Headlines:

 

          Premiere Lease Attorney Joseph Bonnano, "We don't count bodies."

            Bay View Raising Capital to Offset Losses

               VenServ Gets Additional Funding From Warburg

                 Alltel makes pact to process leases, loans for Ford unit

                        e401k Resource to Small and Medium Business

                          ( may be of help to you and your employees )

 

 

  eLease Report will be next week,

         prepared by Joshua Boucher <Jboucher@leasingnews.org>

 

 

############ Denotes a Press Release, written by the PR firm for the subject

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   Code of Ethics "Body Count"

 

Eastern Association of Equipment Leasing:  Two

Equipment Leasing Association: none

Mid-America Equipment Association of Lessors: none

National Association of Equipment Leasing: Two

United Association of Equipment Leasing: none

 

    

It appears that the Leasing News concept of counting how many members were expelled from an association as the "rating" of the associations standards or ethics is incorrect.  It is not a "body count," as was the practice in Viet Nam, but a "dispute resolution"

 

The actual procedure starts our with a "committee" and may not go before the

full board. Here is a first of a series of report.

 

We are pleased to have Joe Bonnano, who we consider the premiere leasing attorney,

legal counsel for the National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers,

write about this exclusively for Leasing News:

 

 

A few weeks ago in your newsletter, you had raised the issue of how many members had each

leasing association expelled from its membership. I respectfully believe that the question is

misplaced. I believe that the proper question to determine the effectiveness of an ethics

program is along the lines of how many disputes between members of your association has your association provided

assistance to resolve and of any unresolved disputes, how many members has the association had

to expel?  Let me explain what this rather long question is getting at.

 

The NAELB has in place an ethics procedure that was carefully designed by Barry Marks and

myself, of course with the approval of the entire NAELB Board and ultimately adopted by the

NAELB membership. The procedure is as follows. First, a written Complaint is filed with my

office. The Complaint is forwarded by me to the party that is accused of unethical behavior and there is a 10-day period to respond to my office in writing. The submission of supporting documentation is encouraged.

From there, I look at the position of both parties and try to work with both parties to amicably resolve the issues. In the event that the issues cannot be resolved, then the second phase of the procedure is used. My office then takes all correspondence that I have received in the matters, deletes all references to all names of any individual or entity and forwards that "blind" correspondence to our ethics committee, that consists of two brokers and two funders. Each of those committee members

then responds to me with their opinion on the issues. This is a built in safety gap that allows

opinions from those that are actually engaged in brokering and funding on a daily basis.  When

those opinions are obtained, I then go back to the parties and indicate on a "blind" basis what the opinion of the committee was. That is, the identity of the committee is only known to me. This feature preserves the integrity of any business relationships that may exists between parties involved in the dispute and their reputation with those individuals on the ethics committee. After those opinions are reviewed and discussed, there is yet another opportunity to resolve the dispute. At that point, if the dispute cannot be resolved then the parties have the option to take the matter to the full NAELB Board of Directors. When the matter goes to the full board, the names of the parties are revealed to the Board members only. At that point, the Board has wide discretion to take any action that it deems appropriate, including expulsion.

 

So as you can see, to the NAELB the expulsion of members is not a goal, the goal is to assist

members in dispute resolution. Expulsion of members is only a last resort, and results in only

the extreme cases of either flagrant unethical conduct or a failure to respond and acknowledge

the ethics procedure.  In the past year, we have unfortunately had to expel two members. Through my office, I must have assisted in the resolution of anywhere from 10-20 disputes, both formally and informally. So from our perspective, the ethics program clearly sets forth a code of ethics

to abide by and the NAELB attempts to resolve ethical disputes between its members. In the event the dispute cannot be resolved, then expulsion is clearly the action of last resort.

 

It is my experience that this program works and is a great benefit to our members. It is

available to all members, including funding sources, of the NAELB. It is a benefit to all of our members.

 

Thanks again Kit and looking forward to seeing you in New Orleans.

