The National Chamber Litigation Center is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed against leading investment banks for allegedly engaging in anticompetitive conduct while recruiting customers for initial public offerings.
In December, the high court agreed to review the case, Credit Suisse Securities USA v. Glen Billing. The NCLC filed a brief last week with the request to abandon the suit.

Colorado’s 164 banks grew assets to $46 billion during the third quarter of 2006, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
That was an increase of $3 billion compared to a year earlier at the 175 FDIC-insured banks.
The banks’ median return on assets was 1.29 percent, up from 1.27 percent a year earlier. Pretax ROA was 1.64 percent, down from 1.78 percent.

Households worth more than $1 million a year received bigger federal tax cuts from President Bush’s tax overhaul than any group in the country, according to a New York Times report based on study by the U.S. Congressional Budget Office.
Overall, the president’s tax cuts reduced rates for people at every income level, but most significantly for the top 1 percent of earners, according to The New York Times.

Wells Fargo economists predict healthy economic growth in 2007, and if that weren’t enough good news, they also say U.S. households on average have never been better off in the wealth department.
Growth is predicted despite the current economic slowdown, Federal Reserve interest rate increases, home price declines, higher oil prices and the war in Iraq.

The one word that might best describe the financial services industry in Colorado Springs during 2006 is growth.
Opening new locations, launching new products and tapping into new markets seemed to be on just about every bank and credit union’s mind — except for Bank of America, which decided to close its call center in Colorado Springs.

Chase bank has launched an interactive TV commercial that allows watchers to use their remotes to extend the commercial’s air time.
For those of you that just can’t get enough of banking and credit card pitches, this might sound like a good thing, but beware, the commercials weren’t created for your viewing enjoyment alone — they’ll be used to gather socioeconomic information about your household.

Amid predatory lending allegations, Wells Fargo has launched an educational program for those seeking high-interest, subprime loans.
The program, called Steps to Success, gives customers educational resources, direct contact with credit and finance specialists and advice about automatic banking to promote effective money management. Subprime customers are automatically enrolled once their loan is approved.

Ent Federal Credit Union is partnering with Automatic Data Processing and will begin processing business payrolls.
The deal also enables Ent to offer tax compliance, time and labor management and human resource services.

Adams Bank and Trust’s parent company, ADBANC Inc., has completed the purchase of the Colorado Springs-based Colorado Online Mortgage.
Colorado Online Mortgage was established by Christine Meacham in 1988 under the name of Auer Mortgage.

The IHOP Corp., best known for its International House of Pancakes chain of restaurants, has agreed to pay $11 million in taxes and interest to settle a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service concerning its federal income taxes between 2000 and 2003.
The dispute is related to the tax on franchise fee income. IHOP executives will pay $7.7 million in federal income taxes and $3.3 million in interest.