress or reporting late. More than half of the brokerages charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Association of Securities Dealers agreed to fines as part of their settlements. The OCC actions were taken between June and September against Heartland National Bank of Herrin, Ill.; First National Bank of Pulaski, Ill.; American Independent Bank of Gardena, Calif.; Industrial Bank of Oxon Hill, Md.; Gold Country Bank of Brownsville, Calif., and Community National Bank of Franklin, Ohio. The service provider it charged is Nova Financial Corp. of Atlanta. The FDIC took enforcement actions against Farmers and Merchants Bank of Eatonton, Ga.; First Bank of Coastal Georgia of Pembroke, Ga.; Farmer's Bank of Union Point, Ga.; Bankers Trust of Madison, Ala.; Clovis (Calif.) Community Bank; First Bank of Childersburg of Vincent, Ala.; and an institution in Manchester, N.H., that has not been made public. The first actions occurred against the Georgia banks in November 1997. The banks that have been formally charged represent less than 1% of those each regulator supervises. These banks earned "unsatisfactory" ratings for year- 2000 compliance. Both regulatory agencies plan to continue to closely watch their banks. They will conduct two more on-site exams over the next 12 months, in addition to quarterly reviews. Copyright c 1998 American Banker, Inc. All Rights Reserved. americanbanker.com By TAMI LUHBY [Copyright 1998, American Banker]

To: John Mansfield who wrote (22204)	10/24/1998 2:53:00 AM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116786

'Gold coins are at an all time high demand asked in the TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) Q&A Forum cleveland.com "Jim Irwin can't help laughing when talking to some of his customers at Shaker Coin Stamp & Jewelry. As the stock market has become increasingly volatile and the Year 2000 draws nearer, Irwin has seen sales of gold coins soar. "They think Armageddon is coming," Irwin said. "My wife and I always think they're crazy. Now we're not so sure." Well, maybe not Armageddon, but something sure is feeding gold fever: The gold market two months ago saw its lowest prices in nearly 20 years. Investors have stomached double-digit losses in their stock portfolios. And then there's the Year 2000 issue, which some doomsayers think could turn financial accounts into vapor. Coin dealers locally and nationwide report a near craze in gold buying. First-time customers. Long-time customers. Rich. Middle-class. Mattress-stuffers. Gen X computer whizzes. "Some people are in disaster mode," agreed Val Holmes, partner at Carat Coin Collectibles in North Olmsted. "It's partly because of the recent stock market drop," Holmes said. "Some people lost 10 to 20 percent of their money in a couple of weeks. They got a little scared, and now people want to put money into a sure thing." . . . Bryan Kissling, senior vice president at Everen Securities Inc. in Westlake, agreed it's good to have 5 percent to 10 percent of holdings in a commodity such as gold "to hedge yourself against rampant inflation or some extreme financial crisis." But he said he'd personally recommend energy stocks, which have performed better than gold. People who bought gold coins 15 years ago have lost at least 20 percent, he said. Besides, buyers of gold coins don't earn dividends, and buyers have to pay varying commissions. And financial turmoil at all corners of the world increase the possibility that countries such as Russia could sell their reserves, flooding the market to either lower values or hold them in check, Kissling said. Liquidity and dividends actually make gold stocks more attractive investments, he added. Still, demand for America's gold coins, the Eagle, is so high that employees at the U.S. Treasury minting facility at West Point, N.Y., are working overtime and weekends. Bill Miloher of Executive Coin Co. in Stow, northeast of Akron, said his sales of gold coins have increased tenfold in the last six months. "Some people buy one at a time, some ten a time, one guy just bought $300,000 worth," he said. He doesn't look for sales to slow until prices reach at least $400 an ounce, compared with the current price hovering around $300." Asked by Goldi (goldilucks@yahoo.com) on October 23, 1998. Contribute an answer to "Gold coins are at an all time high demand" greenspun.com