 

Joe Bonanno, NAELB Legal Counsel

attyjgb@aol.com

(781) 391-7800

www.leasingissues.com

 

      

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  Funder and Warehouse Source for Leasing To Raise Capital to Offset Losses

 

############################################################ View Capital Corporation Announces Plans for Rights Offering To Stockholders

 

 

SAN MATEO, Calif.,  -- Bay View Capital Corporation (NYSE: BVC) announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a $110 million rights offering in which common stockholders will receive transferable rights to purchase additional shares of Bay View common stock at a dis

count from the market price at the time the offering commences.  Bay View's Board of Directors has also approved a concurrent offering of securities to certain institutional and other investors who would act as standby purchasers in the rights offering.  The gross proceeds from the rights offering

 and the concurrent offering to the standby purchasers are expected to be between approximately $110 million and $137.5 million.

 

"Upon the successful completion of these offerings we will use this additional capital to implement a new strategic plan adopted by our Board of Directors. This plan has been designed to reduce our risk profile and strengthen our community-focused San Francisco Bay Area franchise by building on ou

r core competencies - business and retail banking, auto financing, and commercial financing," stated Robert B. Goldstein, the new president and chief executive officer of Bay View Capital Corporation.

 

The rights are expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange during the rights offering period, which is expected to be approximately 21 days. Stockholders who exercise their rights will also be able to subscribe for a pro rata portion of shares not subscribed for by other stockholders.

 

Bay View expects to enter into agreements with standby purchasers in the rights offering pursuant to which they would agree to purchase up to $82.5 million of the shares that are not subscribed for in the rights offering.  Bay View would also agree to sell to these purchasers an additional $27.5 m

illion of its securities.

 

Keefe Ventures, LLC will act as financial consultant to Bay View in identifying these standby purchasers.

 

Both offerings are expected to commence within sixty days depending on the time required to register the securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  A registration statement relating to these offerings will be filed with the Commission shortly.  Bay View reserves the right to modify,

postpone or cancel these offerings at any time prior to the closing of the sale of the securities.  In light of these offerings, the previously announced annual meeting of Bay View's stockholders scheduled for April 25 will be postponed until after the close of these offerings.  A new meeting date

 will be announced.

 

This announcement shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of Bay View's securities.

 

Bay View Capital Corporation is a diversified financial services company. The Company's principal subsidiary is Bay View Bank, a nationally chartered commercial bank which is the largest deposit franchise exclusively serving the San Francisco Bay Area with 57 full service branches. Bay View offers  a full array of retail and commercial banking products and services to customers throughout the nation.

 

 

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               Venserve

 

David Murray, co-founder of Preferred Capital is reportedly active in Venserve's

Plastic Card Leasing Program.  We are working on a story about this.  Here is

their latest press release.

 

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VenServ Gets Additional Funding From Warburg

 

VenServ, a premier provider of innovative, web-based product financing solutions, announced the recent completion of a $6.2 million second tranche of equity capital from Warburg Pincus.

The funding demonstrates Warburg Pincus' continued commitment to VenServ's vendor-driven, underwriter-focused business model and confidence in the company's management team, led by Robert D. Parker, president and CEO. VenServ's management team has recently been bolstered by new additions including John D. Jackson, executive vice president, R. Jeff Macartney, CFO, Richard Orozco, senior vice president - sales, and Jeff Chasin, senior vice president - operations. Michael J. Rehling continues in his role as senior vice president - technology and consumer finance. Proceeds will be used primarily to fund the accelerating growth of VenServ's three primary lines of business - vendor finance, direct sales and consumer finance.

According to Kewsong Lee, managing director of Warburg Pincus, "We believe VenServ's business model represents a unique approach to the market and the company's results to date are excellent. In addition, Parker has assembled a very capable management team combining industry experience, management capability, resolve and energy. This second funding demonstrates our strong belief in the ability of VenServ's management team to execute."

"Our investor's commitment and support is critical to executing VenServ's business plan," said Parker. "Warburg Pincus is much more than a financial partner, contributing expertise, essential management development resources and access to other Warburg Pincus portfolio companies."

 

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   Protect your family and your employees with a 401k plan

 

 Capital Advantage Seeks Strategic Partners for e401k Portal; Growing East Bay Financial        Services Company Offers e401k Resource to Small and Medium Business

 

    LAFAYETTE, Calif.---In the fast-growing segment for electronic 401(k) plans, a small Bay Area investment advisory firm -- Capital Advantage -- has announced aggressive plans to further develop its strategically named web site at e401K.com, into the "go-to" portal for small and medium businesses' 401(k) plans. Capital Advantage plans to further enhance e401k into a one-stop portal offering a wide range of options and objective information for retirement planning and other services.

