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Current Events - 08/26/2002

SB773 courts special interests, gets out of Committee

SB 773, the much-amended "financial privacy" legislation proposed by Jackie Speier was heard by the Assembly Banking & Finance Committee on August 21 and was passed out of committee by a vote of 8-4.

It is worth noting that Senator Speier and her new co-author made severe amendments to the legislation on August 19. As a result of the latest slew of amendments, which included additional exemptions and loopholes for special interests including California's credit unions, opposition to the bill testified for more than four hours.

The bill was scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on August 22, after the publication of Current Events. For more information on the bill and its progress, please check your e-mail accounts, fax machine and the CBA Web site at www.calbankers.com

CBA gets contracts bill held over until 2003

Originally introduced to ensure that contracts for the purchase of goods and services would be unlawful unless the consumers entering into the contracts have expressly provided authorization and the information necessary to complete a transaction at the time of the purchase, AB 2578 and AB 2775 have been held over for the 2003 legislative cycle.

The bills' sponsors were requiring that the method for providing express authorization be to obtain the last four digits and expiration date of a credit card/debit card or the entire account number for demand deposit account debits. The CBA and the financial services industry have been and continue to be united in their opposition to this method of verifying authorization.

In fact, the financial services community and government entities have invested a great deal of time and money educating consumers that they should not provide their credit card number or personal information to a stranger over the telephone. These bills would have actually mandated that consumers provide a portion or all of an account number to a telemarketer in order to complete a transaction. (This at a time when legislators claim to want to further financial privacy protections for consumers.)

As an alternative CBA and the financial community offered amendments to require express verifiable consent by confirming the price to be charged, when the charge will be made and the billing source to be charged. The bills' authors and sponsors refused these mendments. Due to opposition to the bills, the authors have decided to put the bills on the inactive file, effectively killing the bills for the remainder of 2002. They have asked, however, to work with the CBA and other members of the financial community prior to the 2003 legislative session to reach agreement because they will be pursuing the legislation again next year.

CBA Compensation & Benefits Survey

The 2002 Compensation & Benefits Benchmark Survey is out. Designed for bankers, by bankers, this annual survey is purchased by more banks than any other product we generate. Providing current, reliable compensation and benefits information, the survey is an important resource for evaluating compensation and benefits in your organization. The survey features directors' compensation, compensation and human resources practices and employee benefits. Compensation data is sorted by geographic areas as well as by asset ranges for ease of use.

If you would like to purchase a copy of the survey, please complete attached order form and mail along with your payment to the address on the form. If you have any questions, please call Elina Komin at (415) 284-6999 ext. 225 or Elinor Heller at (415) 284-6999 ext. 231.