    The e401k market is large and growing according to recent research from TowerGroup, which states that by 2005 65% of U.S. companies with less than 500 employees will sponsor 401(k) plans, up from only 35% in 2000. TowerGroup attributed the majority of this growth to e401k initiatives. In the same report, TowerGroup estimated the total market for 401(k) assets under management in the U.S. would approach $5 trillion in 2005.

    Capital Advantage is currently soliciting strategic financial partners for e401k's initiative including banks, brokerage houses, mutual fund providers and third party administrators. These new partners will be among those featured on e401k for small and medium businesses to evaluate and contract with. In addition, Capital Advantage, with more than 20 years in the financial services business, will provide a wide range of ongoing information on retirement planning and how to best choose the right 401(k) plan and investments for companies and their employees. In the next quarter, Capital Advantage plans to move to phase two with the site, offering full capabilities for research, planning and execution of e401k programs.

    "The emergence of e401k programs is great news for small businesses that have been largely priced out of 401(k) participation," explained John Hayman, CEO of Capital Advantage, Inc. "Our site, e401k.com, will make it easy for them to find affordable 401(k) options that meet their particular needs. The e401k.com site is independently owned, so we can be a trusted resource offering a broad range of objective information and ongoing assistance."

    Capital Advantage is based in Lafayette, Calif. Serving Bay Area, national and international clients for more than 20 years, the financial advisory firm offers financial planning and investment management services for individual investors, small and medium businesses.

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   "Get a Life"

 

 The www.sex.com story was on bay area news. Nobody objected to it then.

Somebodies need to get a life.

Mike Barrett

Dumac Leasing

barrettm@exchangebank.com

 

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              Alltel makes pact to process leases, loans for Ford unit

JEFFREY TOMICH

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Alltel Corp. annoucnes an agreement with Ford Financial, the world's largest automotive finance company, to process all of its 8 million loans and leases in North America.

    The agreement means Alltel's Little Rock data center will handle virtually all car and truck loans and leases financed by Ford Motor Co., the world's No. 2 automaker.

    Terms weren't disclosed, but analysts say it's a big step in the Little Rock company's efforts to seize a larger piece of the $652 billion auto finance market, which is projected to grow to $800 billion by 2005.

    Alltel and Ford Financial jointly developed the lease and lending system beginning in 1998. Success in building the system on time and on budget led Ford to hire Alltel to process its loans and leases, said Jeff Fox, president of the company's information services unit.

    "We earned the opportunity to be their outsourcer," he said.

    Ford Financial, the world's largest automotive finance company with 10 million customers in 40 countries and about 12,000 dealers, is scheduled to complete converting its U.S. accounts to the new system by mid-2002.

    Fox said Alltel will own rights to the lease and loan processing system, enabling it to market it to other auto finance companies and banks.

    "That's one of the best pieces of the deal for Alltel. Now they have something to offer their other customers," said Christine Pratt, a senior analyst for consumer credit with TowerGroup, a unit of Reuters that tracks the consumer lending industry.

    The consumer auto-lease market has quickly grown to an estimated $160 billion since the mid-1990s. "Leasing is a big business for the captive-finance companies," Pratt said.

    So far, however, banks haven't been successful leasing automobiles because they've had trouble mastering residual values and other nuances of the business. For that reason, the loan and lease system co-developed by Ford and being marketed by Alltel should be attractive to banks, she said.

    Ford and other automakers and banks are already using Alltel's software to process loans. The new Web-enabled system includes integrated lease processing capabilities and other enhancements, Fox said.

    Pratt said it is the first time lending and lease processing functions have been combined on the same software platform. It is also the first time the lending arm of a large automaker has outsourced its loan and lease processing.

    Fox said Alltel is pursuing other data processing agreements with auto lenders, but declined to give further details.

    "It's an area where we're very focused over the next 10 years on extending our reach globally," he said.

    The agreement is the second major announcement this month for Alltel's information services unit, which had revenues of $1.3 billion in 2000.

    On March 13, Alltel announced a joint venture with IBM Corp. to market Web-enabled banking software in Europe.

    Alltel is a majority owner of the partnership, which is named Alltel Corebanking Solutions and is based in London.